Marvel Comics December 2024 comic book solicitations are here! To end 2024 Marvel is going to be going all in with introducing a bunch of new comic books. Marvel Comics December plans are loaded with new comic books. Luckily that is balanced out with he continued focus on expanding the publishing plans for the Spider-Man and X-Men franchises. With that in mind let’s take a look at the biggest takeaways from Marvel Comics December 2024 comic book solicitations.
MARVEL LOADING HOLIDAYS WITH FIRST ISSUES
Going through Marvel Comics’ December 2024 solicitations and the clear biggest takeaway is how loaded with brand new #1 issues the last month of the year is. Just from counting all of the #1 issues we have 15 new comic books launching. To be a little fair to Marvel most of these new #1 issues are either one-shots and mini-series. Marvel has at least shown some awareness they don’t need to make everything an ongoing series. Though with 15 new #1 comic books it will make December a competitive month and Marvel likely is cannibalizing its own audience.
There is at least some connective thread to certain comic books. The Timeslide one-shot looks to be taking the place of the Timeless one-shot we got the last several years. This new one-shot will be focused on the X-Men rather than the Avengers as Bishop and Cable team-up for a time travel buddy cop adventure. Their time travel adventure should provide us a lot of hints at what 2025 will look like for the X-Men after we get pass the intro phase of the From The Ashes direction.
Bishop and Cable’s adventure could play into the new TVA series led by Spider-Gwen and Captain Peggy Carter. For as much as the TVA have been a focus on the Marvel Cinematic Universe the comic books haven’t been able to get them over. This new mini-series will be a chance to do that. Pere Perez on artwork is a big get though Katharyn Blair, a novel writer, doesn’t have much of connection point for Marvel audiences. This could be a big make it moment in terms of Blair as a comic book writer.
Similar to the TVA, December will begin the real make it or break it period for Infinity Watch. Marvel has invested a lot into trying to put over the Infinity Watch, from storyline focus to tying their major heroes to the Infinity Watch characters. Now it is their time to prove that all the attempts at giving them momentum would provide positive results. If this new series with a newer creative team doesn’t work it is likely we don’t see the Infinity Watch be a focus anymore.
GHOST RIDER WOLVERINE FUSION NEW ONGOING
Marvel must have see enough of a success with Hellverine, the Ghost Rider and Wolverine fusion, that they are giving the character their own ongoing series. That’s right. Rather than a mini-series Marvel has greenlit a full ongoing series. That is not to surprising since Benjamin Percy is the writer for Hellverine and he has proven himself as creator for Marvel.
This ongoing series does once again prove Marvel is reinvested in Wolverine as a franchise with all the new comic books around the character. Hellverine proves that with the series not being led by Logan but his son Akihiro, aka Daken. It has certainly been a while since we’ve seen Daken around. With the Wolverine title being carried by Logan and Laura Kinney being given the Hellverine title is more fitting for his character.
Adding to Hellverine’s notability is the inclusion of Doctor Strange. With Doctor Strange having recently lost his Sorcerer Supreme title to Doctor Doom he now has an uphill battle to fight. What he does in Hellverine could provide more insight into what Doctor Strange is now doing.
NICK FURY IS BACK IN THE ULTIMATE UNIVERSE
The classic Nick Fury is returning in December though not in Earth-616. Instead we get a teaser that the classic Nick Fury will be joining the Ultimate Universe. This is seen in the cover for the Ultimate Universe: One Year In one-shot.
This is big since the Samuel L. Jackson version of Nick Fury has been connected to the Ultimate Universe from the very beginning. This change to the classic Nick Fury could play into how The Maker manipulated Earth-6160. What could be revealed is that Nick Fury saw what was going on and went underground.
Which could play into Ultimate Nick Fury’s new design. While he is wearing his classic uniform the symbol on Ultimate Nick Fury’s shoulder is that of The Hand. This further plays into Ultimate Nick Fury possibly been underground planning things for his own means. Given that he is front and center of Ultimate Universe: One Year the version of Ultimate Nick Fury we see will likely dictate the direction for the second year of the universe. Which could play into what is going on with The Ultimates since there is a teased team member death in their December issue.
THE X-MEN VS UNCANNY X-MEN & AVENGERS
December will be a busy month for the X-Men. Particularly when it comes to the Cyclops-led X-Men. December will see Cyclops come to blows with both Rogue and Captain Marvel in the new X-Men crossover and Avengers #21, respectively. Right away this does give vibes of Mutant Revolutionary Cyclops where Marvel positions Scott Summers as a bad guy in the eyes of his superhero peers. That is hopefully not the case because we know that the whole “Cyclops is right” meme is something Marvel has turned it to make him appear as a villain.
The saving grace that this will not be the case with Jed MacKay and Gail Simone being the ones working on both these stories. MacKay has shown he leans more into showing the Avengers and X-Men as heroes. Even when that is challenged it is ultimately to elevate them all as heroes. Simone, for all her Cyclops jokes, has shown she knows how to write the X-Men.
What all of this does appear to be is more of a difference of opinions of leaders. Storm recently brought up how Cyclops leads the X-Men as a strike team. This is certainly different from how Rogue leads as she is focused more on the family aspect. So it is understandable that when things get heated with the Xavier Mansion is turned into a villain institution by the Graymalkin they would approach things differently. Which brings more attention to what the legacy of Charles Xavier is now in the post-Krakoa era.
JEAN GREY CROSS PATHS WITH THANOS
While her X-Men teammates are busy clashing over Charles Xavier’s legacy, Jean Grey has much greater concerns. That concern comes from none other than the biggest cosmic threat there is in the Marvel Universe in Thanos. With Jean making an impact as a cosmic superhero there is no bigger way to further establish this new role for her as the Phoenix than going up against Thanos.
This meeting will also be something that benefits both Phoenix and Thanos. On top of establishing herself as a cosmic hero, this will give an even better idea of where Jean stands on the cosmic level. We know she is one of the most powerful heroes around with her power that can eve transcend time and space. But what we haven’t seen much is Jean go up against non-X-Men villains. That’s changed with seeing how she single handedly fought the Black Order, a group the Avengers had trouble with as a team. Now going up against Thanos should further elevate her.
This clash with Phoenix is also big in reestablishing Thanos as a big threat. The aura that Thanos once had has not been there since the end of the Infinity event. Marvel has recognized this with how they’ve been spending time the last two years reestablishing Thanos as a character. Now clashing with Phoenix can further his build as a big cosmic threat. Which could lead into that future vision Thor had about Thanos taking over the Marvel Universe.
LAURA KINNEY GOES SOLO ONCE AGAIN
Laura Kinney is joining in on the Wolverine fun with her own solo series. Laura has proven herself as being able to carry her father’s legacy on her own over and over again. From her solo adventures to being a key part of the recent X-Men teams, we’ve see Laura make being Wolverine her own. So it is not surprising that she would get a new series with Marvel giving various X-Men solo titles.
Marvel has also put together a very good creative team together for the Laura Kinney: Wolverine series. Erica Schultz has continuously been proving herself by building up a library of comic book content. She has written comics for many publishers that include being a big part of the creative for Spawn. Marvel has clearly identified Schultz as a writer to have on their roster and this series will further help establish her name with Marvel fans. Giada Belviso has also shown a lot of talent in delivering good looking comics. Laura Kinney: Wolverine could be a chance for Belviso to break through as a Marvel artist.
TRUTH ABOUT DAREDEVIL’S BATTLE WITH SEVEN DEADLY SINS
The solicitation for Daredevil #16 gives us a big spoiler for the current storyline that Saladin Ahmed and Aaron Kuder are working on. That is the Seven Deadly Sins that Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios are battling are actually Matt’s fractured soul. That does give more weight to how Matt was able to make it out of Hell. It does show that things weren’t simply reset and there are real consequences to this “resurrection.”
This revelation also goes to explain why Matt has been so different. While there are elements of his characters around the big differences have been with how he interacts with his supporting cast. There has been a distance Matt has placed between himself and others like Elektra and Foggy. This distance likely plays into how his soul is fractured. And possibly every time he makes a greater attempt to keep up this distances he is making the Seven Deadly Sin demons even stronger.
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