Avengers # 25 Spoilers - Time Travelling Founding Members

In this week's Avengers # 25, Jonathan Hickman and co. do a superpowered crime caper with Earth's Mightiest Heroes as suspects for the death of "a" Hank Pym.

In this issue we find out that there's a time displaced Avengers from another Earth and that SHIELD is on the case. Oh and here's what Hank Pym looks like...

Much like how things have ended in Trinity War and kicked off in Forever Evil where the bad guys travel to our world with a dead Superman in tow.

So basically what happened is that this group of founding Avengers team got ported just before their Earth was consumed/ devoured by another Incursion.

Avengers # 25 is already out this week.

Marvel's Avengers Confidential: Black Widow and Punisher has First Trailer

Here's the first trailer for the animated OAV Avengers Confidential: Black Widow and The Punisher which looks action-packed and ready to kick butt. And the anime brings along an updated roster from the 616 Avengers.

There are some haters but I totally loved all the animes that Marvel did with Madhouse including Blade. Anyway here's the trailer:


Marvel's Avengers Confidential: Black Widow... by AnimeSlovenija

“After interfering with a top secret mission, The Punisher is taken into custody by S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and Avenger Black Widow. At the orders of Director Nick Fury, Punisher and Black Widow are sent on a mission to stop Leviathan, a global terrorist organization that plans to sell stolen S.H.I.E.L.D. technology to the highest bidder. Now, the vigilante and spy must work together to prevent this technology from falling into the wrong hands. The fate of the world, and of the Avengers, hangs in the balance.”

The film is topbilled by Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter) and Brian Bloom (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3). The film will be released March 25 on DVD, Blu-Ray and Digital.

Major Spoiler for Superior Spider-Man # 25

While the Carlie Cooper post wasn't much other than show you what's become of Peter Parker's ex, this post will give you an inkling of how Parker finally gets his body back.

Turns out the Venom symbiote mixed with SpOck is a volatile combination which is partly the reason why The Avengers are battling their teammate. In the thick of the battle Doc Ock spazzes out and thinks that he might not have thought his plan through, all the while trying to fight the symbiote who wants to devour Parker's body and take over for good.

Just when things start to go wrong, Peter Parker's force ghost makes an appearance (last we saw him was back in issue # 9 where Otto thought he had completely erased traces of Peter Parker from his psyche.)

It's got this near Dragonball Z vibe where Son Gokou's ghost appears out of nowhere and helps his friends

And boom! We have Peter Parker back (in one form or another)...

Before Doc Ock even notices, Pete slips back into the subconsciousness while SpOck claims innocence over his actions by telling that he's been a host of a sliver of symbiote for months now.

Some of Marvel's Cute Animal Variant Covers

All New Marvel Now is upon us and I really just want to share these cool animal covers of the different titles coming out this January including Avengers World # 1.

Avengers World # 1

Thunderbolts

Uncanny X-Force

X-Men

Fantastic Four

Wolverine # 1

Avengers # 24

Silver Surfer

Coming to your favorite comic shops this January. Personally I pre-ordered Avengers # 24.

Infinity # 6 Spoilers - Thanos' Final Fate

Infinity # 6 was nice but still not-that quite satisfying. But for something that was built to be this big, it shined brightly.

What's really interesting here was the ending to the Thanos plot thread. This was the big fight and it doesn't get any bigger with Captain America leading a handful of the most powerful members of his team against Thanos and what's left of his Order including Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive.

In the final pages of the Thanos chapter, we see Thor go head to head against Thanos...

Oh and Thane is also here watching his pappy's fight against the Avengers. That's when the whole face-turn-heel moment comes about...

So what exactly happened to Thanos after that flashing light?

Turned into amber no less by Thane. Same goes for Proxima Midnight.

It's living death for the organisms that gets Thane pissed off. The Avengers win, the Earth is saved and the galactic alliance return to their lives to rebuild. Meanwhile, the Illuminati adds in a new prize to their secret stash.

Thank you Jonathan Hickman, Jim Cheung and Dustin Weaver for this wonderful tale. It's on the upper echelons of good Marvel stories that have come out in the past two years or so. 

S.H. Figuarts to Release Iron Man Mark VI Black Version

For realz fanboys and fangirls! S.H. Figuarts will be releasing an Iron Man Mark VI Black Version real soon.

I like this one because this is what the Marvel Now Iron Man is running around with (if not in his new deep space suit.) This bad boy will be sold exclusively from November 1-3,2013 at the Akibahara event in Japan. It's going to be priced at 4500¥ or $45.82 or Php 1994.09.

And too bad for North American collectors because this won't be distributed in the US due to licensing issues. Of course, there's always eBay and those online stores.

Source1, Source2

Are the Avengers Going Global?

A new teaser from Marvel Comics for their upcoming panels in NYCC shows the word GLOBAL with a green hue.

And more importantly it boasts of a stellar creative team. 

So yeah, we got Jonathan Hickman, Nick Spencer (who's doing Secret Avengers) and Stefano Caselli who was also working with Avengers prior to INFINITY.

So what could this be? I've been reading the comments from various groups and it feels like they're on to something.

- It could either be a new expansion for the Avengers i.e. taking in new members from other superteams from around the world like Alpha Flight or Big Hero 6. 

- It could be a Hulk-centric storyline which is kinda dumb in my opinion.

- It could tie up to whatever will happen in the next Avengers storyarc featuring a renegade planet on a collision course with Earth (which would be interesting and solicited as well). 

Either way, NYCC is just around the corner so let's just play the waiting game. 

Geek Ideas - Avengers Inspired Headphones

Here's another great geek idea featuring Avengers-inspired headphones featuring the likeness of Loki, Thor and Iron Man. These bad boys are customized and processed by RidaChan 

According to the post on Deviantart, each headphone is being sold at $50.  :|

Anyway, here's Thor:

And Tony Stark aka Iron Man

Post by Thefanboyseo.

An Infographic for Marvel Characters Connection

Ever wondered how many connections Spider-Man has to the Avengers before officially joining the team in New Avengers # 1 or which X-Man has the least ties to guys like Thor or The Incredible Hulk. This infographic might just provide the answers to your questions.

Note: The graphic is fricking huge and long. I was looking for a hi-res version but this is as hi-res as it can be given the time on my hands. Still it's an enjoyable piece of information.

MARVEL NOW 2 Officially Announced with Avengers, Inhumans and Invaders

Marvel Comics has just released their opening salvo for the second wave of Marvel Now titles coming our way starting December. These include familiar faces with new creative teams. 

So yes, James Robinson has jumped aboard the Marvel ship and I'm really hoping he kicks ass with this new title featuring unlikely allies Captain America, the Original Human Torch (Jim Hammond), Bucky Barnes aka Winter Soldier and Namor.

Then there's also AVENGERS # 24 which kicks off a brand new story arc entitled ROGUE PLANET which sees Cap and Iron Man creating a new Avengers team to stop a runaway train-esque planet from colliding with Earth. Even awesome is the fact that they have Esad Ribic as artist.

Finally, the most obvious title that will be coming out for the second wave of Marvel Now titles, INHUMANS by Matt Fraction and Joe Madureira. Guess we have to track down INFINITY closely to understand the story.

Oh and let's not forget about the in-betweener book INHUMANITY which just had it's first cover revealed a few days ago.

INFINITY # 2 Preview

Check out the preview for Marvel Comics' INFINITY # 2 by Jonathan Hickman, Dustin Weaver and Jerome Opena.

• The Inhumans pay the tribute.

• Victory in deep space.

• The secrets of Thanos.

Looks like the rest of the Illuminati are screwed while the Avengers are off planet... And that's also the reason why Doctor Strange has been absent lately.

Full version of the cover (which looks like it was done by Adam Kubert)

Avengers # 18 Thoughts

The AVENGERS join the intergalactic war against the BUILDERS in this issue written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Leinil Yu, Gerry Alanguilan and Sunny Gho. 

Before I proceed, let me hit you up with this...

- So the Skrulls are back and this time their lead by somebody very familiar, Kl'rt the Super Skrull. I like the idea of the Skrulls getting back in the game and I certainly hoped that this wouldn't be the last of them. Plus the way they were drawn by Yu gives them additional badassery. It's like you'll be scared to even look them in the eye as opposed to their classic purple and black togs. 

- Guardians of the Galaxy gave us a peek at the Galactic council spearheaded by Peter Quill's dad J-Son of Spartax. AVENGERS # 18 finally gives us the full extent of what other cosmic beings are part of the council. Clue, these are vicious killers and people known for their knack at annihilation. It does bring a sense of grandness and a sense of desperation to have them join the council. 

- Hickman uses these scenes to put the readers and the AVENGERS into perspective. We might be following the war through the eyes of the Avengers but that doesn't mean their the center of everything. Mind you at this point in the story, nobody even knows that THANOS has some wicked plans for Earth. 

- Leinil Yu's art definitely kicked ass in this issue. If you're a fan of Yu then Yu'll know that you should be pre-ordering (it hasn't come out yet since Storm Maring delayed comic book deliveries here in Manila) this issue. There's tons of things to see here like a galactic battleship fight, some mean looking Skrulls and Alephs killing each other and many, many more. 

- The art team is pretty swell as well. I do like Sunny Gho's work here much more than Gerry's inks. 

- You know for a team that's massively powered, I'm still unsure why the Builders got the drop on the Avengers. Seriously. It seemed pretty silly especially the team's already amassed some serious firepower within their ranks. I dunno, those scenes with the retreat needs to be re-read to get a better understanding. 

- No sign of Thanos here which is good although it would've been great to at least give us readers a hint of what that death loving scoundrel is planning to do. But then again it could've ruined the surprise. 

- The ending is traditional albeit interesting. I'm really curious as to how things are going to play out now that the team's roster has dwindled immensely. Also why is Quincruiser 1carrying a smaller amount of members as opposed to Quincruiser 2?  Didn't Captain America think it through to equally distribute team members?

- The issue also respects continuity in the case Spider-Woman aka Jessica Drew and her general feelings towards the Skrulls who abducted her and made Jessica the face of Secret Invasion. 

If anything, AVENGERS # 18 just added sweetness to the already heaping goodness of the INFINITY cake. It didn't take anything, just add in more sprinkles and more icing. Plus Leinil's art alone is a flavor of it's own. 

RATING: A

(Definitely getting a copy from COMICX HUB when it comes out hopefully by the weekend)

INFINITY # 1 Thoughts and Some Spoilers

Marvel Comics' INFINITY # 1 by Jonathan Hickman together with Jim Cheung is finally out and it's impressive. The book is thicker thanks to the additional pages from the FCBD issue but it's oh-so-good.

The portrayal of THANOS here is something fresh. He's more of the guy in the comfortable throne with his elite and his soldiers willing to literally die in order to serve him. You could say that THANOS has rebuilt himself as the classic Godfather archetype.

It's refreshing to see some bits and pieces (literally and figuratively) of the Spaceknights. That girl from ANNIHILATORS is back and she's not alone. Sadly, Hickman uses the return of the Spaceknights as a means to show just how powerful these "Builders" are. That one female Builder alone was really powerful. The threat presented here is no pushover but something that is really scary.

The outrider scenes and panels were bland in my opinion. The only thing that revved up those sequences were the appearances of Black Bolt himself and boy were those scenes majestic. I shudder to think what will happen to people who piss off Black Bolt outside of his brother Maximus the Mad. Oh and I almost forgot that Black Bolt and the rest of the Inhumans will be playing a really huge part in Marvel's INHUMANITY.

I foresee people scratching their heads due to the complexity of the thread. INFINITY has this complexity that I haven't seen in a Marvel Comics event book in years now. Other event books would probably reference a couple of books but this one takes the cake by making references to various events. However if you really want to stay 'in touch' with the book's context, I suggest you pick up Hickman's run on the current AVENGERS and NEW AVENGERS books. 

I don't feel the appearance of Thanos' new posse worked here. Corvus Glaive and the rest of his team might seem like strong opponents but it feels like they were just set pieces as opposed to characters (antagonists) that needs more breathing room to grow. Remember how in Superman, there were tiny tidbits of Doomsday at the end of every issue until the damned thing finally broke free, that for me works. And I think if could have been executed flawlessly with Hickman at the helm. 

One thing I find stupid really. If Thanos had the capability of acquiring these individuals and raising an army, why didn't he do it then? It seemed rather contrived that out of half a dozen or so times that he tried to conquer Earth, it's only now that he had the brains to start slow and keep in the dark. 

Another stupid Thanos moment is the idea of getting scared of the Avengers and seeing the opportunity to strike now that the Avengers are leaving Earth to join the universal fight against the Builders. Didn't he think about getting resistance from the same people that was mentioned, namely the Inhumans and the X-Men. Don't forget there's also the Fantastic Four and the other heroes who made it to "Reservist Avengers". 

Still, INFINITY # 1 is worth picking up. It's the perfect super burn heal...

... for those that got burned by the last event which was AGE OF ULTRON (although that book had some merits to it). 

Pre-order you copies of INFINITY # 1 from CASTLE GEEK and COMICX HUB