Marvel January Solicits - My Opinions

Yesterday I looked over and gave some opinions on what looks good for DC next year. Today I'll do the same with Marvel.

It looks like Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter will FINALLY get going again. I think it's an all-new team on the book though, now that Dabble is out of the picture. Hopefully fans won't object.

Thanos and the Cosmic Cube in Ultimate Fantastic Four #50 - that's pretty cool!

Warren Ellis writing a new Ultimate mini - Ultimate Human (pictured). Wierd title. Iron Man vs Hulk - but it should finish before Ultimate Wolverine Vs Hulk.

In January Marvel continues their "Amazing Experiment" where Amazing Spider-Man will come out three times per month. This arc is by Marc Guggenheim and Salvador Larroca.

I know I already blogged about it - but here it is again. Captain America #34 - Marvel crowns a new Captain America. Steve is still dead, but someone else assumes his roll.

If you plan on following the whole Skrull invasion story next year, you will probably want to pick up the Captain Marvel mini series. The issue #3 solicitation hints that the story starts here.

According to the solicitation for Iron Man #25 (pictured), Tony Stark falls from his post as supreme leader of all super humanity. ABOUT TIME! But somehow they've got to make Tony a likable guy again before May when the movie comes out.

Incredible Hulk #113 is resolicited again - it was originally put into last month's catalog. Last month they called it "Incredible Hulk" and then classified the info. This month they call it "Incredible XXXX." Is there a chance we won't see Hulk for a few issues? Is this a clue as to how World War Hulk ends? Hmmm...

The Young Avengers FINALLY return in a 6-issue mini-series. It sounds like each issue will feature a different Young Avenger, and each issue will have a different creative team. I guess that's one way to try to get a series out on-time. But the YA is a fun cast of characters, so I'm up for it.

The HUGE X-Men crossover Messiah Complex ends in January with X-Men 207.

Marvel LOVES to throw the word "New" before stuff. New Avengers, New Thunderbolts, New Excalibur... Now they've got New Exiles.

Now I know why Diamond hasn't had the House of M paperback in stock. Marvel is reprinting it in a hard cover edition (pictured). It includes: HOUSE OF M #1-8, THE PULSE SPECIAL EDITION and the SECRETS OF THE HOUSE OF M handbook – plus all-new extras handpicked by Brian Michael Bendis. $30.

On the graphic novel flip side, it looks like a bunch of the books originally released in hard cover are finally getting a soft cover edition, including Uncanny X-Men Rise & Fall of the Shi'ar Empire; X-Men Phoenix Warsong; and Nextwave Agents of HATE Vol 2.

Mini-series counts for Marvel:
15 mini-series are mid-series in January. There are 10 mini-series and one-shots solicited for January and four mini-series end in January. Looks like it's Marvel's turn to crank out the minis, adding many more to the mix than they're taking out. The question is - how many will actually come out, and how many will finish within the year?

To view the full solicitation, click here.