While A.X.E.: Judgment Day will come a close by November things won’t be slowing down in the Marvel Universe. For one, starting in November we will see Jason Aaron begin the conclusion of his long running Avengers run. Along with that we are also seeing the build up to the Spider-Man and X-Men crossover event, Dark Web, continue in November. Then there are all the plans for the Fantastic Four, Eternals, Hulk, and more taking place during the month. Let’s take a look at the big things coming from Marvel this coming November from their latest comic book solicitations.
END OF JASON AARON’S AVENGERS RUN BEGINS
Jason Aaron’s run on the Avengers has been divisive at best. It has definitely not been on the level of his other iconic runs such as on the Thor franchise. Personally, Aaron’s Avengers run has been on the “okay” side. I’ve only been experiencing it by reading it whenever new issues of Aaron’s Avengers appear on Marvel Unlimited. Binge reading a chunk of issues has definitely helped the comics be at least enjoyable. There just hasn’t been anything that’s made it that I switch from reading Aaron’s Avengers on Marvel Unlimited to wanting to read the comics as they are released.
It appears the big focus to the end of his run will be around the Avengers of 1,000,000 BC that Aaron established early on. That’s been a concept I have not connected with whatsoever. So I do hope that Aaron did save the best for last when it comes to the endgame with Avengers of 1,000,000 BC. This all will likely lead to an Avengers event for 2023 that will wrap up Aaron’s long running run.
SPIDER-MAN AND VENOM CAUGHT IN DARK WEB
Back during the Free Comic Book Day Spider-Man/Venom comic book we saw the tease of a Spider-Man and X-Men crossover. The tease involved Madelyne Pryor and Ben Reilly agreeing to an alliance of clones for an event called Dark Web.
While the X-Men are still going to be dealing with the fallout of the Hellfire Gala and A.X.E.: Judgment Day in November both Amazing Spider-Man and Venom comics will be building up the Dark Web event. Given that Madelyne Pryor has been a consistent presence during the Krakoa Era, having a big part in the Hellions series. The same can’t be said for Ben Reilly since becoming Chasm. Outside of his appearance in the FCBD issue Ben Reilly has been MIA thus far. So dedicating at least Amazing Spider-Man #14 will be important to establish where Ben is at now that he has become a villain with his new Chasm identity.
I am a conflicted on whether I will be jumping on to read the Dark Web event. As much as I like the Krakoa Era X-Men comic books I am not a fan of Zeb Wells run on Amazing Spider-Man. I’ve been completely turned off by the current direction to the point that I’ve gone months without reading a Spider-Man comic book since Wells started his Amazing Spider-Man run. It’s been a first for me as I normally have had at least one or two Spider-Man comics on my pull list. That said, my enjoyment of the current X-Men comics may make me bite the bullet and purchase the Dark Web tie-ins of Amazing Spider-Man to get the full experience of an event I am invested in reading.
NEW ERA BEGINS FOR FANTASTIC FOUR
Dan Slott’s run is coming to an end in the coming months. So the big question was who would take over Fantastic Four after Slott ends his run. That was a question that Marvel has been dodging answering. All we got was a tease during San Diego Comic-Con that teased a new creative team already being chosen to take over the Fantastic Four series. Now we know that the new creative team will consist writer Ryan North and artist Iban Coello.
I am not at all familiar with Ryan North’s previous work but the fact that he has an Eisner Award and several Harvey Awards to his name is eye catching. It definitely shows that North has the experience and credibility to tackle one of Marvel’s biggest franchises. Having Iban Coello as the artist is another big reason for me to try out this new Fantastic Four run. Coello has shown to be one of the best artist Marvel has with great work on Dark Ages, Venom, and other comic books.
Based on the solicitation for North and Coello’s Fantastic Four #1 it appears as though their creative run will begin slowly by spotlighting the various members of the team. Given how Slott appears to be ending his run on an epic scale starting out by taking a look at where Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm are at could be good character studies before getting into bigger stories. It also provides North and Coello the opportunity to use the first few issues to establish the voices for the Fantastic Four and their supporting cast. So I am very hopeful for this new run and will definitely be checking out at least the first issue to see if it’ll be part of my pull list moving forward.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE ETERNALS?
One of the big questions coming out of A.X.E.: Judgment Day is what will happen with the Eternals once the event is over. We already know that the X-Men will be busy with several major storylines, including a crossover with the Spider-Man franchise. Then over with the Avengers, coming right out Judgment Day Jason Aaron is going to be building up to the end of his creative run on the franchise. That leaves the Eternals as to what is next for them.
At least in the immediate future that is not completely clear as we don’t have a new Eternals series starting up in November. Instead, we will get A.X.E.: Judgment Day Omega #1 that appears to place a focus on the Eternals status coming out of the event. That one-shot will inform us a lot about the immediate plans for the Eternals by Marvel.
Especially since A.X.E.: Judgment Day is arguably more important for the future of the Eternals than it is the Avengers or X-Men. Both the Avengers and X-Men have an established comic book line that is supported by Marvel. The same can’t be said about the Eternals, who are in the same spot the Inhumans were in years ago when Marvel tried to make that team into their next big franchise.
The thing that the Eternals have going for them that the Inhumans didn’t was that the Eternals will be key parts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That is a major card for the Eternals to have that will mean Marvel will at least try to have mini-series and ongoings consistently on the market to keep interest going for the Eternals.
TIGER DIVISION ASSEMBLE
One of the comic books that I was most excited about from what Marvel announced during San Diego Comic-Con was Tiger Division. The Tiger Division is a group of South Korean superheroes that are getting their own mini-series. What sold me right away to have Tiger Division on my pull list was the character designs. Every single member of the Tiger Division have designs that pop right off all the covers for this series. What I like about the designs is how there is a balance with the different costumes. It gives you an idea what their power set and abilities could be that I’m excited to find out about.
Emily Kim and Creees Lee as the creative team is a solid one. I enjoyed Kim’s work on the recent Silk mini-series. The superhero adventures in Silk showed that Kim can balance the superhero and personal parts of characters. Lee’s artwork also is great from the brief exposure I’ve had from work on last year’s Marvel Voices: Identity one-shot. Overall, Tiger Division is one of the comic books I’m most looking forward to reading from Marvel in November.
CHRIS CLAREMONT BRINGS BACK X-TREME X-MEN
There are a lot big things going on with the X-Men as they continue to deal with the fallout of the Hellfire Gala and A.X.E.: Judgment Day. But as intriguing as those comics are the biggest thing that may be starting in November is the return of Chris Claremont with Salvador Larroca on a new X-Treme X-Men mini-series. Claremont is an icon in the industry with his run on the X-Men franchise being legendary. Getting a chance to write X-Treme X-Men that appears to be its own thing not connected to the current X-Men direction with Larroca on art duties is big. It should give Claremont freedom to write whatever story he wants without worrying about continuity.
That said, the one major thing that is keeping my hype levels for X-Treme X-Men low is the fact I haven’t enjoyed any of the modern day work Claremont has done. Any time he has come back to write an X-Men comic in the last twenty years I’ve been left unimpressed and disappointed by, especially compared to his legendary run on the X-Men franchise throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Also the recent creator spotlight panel Claremont had at C2E2, which you can read about some of what he said by clicking here, reminds me why his modern day work has been disappointing. As of now X-Treme X-Men is a comic book I will likely wait to see what other people that pick up the comic book whose opinions I trust say before picking it up myself.