Or - “Remember What I Said Earlier About Marriage In Comics?”

Luke Cage and Jessica Jones have been one of my favorite comic book couple for some time now, combining her neurotic brand of crazy with his tough-guy with street smarts attitude.  When the semi-controversial issue of Alias exposing their vaguely sordid sexual relationship first came out, I remember thinking that there were long-term possibilities in the coupling that people were missing.  Post-Civil-War, after marriage and a baby, Luke and Jessica have hit a rocky patch, and the question of whether either of them is who they claim to be really isn’t helping things.  Where the hell is Mephisto when you really need him?

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Hulking, meet your father. He’s a Kree warrior that we all know as Captain Marvel. How will Hulkling react? You’ll find out in Young Avengers Presents #2. Marvel has sent Major Spoilers a sneak peek at the issue that arrives February 27.

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Good news for those who are hoping for the House of Ideas to come through with movie continuity. According to actor William Hurt let slip he has a seen with Iron Man in the upcoming Hulk redo.

“I don’t know how it’ll work,” Hurt admitted, saying it was a thrill to appear as General Thaddeus Ross during Downey’s scene. “I know it’s weird [to work with a character from another movie], and to know it’s a device. We did something; I don’t know what that’s going to be like [to watch].”

I’m all for making sure we are on our way to the culminating Avengers movie, featuring all the title characters from the in progress films, let’s just hope actors are still available in eight years for the film, or things are going to be a little weird.

via MTV

The Marvel Universe is still feeling the impact from the limited House of M series, and in House of M: Avengers #1, writers Christos Gage, and artist Mike Perkins take a look at the Avengers.

Marvel has sent us a sneak peek of the series that arrives November 14, 2007.

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Or - “Human Sacrifice, Dogs And Cats Living Together - Mass Hysteria!”

Peter Venkman was right! The world has gone mad, topsy turvy, everything you know is wrong! New Avengers (the Avengers book that I normally really enjoy) made me angry this week, and when I chose my reviews for today, I intended to start with the new issue of Captain America. My perusal of Mighty Avengers changed my mind. Four issues into the fight with Ultron, and we still have little-to-no idea what the heck is going on with this book, but in this age of six issue arcs for trade consumption, you might suspect that the heat would get turned up in chapter V. You, dear Spoilerite, would be right…

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We’ve been waiting for it ever since Elektra was revealed as a Skrull, now Marvel launches the first salvo of Secret Invasion: Infiltration in two issues - New Avengers: Illuminati #5, and Avengers: The Initiative Annual #1.

They are sans word balloons, but Marvel has sent a sneak peek of the two issues that you can see after the jump.

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Or - “I’m Starting To Wonder If I Can’t Cull My Pull List…”

Each month, Marvel puts out three Avengers titles. (I mean this in the ideal sense, as Mighty Avengers is actually more of a bi-monthly or quarterly title in practice.) I really don’t like the underlying premise of Avengers: The Initiative, nor do I have much use for many of the primary characters. Mighty Avengers is beautifully drawn, but the story so far has been a series of inexplicable happenings marred by duplicitous thought balloons and the fact that we haven’t been given any reason to like the heroes. New Avengers, on the other hand, has had several interesting plots since the end of Civil War, none of which have yet to actually END. The conflict with Iron Man is still up in the air, Spider-Woman is missing and may be a Skrull, and speaking of Skrulls, whassupwitdem? We don’t know. Now, we’re apparently setting off on not one but TWO new plotlines, each of which has it’s own inherent problematic issues, but are they fatal to the story itself?

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Only one installment of the Marvel Sneak Peek of the Weekend, but boy what a preview! Titles arriving in stores this week are Avengers Classic #5, Captain America #31, Marvel Adventures Avengers #17, Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four #4, Marvel Illustrated Treasure Island #5, Marvel Zombies 2 #1, Marvel Comics Presents #2, Mighty Avengers #5, New Excalibur #24, and Penance: Relentless #2.

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Who are those guys and gals beneath the Scarlet Spider Armor? We know they fight for Tony Stark, and in the Initiative #7, readers find out who is beneath the mask.

Marvel has sent Major Spoilers a sneak peek of the issue that arrives October 31st.

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Or - “Let The Merciless Beatings Commence…”

It’s no secret that I haven’t been the biggest fan of Gauntlet thus far. He’s been, frankly, a cartoon, a parody of every ‘tough D.I.’ we’ve seen in every form of media thus far, borrowing liberally from Lou Gossett in ‘An Officer And A Gentleman’ and R. Lee Ermey’s prototypical Gunnery Sgt. Hartman in ‘Full Metal Jacket.’ He’s utilized the deaths of innocents (and I count Namorita, Microbe, and Thrash in that number) to manipulate his charges, and has played lip service to caring about his recruits while allowing half a dozen of them to get beaten nearly to death by the frickin’ Hulk. It’s obvious that the beating was pre-ordained to get us to see his side of the story, to get past the facade of soldier cliches and show the man inside the big metal hand. Let’s see how it works out…

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There’s been a lot of thought (bubbles) since the Mighty Avengers ran into Ultron, and now after four issues, it’s time to try bring Ultron down for good.

Take the jump for a sneak peek of the issue that arrives October 17.

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Another weekend, another collection of sneak peeks from Marvel for titles arriving next week. In Part 1, you can treat your eyes to pages from ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST - STARLORD 3, AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE 6, CABLE & DEADPOOL 45, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE CHOSEN 2, FRANKLIN RICHARDS: MONSTER MASH, IMMORTAL IRON FIST 9, IMMORTAL IRON FIST ANNUAL 1, IRON MAN 22, and MARVEL ADVENTURES IRON MAN 5.

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Hear ye! Hear ye! The Hulk is smashing his way through Manhattan this week in World War Hulk #4. While we can’t bring you the blow by blow action, Marvel has graciously provided us with previews of its other titles arriving this week.

In this installment ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST - QUASAR 3, AVENGERS CLASSIC 4, CAPTAIN AMERICA 30, IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN 12, JACK KIRBY’S GALACTIC BOUNTY HUNTERS 6, MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR 28, MARVEL ADVENTURES THE AVENGERS 16, MARVEL ADVENTURES TWO-IN-ONE 3.

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Or - “Apparently, They Want To Torture Us For A Couple Of Years…”

Okay… I had intended to have this up this a.m. as a morning-of review, but a doctor’s visit for the daughter shot that notion right innaface. Mea culpa. Events in New Avengers and Mighty Avengers have been moving at a glacial pace, with each book managing to different levels of effect to tap-dance around not telling us a dozen different plot points. Add to that the compressed storytelling techniques that mean the last ten months of comics took place in approximately the time it takes me to eat a bowl of Special K, and we’ve got a recipe for tsuris, and we may not see any real updates on the Skrullapalooza until next spring. Luckily, the patented Brian Bendis character interaction is in effect, and our team is a mighty compelling group of personalities…

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Sorry true believers, Captain America is still rotting away somewhere (for now), yet for some reason we’ve been seeing him pop up in more Marvel titles lately. Take Avengers Classic #4 for example. Marvel Comics has sent Major Spoilers a sneak peek of the issue that features a brand new story of Captain America written by Dwayne McDuffie and Michael Avon Oeming as well as a remastered retelling of Avengers #4.

Bizarre? Maybe, but no more strange than say, Wolverine Origins #16.

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