Much has been said recently of the truly voluminous attempts from the Big-2, and particularly Marvel, to test the waters of the comics market with new ongoing and limited series.
For many, there’s never been a better time to try something new in the superhero space. For others, this speaks to a larger problem the industry is currently facing to do with shelf space, pricing and the inaccessibility created through over-accessibility.
As a result, it seemed like a great time to break down all the new Marvel comics coming out of the February 2024 solicitations and examine what’s worth picking up.
Ultimate Black Panther
News of what the new Ultimate Universe will look like broke recently during NYCC 2023, and a big part of that was Ultimate Black Panther.
Spearheaded by comics maestros Bryan Edward Hill and Stefano Caselli, Ultimate Black Panther promises to flesh out what this alt-universe take on Wakanda looks like – a question hot on the minds of everyone who recently picked up Ultimate Universe #1. Expecting high-concept Afro-Futurism mixed with Hill’s trademark introspective character work and top-notch fight scenes, and it’s hard not to be extremely excited for this one.
Night Thrasher
’90s fans, rejoice! The coolest man to fight crime and ride a skateboard is back, and this time he’s striking out solo!
Trying to move away from his original team of the New Warriors (though doubtfully for long), Night Thrasher will receive his first solo series since the 1990’s with this new four-part instalment. J. Holtham and Nelson Daniel plan on putting Dwayne Taylor through the wringer, as his entire legacy is called into question.
As someone with only a passing familiarity with the original New Warriors, but a reasonable understanding of the significance Night Thrasher has for a lot of long term fans, this surprise announcement has piqued my interest. The ever-growing spate of four-issue mini-series notwithstanding, this is something I’ll be keeping an eye on in the months to come.
Wolverine: Madripoor Knights
Chris Claremont, often considered the father of what we know as the X-Men today, has returned to the characters a few times over the last few years. First, with X-Treme X-Men: A New Beginning and then later with Gambit: Thick as Thieves.
Now, Claremont returns to a famous episode in his long-running tenure with the X-Men, expanding on the original “Madripoor Knights” storyline from Uncanny X-Men #268. Wolverine will team up with Captain America (the second, recent team up between the two) and Black Widow to fight the hand in a story primed to appeal to longtime x-readers.
As someone that’s woefully under-versed in his Claremont, and knowing that this is diving straight back into a very specific period of comics history, I’m more encouraged to read this than I often am with the “nostalgia series” that Marvel is more and more frequently producing. This has the potential to tell quite a substantial story, centred on characters Claremont clearly has a great affinity for.
Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver
If you haven’t been reading Orlando, Pichelli and Tammetta’s ongoing Scarlet Witch series, the first thing you need to do is fix that. It’s been one of the most consistently impressive ongoings coming out of Marvel over the last year, and is without a doubt the series that Wanda has deserved for a very long time.
Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver will function as one of those increasingly common relaunch-continuations that threads the line between opening up for new readers while continuing the plotlines of the preceeding volume. Thankfully, Scarlet Witch #10 left things in a tidy place for the upcoming four-part adventure with Wanda’s brother to pick up from.
My recommendation for this series cannot come highly enough. Orlando and Tammetta are delivering an oversized first issue, packed full of sharp characterisation, intelligent storytelling and stellar, dynamic artwork perfect for the chronicles of a reality warper and a speedster. Add in that the first trade is out now and the second trade will drop at the start of February (a week before #1 of this series drops) and there really is no better time to jump on.
What If…? Venom
Marvel’s What If…? brand has made a recent resurgence with What If…? Dark over the last year, unfortunately to middling effect.
Seemingly making a slight pivot, and feeding off of the success of titles like Death of the Venomverse and Edge of the Venomverse, comes their newest attempt with What If…? Venom. The series is five parts long, and with each chapter will introduce a new, multiversal variant on a pre-existing hero, now mixed with the Venom symbiote.
For those wondering what a Venom Wolverine or a Venom Doctor Strange would be like, this is the series for you. It’s unclear if the whole series will be from creative team Jeremy Holt and Jesus Hervas, or whether it’s just this first issue, but expect anthological style storytelling and lots of gooey action.
Spider-Punk
In the wake of the monster success of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, I’m frankly amazed it took this long to see a sequel get greenlit for the recent Spider-Punk series from a few years ago.
What has me excited though, and what is helping cut through the corporate synergy of it all, is that original creative team Cody Ziglar and Justin Mason are teaming up once again, continuing on from where they last left off. It may only be four issues long, but seeing the crew get to play another track gives me confidence that we might see even more of this Earth, through this team’s particular lens, down the road.
Also, for those coming hot off the movie and wanting more Hobie, this series and its predecessor (“Battle of the Banned”) are your only real options. Main universe Hobie Brown is actually the Prowler, and then Spider-Man, and then the Prowler again, and now the Hornet… So yeah, if you want more ATSV then stick with your friends Ziglar and Mason, they’ve got you covered.
Predator: The Last Hunt (2024)
Back with their third instalment, Marvel have solicited another Predator mini-series. From writer Ed Brisson (whose written all the new Predator series thus far) and joined by Francesco Manna on art, this latest volume promises to capture the next chapter in recurring protagonist Theta’s lifelong feud with the Yautja.
This time round, Theta aims to free other humans trapped on a Predator hunting reserve in a kind of reverse-version of the Predators (2010) film, only now she’s being hunted by a ‘super Predator’.
Brisson has absolutley nailed the last two volumes, and his authorial style sits right at home in this universe. Knowing that he’ll be joined by an artist with the dynamism and fidelity of Manna as well makes this an instant pick-up.
Edge of Spider-Verse (2024)
It’s another year with 20- at the front of it, so that means it’s another opportunity for *another* Edge of Spider-Verse mini-series!
No doubt capitalising on the success of the last few attempts at this, as well as any residual windfall from the Spider-Verse movies, this series opens with two new stories. The first, from Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly and Travel Foreman, is the story of Weapon VIII – a mashup of Cyclops and Spider-Man. Second, Nilah Magruder and Eric Gapstur take Spider-Byte, one of the breakout side characters from Across the Spider-Verse on some all-new adventures of her own.
Perhaps the reduced number of stories per issue will allow those that remain to open up in ways not possible in previous volumes.
Alien: Black, White and Blood
The second new Marvel comic series in February, born out of their partnership with 20th Century Fox, is Alien: Black, White and Blood.
For those that don’t know, “Black, White and Blood” is a type of mini-series that Marvel has produced multiple times over the last few years, with each new series focusing on a new focal character, delivering a multitude of black, white and red anthology stories throughout a character’s history. As a result, we’ve had entries for Wolverine, Deadpool, Elektra, Carnage and now, the Xenomorph itself (and this time, there’s also some green involved)!
In this collection Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly and Michael Dowling begin part one of four of their mutli-issue tale. Ryan Cady will also pen a story called “Maternal Instincts” while Stephanie Phillips (Harley Quinn, Contest of Chaos) and Marcelo Ferreira (Strange, Moon Knight: City of the Dead) bring fans “The Hunt”. A collection not to be missed for Alien fans, especially as the penultimate issue of Shalvey and Broccardo’s Alien series hits shelves in the same month!
Star Wars: Mace Windu
Now this is podracing! Mace Windu is one of those characters that if, like me, you grew up with the prequels, has always occupied this realm of cool within your mind. I mean, he’s Sam Jackson – of course he’s going to be cool. The man oozes badassery.
However, as most people who’ve grown up since the prequels will tell you, Mace Windu is one of those characters that is almost more a construct of nostalgia than anything in the text of the films themselves. His philosophies are often slightly difficult to pin down; his backstory is remarkably elusive. Samuel Jackson carries with him an incredible presence, but the more attention you pay to it the harder it can be to substantiate exactly what it is that makes him so enduring.
All that is to say, any opportunity to flesh out the character is one I’ll happily take! From talents like Marc Bernardin and Georges Jeanty, fans are promised a tale of ‘mystery and action’ that focuses on Azita Cruuz, a pirate with more going on that meets the eye. While I doubt this will be the series to convince anyone to dive into Star Wars if they haven’t already, existing fans (especially prequel fans) will want to give this a look in.
