March 2018 Spider-Solicitations with JH Commentary

Here comes March 2018 and with it an Immortal Hulk, time travelling shenanigans and, because you demanded it, the final story of Dan Slott!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #797
DAN SLOTT (W) • STUART IMMONEN (A)
Cover by ALEX ROSS
CONNECTING VARIANT COVER BY TBA (1 of 5)
DESIGN VARIANT COVER BY TBA
MIGHTY THOR VARIANT COVER BY CLAYTON CRAIN
REMASTERED VARIANT COVER BY TBA
B&W REMASTERED VARIANT COVER BY TBA
GO DOWN SWINGING Part 1
The Green Goblin is back — and scarier than ever! Dan Slott has saved his most harrowing Spider-Man story for last as he and Stuart Immonen kick off the AMAZING SPIDER-MAN story ten years in the making. Osborn got his crazy back and has a plan that’ll make all his past plans look like child’s play. Peter Parker and the people he loves (ALL of them) are in deep trouble. And who or what is the RED GOBLIN?! The only way Spider-Man survives is to GO DOWN SWINGING!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99

Comments: Oh my god! It’s actually here! After 4 volumes, over 100 issues and who knows how many comics that will change Spider-Man forever, Dan Slott is actually leaving ASM. Regardless of your opinion of Slott, he has been a huge influence over the modern Spidey and his legacy will be felt for years to come. Personally I like his work on Big Time, Superior and even Spider-Verse but he has lost me with most of his stuff since Peter’s return. Rumors are that Nick Spencer is taking over after 800 – what do you think about this? Is there anyone else you would prefer to take the reigns? Let me know down below. 

AVENGERS #683
MARK WAID, JIM ZUB & AL EWING (W) • PACO MEDINA (A)
Cover by MARK BROOKS
MIGHTY THOR VARIANT COVER BY HUMBERTO RAMOS
NO SURRENDER Part 9
THE AVENGERS WEEKLY EPIC CONTINUES!
Jarvis’ life hangs by a thread. Only by voyaging into Jarvis’ mind can the Beast save him — but what terrible secret is lurking inside the memory of the Avengers’ loyal butler?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

AVENGERS #684
MARK WAID, JIM ZUB & AL EWING (W) • PACO MEDINA & JOE BENNETT (A)
Cover by MARK BROOKS
YOUNG VARIANT COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
NO SURRENDER Part 10
THE AVENGERS WEEKLY EPIC CONTINUES IN THIS OVERSIZED ISSUE!
Back from the dead! He cannot be reasoned with. He will not be stopped. Bruce Banner isn’t home right now. There is only THE IMMORTAL HULK.
40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99

AVENGERS #685
AL EWING, JIM ZUB & MARK WAID (W) • PACO MEDINA (A)
Cover by MARK BROOKS
NEW MUTANTS VARIANT BY TERRY DODSON
NO SURRENDER Part 11
THE AVENGERS WEEKLY EPIC CONTINUES!
The Avengers are in the fight of their lives trying to end the Hulk’s rampage, but nothing can stop the unstoppable. And when an Avenger betrays the team, can the rest of the heroes hope to survive?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

AVENGERS #686
AL EWING, JIM ZUB & MARK WAID (W) • PACO MEDINA (A)
COVER BY Mark Brooks
MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. ROAD TO 100 VARIANT COVER BY DALE KEOWN
NO SURRENDER Part 12
THE AVENGERS WEEKLY EPIC CONTINUES!
As Wonder Man struggles to get through to the Hulk, the Black Order attacks Avengers HQ! The grand cosmic game comes to its shocking conclusion — but the war for Earth is just beginning!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Comments: It’s a big dodgy how they have raised the page count and price of #684, solely because Hulk is returning. This is a bit of a trick to play on fans who are already invested in the story – shame on you, Marvel!

BEN REILLY: SCARLET SPIDER #15
PETER DAVID (W) • WILL SLINEY (A)
Cover by KHARY RANDOLPH
DAMNATION TIE-IN!
• Hotel Inferno towers above the ruined Las Vegas skyline.
• BEN REILLY allies with new friends and old enemies to battle the forces of MEPHISTO – but what insidious deals has the demon struck?
• Can the people of Las Vegas – and Ben’s soul – be saved from DAMNATION?!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99

BEN REILLY:SCARLET SPIDER #16
PETER DAVID (W) • WILL SLINEY (A)
Cover by KHARY RANDOLPH
DAMNATION TIE-IN!
• Ben Reilly is the Spider-Man who can’t die — the only spider to slip through Mephisto’s grasp time and again.
• But even the Scarlet Spider cannot avoid DAMNATION, and Mephisto’s obsession with the Parker clan may cost Ben more than his life…
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Comments: Another Spider vs. Mephisto, another hope that it will somehow retcon OMD. 

CHAMPIONS #18
MARK WAID (W) • HUMBERTO RAMOS (A/C)
CHAMPION FOR A DAY Part 3
• The new order changeth! After a series of tragic setbacks and shakeups, the Champions are faced with a grim decision – is it finally time to disband and give up the fight?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Comments: I wonder if this will actually have any implications for the team’s roster or if it’s just click bait. I would like to see Riri join the team as her future is unclear since Bendis is leaving.

PETER PARKER: THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #301 & #302
CHIP ZDARSKY (W) • JOE QUINONES (A/C)
ISSUE #301 – NEW MUTANTS VARIANT COVER BY BILQUIS EVELY
• Peter Parker, his sister (?) Teresa and J. Jonah Jameson take a trip back in time!
• The massive events of issue #300 presented them with a problem so huge that the only solution is way back in the past.
• The biggest challenge here won’t be keeping Jameson from changing the future, but it’s up there!
32 PGS. (EACH)/Rated T+ …$3.99 (EACH)

Comments: It’s good to see Jameson more involved in Spidey stories now that he knows Pete’s identity. The idea of the two time-travelling together is just too tantalizing to not give a go.

SPIDER-MAN #238
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (W) • OSCAR BAZALDUA (A)
Cover by PATRICK BROWN
SINISTER SIX REBORN Part 5
• The Hobgoblin doesn’t like following orders, but Iron Spider made a compelling case to join the Sinister Six.
• One of the perks? Killing Spider-Man!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Comments: Jessica Jones is getting a new creative team once Bendis jumps ship, so it’s not too much to presume the same is happening for Miles. Now the question is who? Maybe it would interesting for a POC to take the mantle so we could see a deeper exploration of Miles’ ethnic heritage.

SPIDER-MAN/DEADPOOL #29
ROBBIE THOMPSON (W)
SCOTT HEPBURN (A/C)
BRAND OLD DAY PART 3
• It’s Spider-Man PLUS Deadpool VERSUS…ALSO DEADPOOL?!
• But only the first two are real…real OLD, am I right?
• They’ll be fine if they stick together. Good thing Wade hasn’t been keeping any chilling, unforgivable secrets from Peter — oh, wait.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

SPIDER-MAN/DEADPOOL #30
ROBBIE THOMPSON (W)
CHRIS BACHALO (A/C)
WLMD PART 1
• For decades, S.H.I.E.L.D. replaced its top fallen operatives with better-than-life robots, and pretty much everyone was cool with it.
• But WHAT IF there were something dangerous about super-powerful androids hiding in plain sight?
• Let’s hope that no maniacs with grudges against SPIDER-MAN and DEADPOOL have that idea!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Comments: I’m looking forward to both of these arcs – the zaniness of old Spidey and Deadpool as well as Bachalo drawing their adventures! It must be Christmas!

SPIDER-GWEN #30
JASON LATOUR (W) • ROBBI RODRIGUEZ (A/C)
GWENOM Part 6
• To defeat THE KINGPIN, Gwen has to let VENOM win.
• But if MURDOCK dies, so does Gwen Stacy.
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99

Comments: Ominous.

VENOM #163
CULLEN BUNN (W) • WILL ROBSON (A/C)
POISON-X CONCLUSION!
• After revelations about Venom’s past and questions about its future, a dangerous new adversary makes its presence known in the Marvel Universe, and not everyone in this titanic tale will make it home!
• And what comes next will spell doom not only for Venom and the X-Men, but the entire MU itself!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Comments: Okay then, how long until the next Venom crossover?  Come on, we all know it’s coming. Venom/X-Men Red? Venom/ Squirrel Girl? Venom/ Riverdale? It’s only a matter of time…

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: RENEW YOUR VOWS #17
JODY HOUSER (W)
NATHAN STOCKMAN (A/C)
FAST TIMES AT MIDTOWN HIGH Part 2
• Between AP high school classes, extracurriculars at the X-Mansion and saving the New York streets from the most sinister of villains, it’s easy to say Annie May Parker has a tight schedule.
• But when two schoolmates mysteriously obtain super-powers, she takes it upon herself to keep them in line…despite her parents’ best wishes.
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99

Comments: Still unsure of the new direction Houser and Stockman have taken this series in. The stories with young Annie were different from what we’ve seen before whereas this is…the same. I’ll hold out hope though.

DESPICABLE DEADPOOL #297
GERRY DUGGAN (W) • MIKE HAWTHORNE (A/C)
THE MARVEL UNIVERSE KILLS DEADPOOL!
• Wade is no stranger to gambling with his life…but this time the odds are longer than the bathroom line at a burrito joint with a broken freezer.
• What do you do when half the world wants you dead?
• Start pissing off the OTHER half!
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3.99

Comments: Don’t know how much Black Cat will feature in this (probably very little) but she’s on the cover so she’s in the solicits.

INFINITY WATCH/AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Don’t miss this year’s Free Comic Book Day titles from Marvel, each featuring two 10-page stories that set the stage for upcoming game-changers in the Marvel Universe. Get ready as Heroes Assemble in the Marvel Universe! Please check back in with the February issue of PREVIEWS, and at freecomicbookday.com for future updates!
Rating: TEEN
32pgs, FC            FREE!

Comments: I know as a writer for the Crawlspace I’m meant to analyse the Spider-Man part of this FCBD issue, but I cannot contain my excitement for a new Infinity Watch! Bring it on! Who will write it – an unknown? Duggan? Perhaps Starlin himself? Only time will tell.

 

Comments: Now, because you demanded it, issues of Venom you’ve probably already read reprinted for $1! 

MAY IS VENOM’S 30TH ANNIVERSARY MONTH!

TRUE BELIEVERS: VENOM – SYBIOSIS #1

Reprinting Web of Spider-Man (1985) #1
32 PGS./ …$1.00

TRUE BELIEVERS: VENOM VS. SPIDER-MAN #1
Reprinting Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #300
48 PGS./ …$1.00

TRUE BELIEVERS: VENOM – CARNAGE #1
Reprinting Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #363
32 PGS./ …$1.00

TRUE BELIEVERS: VENOM – LETHAL PROTECTOR #1
Reprinting Venom: Lethal Protector #1
32 PGS./ …$1.00

TRUE BELIEVERS: VENOM – SHIVER #1

Reprinting Venom (2003) #1
32 PGS./ …$1.00

TRUE BELIEVERS: VENOM – DARK ORIGIN #1
Reprinting Venom: Dark Origin #3
32 PGS./ …$1.00

TRUE BELIEVERS: VENOM – FLASHPOINT 1
Reprinting Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #654.1
32 PGS./ …$1.00

TRUE BELIEVERS: VENOM – AGENT VENOM #1
Reprinting Venom (2011) #1
32 PGS./ …$1.00

TRUE BELIEVERS: VENOM – TOXIN #1
Reprinting VENOM (2011) #17
32 PGS./ …$1.00

TRUE BELIEVERS: VENOM – HOMECOMING #1
Reprinting Venom (2016) #6
32 PGS./ …$1.00