A.X.E.: X-Men #1
(W) Kieron Gillen (A) Francesco Mobili (CA) Nic Klein
Rated T+
In Shops: Oct 05, 2022
SRP: $3.99
THE SECOND STORY-CRITICAL A.X.E. ONE-SHOT! It wasn’t her. It wasn’t her. It wasn’t her. It wasn’t her. It wasn’t her. Yet: “I am fire and life incarnate! Now and forever.” Which part of “Now and forever” is confusing to you? As one world burns, can Jean justify her existence after burning another?
A.X.E.: X-Men #1
(W) Kieron Gillen (A) Francesco Mobili (CA) Nic Klein
Rated T+
In Shops: Oct 05, 2022
SRP: $3.99
THE SECOND STORY-CRITICAL A.X.E. ONE-SHOT! It wasn’t her. It wasn’t her. It wasn’t her. It wasn’t her. It wasn’t her. Yet: “I am fire and life incarnate! Now and forever.” Which part of “Now and forever” is confusing to you? As one world burns, can Jean justify her existence after burning another?
Local Comic Shop Day returns for its eighth year on November 23! The annual event organized by ComicsPRO, comics industry’s trade organization, celebrates the independent spirit of local comic book shops and encourages customers to visit their local shops during the holiday season! Marvel will participate once again, this time with two Local Comic Shop Day Variant Covers! In honor of the 60th anniversary of Spider-Man, they’ll grace the covers of November’s issues of both of Spider-Man’s current ongoing series: Zeb Wells and John Romita Jr.’s Amazing Spider-Man and Dan Slott and Mark Bagley’s Spider-Man. Drawn by acclaimed artist Francesco Mobili, these dramatic pinups showcase everyone’s favorite webslingers—Peter Parker and Miles Morales!
Be sure to contact your local comic shop for inquiries regarding availability! Check out both covers below and celebrate the place where a passion for Pop Culture begins on Local Comic Shop Day!
Kieron Gillen and Valerio Schiti’s A.X.E.: Judgement Day engulfs the Marvel Universe starting next month! Building off of recent events in Avengers, X-Men, and Eternals, this latest Marvel Comics crossover event begins when the Eternals target mutantkind and the Avengers find themselves struggling to prevent an apocalyptic war between two of the strongest factions on the planet. A.X.E.: Judgement Day will be a six-issue epic that will tie-in to various ongoing series and launch new limited series and one-shots, including three written by Gillen himself that will bridge the gap between the penultimate and final issue. Teaming up with a superstar trio of artists, Federico Vicentini, Francesco Mobili, and Pasqual Ferry, Gillen will focus on a key character from each of the three involved factions. These essential issues will spotlight Iron Man, Jean Grey, and Ajak as they embark on a vital and complex mission to penetrate the Progenitor Celestial and shut it down, facing their ultimate judgment every step of the way.
Check out the main covers for all three issues, a connecting piece by Nic Klein, plus a variant connecting cover by Salvador Larrocca and witness these story-critical one-shots starting in September.
When it comes to the X-Men, there are not too many superhero teams that have as much rabid fans. As readers have loved their exploits for decades. Out of all the characters in the Marvel comic book universe, they are probably the most identifiable. As each of the team members have a tragic origin and its tied fear and hate.
It is no wonder why Stan lee often referred to the franchise as an allegory to racism in America. As fans of the franchise, also used it as form of therapy for being ostracized, just for being different. Their canon is way more storied than most fans know and the number of different X-Men is too many to count. In The Secret X-Men, we meet some not so familiar names amongst the ranks , but who pack just as might a punch.
We are taken to the Ornithery Festival, where we find Sunspot, who was not named to the X-men during the Hellfire Gala, is trying to keep distracted. The next morning, Sunspot and few of the other mutants who did not make selection gather as they along with the Imperial Guard have been recruited on a secret mission to find DeathBird who has taken the Princess Xandra, which could mean political crisis between Krakoa and the Sh’iar Empire. As they embark on a rescue mission they find unnecessary trouble in the form of Sidra bounty hunters, but leads tohem show laden planet with a Krakoan gate. We soon find out that it was an elaborate test to see the where the information leak in the Imperial Guard is. By issue’s end, they lose one of their own, and must find a way to get her back.
Overall, The Secret X-Men is not your typical side characters story. The story by Howard is intense and powerful. The art by the creative team is beautiful. Altogether, a dense and detailed driven start to what looks to be one of the best X-Men stories yet.
Story: Tini Howard Art: Francesco Mobili
Color: Jesus Arbutov Letterer: Clayton Cowles Design: Tom Muller
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy
Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: comiXology/Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW
The recent run of the X-Men has been a bit hit and miss for me. What has been good, has been really good. But, there’s a lot that just hasn’t felt like it fits the basic building blocks of the characters and teams. The Secret X-Men #1 is interesting as it’s a bit of a throwback to the cosmic times of the X-Men when they hung out with the Shi’ar and rocked matching uniforms. Despite that bit of nostalgia, the comic also doesn’t quite work.
Written by Tini Howard, The Secret X-Men #1 sees the X-Men not chosen for the team during the recent vote band together to find Empress Xandra whose life is threatened. Deathbird, having been tipped off by precognitives sees a threat coming for the Empress and has thus hidden her in a location and has tasked Sunspot with gathering a team to meet Deathbird and Xandra at that location. The journey is “difficult by design” to test this X-Men team for… something. That’s where the comic kind of falls apart.
What Deathbird and Xandra are thinking is explained at the end of the issue but it all seems to be a rather convoluted adventure. The point of it all is rather odd and, well, pointless. It’s a journey for sake of a journey, leaving to go somewhere without an endpoint in mind. There’s some action but overall it’s the interactions of this X-Men team that’s the draw.
Howard does a solid job of the team aspect. This is a group of misfits, the B-team, and together they’re kind of like that as well. They get the job done but it’s a bit sloppy and not the most efficient way to go about things. There’s some other bits about who can trust who, but overall the comic feels like a b-side plot that couldn’t be fit in anywhere else.
The art by Francesco Mobili is ok. The characters look good and the costume designs feel like a nice homage to the past. Jesus Arbutov‘s colors, Clayton Cowles‘ lettering, and Tom Muller‘s design is all good as well. It looks decent though some of the characters feel a little inconsistent at times in their looks. There’s definitely at least one inspired moment/look with Marrow that I hope we see more of. But, overall, the art is good but doesn’t jump out.
The Secret X-Men #1 isn’t a bad comic but it feels like a one-shot whose entire point is to kick off and tease some story down the road. It doesn’t really stand on its own as a memorable experience. It honestly feels like a plot point that needed to be told but couldn’t fit in with any other comic for a few pages. It’s a one-shot that right now feels like a bit of a headscratcher as to the point of it all.
Story: Tini Howard Art: Francesco Mobili
Color: Jesus Arbutov Letterer: Clayton Cowles Design: Tom Muller
Story: 7.0 Art: 7.0 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Read
Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: comiXology – Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW
Secret X-Men #1
(W) Tini Howard (A) Francesco Mobili (CA) Leinil Francis Yu
Rated T+
In Shops: Feb 09, 2022
SRP: $4.99
SSHHH – IT’S THE X-MEN!
When the Shi’ar Empire faces an unexpected threat, they must call upon the X-Men. Team co-captains Sunspot and Cannonball must lead Marrow, Tempo, Forge, Banshee, Strong Guy, Armor, and Boom-Boom on a secret mission to save Empress Xandra.
Wait, those aren’t the X-Men. Aren’t those the mutants who lost the election?
Fans will get a chance to dive into Marvel Comics’ latest crossover event Devil’s Reign and Venom’s new era with new printings of Devil’s Reign #1 and Venom #2! These sold-out issues will be available at comic shops starting on February 9, complete with exciting second printing covers including brand-new Venom artwork by artist Francesco Mobili!
The story that’s been building for years is here! Spinning out of their acclaimed run on Daredevil, Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto’s Devil’s Reign #1 sees Kingpin, now mayor of New York City, bringing his full criminal and political power to bear on the super heroes who call NYC home. The man who once destroyed Daredevil has set his sights on The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and more. And since it’s Fisk, once he takes them all down, you know he’s going to sign it. For years, Fisk has waited for his time to strike, and YOU WON’T BELIEVE the aces he’s got up his sleeves!
And a new symbiote saga begins in Ram V, Al Ewing, and Bryan Hitch’s Venom #1. This trio is set to take the symbiote mythos to the next level with thrilling new developments for father-son pair Eddie and Dylan Brock. Each writer will lend their talents to a different character, with Ewing taking us beyond the stars with Eddie in his new role as the “King in Black,” and Ram V bringing us back to earth penning Dylan’s beginnings as a Super Hero. Together, the two journeys will intertwine and impact one another to create a singular and epic new vision. Venom #1’s second printing covers will feature all-new artwork from Bryan Hitch as well as a sketch artwork of his main cover
The latest symbiote saga continues in Ram V and Bryan Hitch’s Venom #2. Ram V and Al Ewing are weaving a mind-bending story that will push Eddie and Dylan Brock to their limits, and Bryan Hitch doing some of the most action-packed work of his career. Don’t miss this dynamite creative team’s shocking and intriguing additions to the Venom mythos.
Wastelanders: Hawkeye #1
(W) Ethan Sacks (A) Ibraim Roberson (CA) Josemaria Casanovas (VCA) Steve McNiven, Francesco Mobili
PARENTAL ADVISORY
In Shops: Dec 08, 2021
SRP: $3.99
DEADLY ACCURACY!
Witness the never-before-told story of HAWKEYE’S training with STICK-the man formerly known as DAREDEVIL! Clint Barton’s sight may be gone, but his will to avenge is stronger than ever, and with the training and expert guidance of MATT MURDOCK, arrows will fly again! But what is Murdock’s actual target? And how will this change Hawkeye’s path in the Wastelands? This is one issue YOU can’t afford to miss!
BOOM! Studios has revealed that Basilisk #2, the second issue of a new supernatural horror series from New York Times bestselling horror writer Cullen Bunn, acclaimed artist Jonas Scharf, colorist Alex Guimarães, and letterer Ed Dukeshire, unleashing an epic tale of vengeance and survival as a monstrous threat ravages the countryside and the only ones who can stop it are mortal enemies, has sold out at the distributor level!
In response to the overwhelming support from retailers and fans, BOOM! Studios has announced Basilisk #2 Second Printing, featuring brand new cover art by Francesco Mobili and Francesco Segala, available in stores August 4, 2021.
Is redemption possible if it is coerced? Forced to confront the horrors of her past, Regan hits the road with Hannah – a victim from her past – who has her own set of secrets. Meanwhile, the other four remaining members of the Chimera find themselves tired of hiding from the world and move to reignite their reign of terror and death.
