More of the Tomes

     Another of the posts that's almost entirely here for my own reference.

      Largely on a whim, though in part spurred on by seeing how quickly even soon-to-be-released Omnibuses suddenly sell out, I've recently ordered some others that I hadn't initially jumped at.

     There was a stretch where, primarily, the Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning team were putting out high-end work using a variety of Marvel's cosmic heroes, including having some latitude to develop them in

new ways, and including creating some new characters. This was back when Joe Quesada was still in charge of the comics operations, and he had no interest in the space-faring characters. No one was doing anything with these characters, so it was all able to quietly fly without interference.  Eventually, their work tripped them up by becoming popular and successful, at which point others (Bendis comes quickly to mind) suddenly paid attention and wanted to play with those toys. That was enough to get Quesada's attention, and so the party was soon over. (At least that's how it all seemed to me, out here in the cheap seats.)
     Anyway, I was still in what would become my last hurrah of buying monthlies when the Annihilation crossover event rolled out, and, well, I slipped this into my orders.
     Collecting DRAX THE DESTROYER #1-4, ANNIHILATION: PROLOGUE, ANNIHILATION: NOVA #1-4, ANNIHILATION: SILVER SURFER #1-4, ANNIHILATION: SUPER-SKRULL #1-4, ANNIHILATION: RONAN #1-4, ANNIHILATION #1-6, ANNIHILATION: HERALDS OF GALACTUS #1-2 AND ANNIHILATION: NOVA CORPS FILES.
     Currently set to release April 26.

 

    I recall enjoying Ed Brubaker's take on Captain America. It was another of those cases where I, as a lapsed reader (once the '90s saw me dropping titles thanks to wholesale abandonment of continuity and quality, I became very fickle about new items) was nostalgically hungry, and and knowing from his work elsewhere that Brubaker was one of the better talents working at the time, I stepped back in. That he was working primarily with Steve Epting proved to be another plus.
     This was all the build-up to the return of Bucky Barnes - one of the most taboo deaths in Marvel history, second only perhaps to Peter's Uncle Ben. Still, I wanted back in, and I was open to the pitch. It turned out to be a good gamble. The revisions to the Cap & Bucky backstory made more sense than the peculiarly juvenile canon that had been in place for decades, where a Robin-esque kid had been hanging with Cap. Instead, we got someone who was just a little younger than Cap, who in large part would handle the wet work that no one wanted Cap doing.
     Collecting CAPTAIN AMERICA #1-25, CAPTAIN AMERICA 65TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL and WINTER SOLDIER: WINTER KILLS.
     This is one that's currently in stock, so I'm expecting to see a notice of shipping sometime soon.

  

   While by the late '80s much of what was things X-Men related had been losing much of their previous luster, I do recall enjoying what I'd at least seen at first over in their U.K. connection title (complete with some familiar X-faces) in Excalibur.
     Again, this was one of those moment of weakness buys. In the absence of seeing the (re)solicitations I want to see (e.g. Omnibus editions for Iron Man, second volumes for Avengers, Captain America, Incredible Hulk, Mighty Thor, and Defenders, a third for Doctor Strange, a fourth for Amazing Spider-man, a fifth and even sixth for Fantastic Four...) I started reaching for ones among the current offerings.
     Collecting Excalibur Special Edition (1988) #1, Excalibur (1988) #1-34, Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem (1989) #1, Quasar #11, Thor (1966) #427-429 and material from Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #31-38.
     Currently set for late-April release, so another one I'll be watching for a shipping notice about during that final week of the month.

     Seeing that there was an Omnibus edition of the start of Christopher Priest's redefining run Black Panther comics, I broke down and added that to the list.
     This was one of the series that started to come out when I was really on the outs with most of comicdom, and Marvel in particular. The '90s really beat the crap out of the stalwart comics fan I'd been for nearly all of my life until then, and it was only pushed farther by other, real life concerns.
     Still, I eventually started to take some notice again, and one of the series that had been highly recommended to me at the time was this one. Priest stood back, looked at what we knew of T'Challa, and re-examined his history with the Western world and the Avengers through the prism of his being the heir to the throne of an insular kingdom with some of the most advanced technology on Earth. While not directly diminishing any of his heroism, it did recast him as also having had a subtext as a spy. Someone gathering intelligence on foreign powers.
     I recall the series fondly, though now somewhat vaguely in details, so I'm looking forward to taking this in.
     Collecting BLACK PANTHER (1998) #1-33, DEADPOOL (1997) #44 and material from MARVEL DOUBLE-SHOT #2.
     Currently set to be released September 6, 2022.
     I decided on the Sal Velluto cover.

    
     I'd done another impulse shopping run a little earlier in the month, this time including a non-Marvel item.
     This was the fondly-remembered take Grant Morrison had on one of those cast-off, C-list heroes from DC's past: Animal Man.
     Increasingly surreal, while still being all-so-human, we got to see Buddy Baker trying to come fully into his own, not quite understanding his own powers and his family not quite understanding him.
     Includes Animal Man #1-26 and a tale from Secret Origins #39.
     Currently set to be released around August 23rd. 

     So, I have all of the above, along with three of the four mentioned in the March 26th post. Also still pending, are three of the seven volumes mentioned back in February.

     For the sake of ease of reference, the pending and their currently scheduled release dates are:
             Incredible Hulk by Peter David vol.4 - April 19th
             Invaders done-in-one volume - May 3rd
             Moon Knight vol.2 - May 10th
             Amazing Spider-man vol.1 - June 21st
             Spectacular Spider-man vol.1 - September 27th
             Busiek & Perez Avengers vol.2 - October 18th

     So, that's ten more Marvel volumes and one more from DC.