Marvel will do everything in its power to make sure that you are buying as many of their comics as possible. That is how it appears with how Marvel is throwing about every event imaginable out on the market in September 2021. In the middle of all these events there will be several notable things taking place this September for Marvel. That includes the end of Nick Spencer’s run on Amazing Spider-Man, Miles Morales celebrating his 10th anniversary, a possible new Thor debuting, and much more. Let’s take a look what is to come from Marvel based on their September 2021 solicitations.
MARVEL EVENT HEAVY SEPTEMBER 2021
I’ll be digging into the bigger events like Inferno and Death Of Doctor Strange in a bit, but the quantity of comic book events Marvel will be publishing in September is simply overwhelming. Just looking at the September 2021 solicitations Marvel is basically publishing two or more event comic books a week. That is on top of whatever ongoing titles are still being published in September. All the power to Marvel if this is how the powers that be figured they are able to maximize their profits.
As a Marvel fan I just can’t help but my first reaction to the September 2021 solicitations to be to laugh. It is absolutely ridiculous the sheer number of events that Marvel is holding. The thinking can very well be that this adds importance to every comic book Marvel is publishing. In reality, the complete opposite is true. By publishing so many event comic books Marvel makes it appear that none of these events actually matter.
That is direct opposite of how big events are to be perceived. Fans should go into an event comic book believing what they are reading impacts the Marvel Universe in a major way. But when you have so many big events going on at the same time than really none of them matter. As a reader I just have zero interest in anything I wasn’t already reading before September 2021 begins.
MILES MORALES 10TH ANNIVERSARY
It’s crazy to think that September will mark a decade since Miles Morales was introduced in Ultimate Fallout #4. I will fully admit that it did take time for me to get into Miles Morales as a character. It was not because the character introduction was bad. At the time I distinctly remember being pissed off how the entire Death of Spider-Man story went, which was a general problem of how crossover events were told in the Ultimate Universe throughout its history.
That said I did come around to Miles Morales as a character as becoming a character who firmly established what Spider-Man represents. Miles has helped cement how Spider-Man isn’t just Peter Parker as the Spider symbol represent more than just one person. Over the course of the decade since Miles was introduced we have seen how that has become a reality as the Spider-Man Family has grown to be more than just Peter and Miles. Long-standing characters like Jessica Drew and Anya Corazon have become a bigger part of the franchise. We have also had the introduction of Cindy Moon as Silk and an alternate universe Gwen Stacy as Spider-Woman. Then we had the whole Spider-Verse event that brought the Multiverse Spider-Men and Spider-Women together.
The growth of the Spider-Man franchise can no doubt be attributed Miles Morales introduction and growth over the decade. So I’m glad that Marvel is celebrating his character’s 10th anniversary. The only thing missing from the celebration is Brian Bendis involvement. Why Brian Bendis isn’t involved in the Miles Morales anniversary is understandable since he is working for DC Comics at the moment I do hope he can take part by the time comic book releases. He is after all Miles Morales co-creator and should be take part in such a major milestone.
MARVEL UNIVERSE ENTERS THE DARK AGES
When the name Tom Taylor appears on a comic book you bet believe that I will be one of the first in line to pick up that comic book. I’m a big fan of all of Taylor’s comic book work for both DC Comics and Marvel. Taylor working on new mini-series with Iban Coello titled Dark Ages certainly gets my attention.
What is interesting about Taylor and Coello’s Dark Ages that it looks as though it will be striking a similar tone to Taylor’s DCeased mini-series from DC Comics. Both are working from a standpoint where our heroes fail to stop a catastrophic event. With Dark Ages we will be seeing the direct fallout of that failure as the surviving heroes have to overcome the horrible defeat they experienced. How Taylor and Coello explore the different Marvel legacy characters in this continuity is something I am very intrigued by.
MYSTIQUE BRINGS THE INFERNO TO KRAKOA
While Inferno was not the name of what would happen we’ve seen teasers since House of X and Powers of X that something big would go down between Mystique and Moira X at some point. Afterall Moira X is the one directly responsible for Destiny, Mystique’s wife, never being brought back to life. The reason for that is because of Destiny’s prediction about Moira X and her unique powers being such an unpredictable force. But one thing that we have learned over and over again in the X-Men franchise is that you never want to piss off Mystique. Which is exactly what Moira X, Charles Xavier, and Magneto have done.
That also makes the cover of Inferno #1 so interesting as Jonathan Hickman is putting an emphasis on Moira X again. As seen on the main cover for Inferno #1 Moira is standing over all of the collapsed bodies of the current Quiet Council members. On top of that we see Mark Brooks promotional cover show Moira and Charles Xavier with their backs to each. All of the X-Men also appear ready to fight or have also collapsed. Which is much different tone for the cover to take compared to the House of X and Powers of X covers being much more celebratory in mood.
The timing of Inferno is also another notable thing. We are just coming off the Hellfire Gala where the new X-Men team just debut and Mars was converted into the mutant planet now known as Planet Arakko. The events of Inferno could seriously impact everything that has been built with the X-Men franchise. It could very well be the most important story since House of X and Powers of X. Especially if Inferno lives to being the beginning of how Jonathan Hickman plans to culminate all his and the X-Office’s creative plans up to this point.
NICK SPENCER ENDS RUN ON AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Nick Spencer’s run on Amazing Spider-Man has been divisive. Personally, I have a love-hate relationship with Spencer’s Amazing Spider-Man run. There are a lot of plot elements that I’ve enjoyed. But they are almost canceled out by the equally frustrating developments and stories that Spencer has told. Especially with the output over the last year its been, to use a wrestling term, 50-50 booking when it comes to quality.
All that said I do have to say I’m surprised Spencer’s run is coming to an end in September with Amazing Spider-Man #74. I actually thought he would end his run with hitting the Amazing Spider-Man #100 milestone. But if he is ready to conclude his whole Kindred Saga now I much rather he do so when he wants rather than continue to stretch things out. This opens the door for new creators to step in to take over Marvel’s most iconic series.
MARCH TO DEATH OF DOCTOR STRANGE BEGINS
It’s been a while since there was a major promoted death in the Marvel Universe. It looks as though Marvel thought the same thing as they get ready to kill Stephen Strange in the mini-series event titled Death Of Doctor Strange. The timing is very strange considering Doctor Strange will be playing a big part in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His death certainly has had zero build, even in the Strange Academy series he is part of.
The one thing to note is that the solicitation is written in a way that it sounds like Death Of Doctor Strange could be happening in an alternate universe. The specific wording chosen for Death Of Doctor Strange #1 sounds similar to how Marvel words their “The End” comic books. With no mention of the Avengers or other characters in the solicitation I wouldn’t be surprised if this does turn out to be taking place in its own self-contained universe. Which I would prefer so more risks can be taken in how it would actually impact the Marvel Universe without worrying about continuity.
SHE-HULK + WINTER SOLDIER = WINTER HULK
We’ve had Green Hulk, Grey Hulk, Red Hulk, Professor Hulk, She-Hulk, and Red She-Hulk. So you know what why not merge She-Hulk and Winter Soldier together to create a whole new version of Hulk named Winter Hulk. That is at least the thinking process that comes across when looking at both the cover and solicitation for Avengers #48.
I know that Jason Aaron has this way better planned out that I could ever do but there is just something off about the entire thing. Adding in Gorilla-Man as the only one able to stop Winter Hulk adds to how hard it is to buy into this story. Which is a shame because of what I’ve read so far of Aaron’s Avengers run from the comics available on Marvel Unlimited the run has been enjoyable popcorn fun. Unfortunately this does not scream must read like other comic books.
NEW GOD OF THUNDER DEBUTING
One of the major things that Donny Cates has been teasing during his run on Thor is him no longer wielding Mjolnir. That is something that was brought up in throughout Cates’ first arc, with close attention paid to this by Silver Surfer in Thor #6. With Thor #17 teasing the fact that Mjolnir has disappeared we could be in store for someone new becoming the God of Thunder since Thor is busy being King of Asgard.
One thing to keep in mind with all this is what role Thanos could play into what happens with Mjolnir. We know that the Mad Titan will be starring in the Eternals: Thanos Rises mini-series by Kieron Gillen and Dustin Weaver starting in September. But there is also the image from Thor #6 where we saw in the vision Black Winter gave to Thor that Thanos was wielding Mjolnir with the Infinity Gems on it. The disappearance of Mjolnir could be a major step towards the vision Thor had that did come across as a prophecy. Taking that into account Eternals: Thanos Rises could be a key story to read for fans of Cates’ Thor run.
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