Age of X-Man, Fight Club 3, Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt & More in Required Reading: Comics for 1/30/2019
Main Art by Phil Noto
Every era must come to a close, whether we’re talking about the reign of humankind or your favorite story arc in a superhero comic. This week isn’t about endings, though, but beginnings. From Marvel’s new Age of X-Man mega-mutant crossover to Dynamite’s thrilling revival of Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt, a cult-tastic new Action Comics arc to the launch of Wyrd at Dark Horse, the final Wednesday of January is full of fresh starts. If you’re somehow averse to the new, we’ve also got a standalone anthology and a retrospective collection to keep you company. Send the first month of the year out with a bang: it’s time for Required Reading.
Action Comics #1007
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Steve Epting
Publisher: DC Comics
The most frequent criticism of Brian Michael Bendis’ Action Comics run yet far has been a supposed lack of focus. While we don’t agree—the series has been weaving multiple plot lines each issue in intricate and compelling fashion—doubters should be relieved to find that Action Comics #1007 kicks off “Leviathan Rising,” an arc building toward Bendis’ big 2019 plans for Superman. Action Comics has so far been visited by a dream rotation of artists: Patrick Gleason, Yannick Paquette, Adam Hughes and, perhaps most notably, Ryan Sook in top form. Former Captain America artist Steve Epting joins Bendis for “Leviathan Rising,” bringing a noir-ish bent to otherwise classic comic-book storytelling that evokes past Superman greats like Dan Jurgens and Jerry Ordway. Action Comics is a strong contender for the best monthly DC Comics series on stands, and #1007 proves that the creative team isn’t letting up any time soon. Steve Foxe
Age of X-Man: Alpha #1
Writers: Zac Thompson & Lonnie Nadler
Artist: Ramon Rosanas
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Age of Apocalypse remains one of the most ambitious and impressive (if imperfect) events in comic history, replacing the then-most profitable line at Marvel with a whole fleet of reconfigured books for several months. The X-Men are less of a fundamental Marvel tentpole today than they were in the mid-‘90s, but that doesn’t make Age of X-Man any less bold. Spinning out of the weekly Uncanny X-Men series, Age of X-Man is a 30-plus-issue crossover comprised of an alpha issue, six miniseries and an omega issue, all of it guided by architects Lonnie Nadler and Zac Thompson and written and drawn by a slew of Marvel’s current rising talent, including Leah Williams, Vita Ayala and Seanan McGuire. We don’t expect most (if any) of these dramatic overhauls to stick, but we’re all-in at the prospect of an alternate-universe X-Men moment—and the promise of big, bold newness to follow. Age of X-Man: Alpha launches the whole shebang this week, introducing readers to the “Marvelous” new X-Men and planting seeds for each of the other stories while dropping hints that maybe the Age of X-Man isn’t as utopian as it seems. Steve Foxe
Captain America #7
Writer: Ta-Nehisi Coates
Artist: Adam Kubert
Publisher: Marvel Comics
We adored Ta-Nehisi Coates’ first arc on Marvel’s patriotic superhero—not because it was the standalone fresh start one might expect, but because it cast an unflinching eye right back at Captain America’s darkest moments. The 2015-2017 Nick Spencer-led Secret Empire mega-arc was controversial from the start, revealing that Captain America was (kinda sorta) a Hydra sleeper agent all along. While the series eventually introduced a contrivance that walked back some of the implications of “Hydra-Cap,” the damage was done: a man who looked and talked like Steve Rogers used America’s faith in the flag to install a Nazi-like regime. No one would have blamed Marvel for trying to pretend it never happened, but Coates and initial collaborator Leinil Francis Yu addressed Secret Empire head on, with Rogers reflecting on how he can possibly regain America’s trust even as his enemies seek to weaponize the fiasco against him. This week, Coates kicks off his second arc, joined by artist Adam Kubert. Kubert’s typically boisterous style seems reigned in here, which fits the somber mood as Rogers must decide between turning himself in or facing arrest for the murder of a high-ranking military officer whose back was broken…by a shield. Readers who’ve always struggled with Cap’s form of vigilante patriotism will want to get onboard now, as Coates clearly plans to address any contradictions head-on. Steve Foxe
