This week, we’re closing out the month with some spooky new series, some newly announced future titles from Marvel, Danny DeVito and Brendan Fraser, and DC’s library showing off some gems- but not the DC library you may guess.
Marvel:
This week, Spider-Man has begun spinning the winding web that I expect to lead us towards the premiere of the next installment the Spider-Man film series. This week, Marvel dropped a digital first series on the Marvel app called Spine-Tingling Spider-Man, whose theme song I shared in last week’s wrap-up. In it, Spider-Man deals with some strange dreams he can’t quite remember bothering his sleep and making crime-fighting more difficult. But it appears as though those dreams are beginning to bleed into his reality. New issues will be released every other Tuesday for this eight-issue limited horror series. And as someone who has read it- keep your lights on until that last panel, y’all. Because I didn’t and read it with the song playing. And now I’m traumatized until the next issue drops.
Following this week’s spider theme, Savage Spider-Man is a new series Marvel just announced that will be following the Non-Stop Spider-Man series in February. From the little bit they’ve teased, it seems Peter Parker might be turning into a giant scary hairy spider-monster, so, I’m down for that.
Savage Spider-Man was only one of the title announcements for 2022 Marvel made this week. Also blazing in next year is a new Ghost Rider series, kicking off a celebration of the character’s fiftieth anniversary. Marvel also posted a tweet calling 2022 “The Year of Vengeance”. While it’s possible the image they shared- which featured many of the characters who have taken the mantle of the spirit of vengeance- could just be a variant cover for the new series, I would be willing to guess there’s a limited series event coming our way in 2022 featuring all of the Ghost Riders.
Speaking of taking on mantles, Marvel also announced a new five issue series of Iron Fist dropping in 2022 as well. The current Iron Fist, Danny Rand, gave up his powers in the current Iron Fist title. In this new series, Rand finds someone who seems to have the powers Rand sacrificed, but how? As Marvel is still dealing with fallout from the C.B. Cebulski situation in 2017, the same time the Netflix show bombed, but also brought up conversations about representation and cultural appropriation, it’s exciting to see representation in the book’s creative team. Plus, the for the project is Alyssa Wong and we know I’m always asking for more female comic creators.
In terms of female comic professionals, Marvel also welcomed back their podcast Women of Marvel this week. The first of the eight-episode season released on Thursday, and started looking at how the pandemic changed fans’ relationships with the content and how creators used social media to express themselves during that time. The episode is available to stream from Apple Podcasts or the Marvel website.
DC:
Things were a little quieter on the other side of the publishing offices this week. DC didn’t have nearly the amount of announcements this week as Marvel did (probably because we’re all still dealing with our feelings about The Batman trailer.) They also didn’t have quite the same push for “Halloween” content as Marvel did either.
A few of this week’s newly released comics really leaned into the Halloween spirit with Batman: The Long Halloween Special, DC Vs. Vampires and Task Force Z. I talked a little about The Long Halloween Special in part two of my Halloween posts, so I’m not going to talk too much about it here.
Task Force Z leans heavily on the anti-hero team-up trend that’s popular right now. While I’m totally into seeing Jason Todd taking charge of a team, the first issue sets up major suicide squad vibes. I’m not a huge fan of Suicide Squad, but the idea of Jason in charge of a team of zombified villains was enough to get me to pick up the book. It was fun, but it’s not my style. However for someone who loves the dark humor and violence of Suicide Squad, it will be a great fit.
Another book for the Halloween vibes is issue #1 of DC vs Vampires, which features a legion of pointy-teeth baddies turning the villain of the DC universe into more vampires- setting their sights on turning the heroes. Of course, Batman is taking on the case because, well, bats and vampires. It’s a thing. While I wasn’t super into Task Force Z, DC vs Vampires actually was a really good read for me. I love James Tynion IV (he’s made multiple appearances in my Halloween posts this week and we still have one more post to go.) and so I wasn’t shocked that I enjoyed the writing so much. My favorite part was the surprise turning of one of the Justice League knowing for his biting sense of humor into a vampire. I wasn’t planning on adding this book to my pull list, but I did enjoy it enough to debate it. If I don’t, I think I’ll order the collected volume that we can probably count on showing up in 2022.
We also got a sneak peek at an upcoming Bat-book releasing next month. Gotham City Villains Anniversary Giant #1 will be a 100-page giant focusing on some of the best and baddest of Batman’s rouge gallery. An anthology of multiple stories about Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, The al Ghul’s, Mad Hatter, Killer Moth, The (original) Red Hood, Catwoman, and Penguin. However, even if you’re not a villain’s fan, you’re going to want to order a copy of this book. Each story is written by a different author, and Penguin is going to the main man himself. That’s right. Danny DeVito has written what’s described as “fun heist story/romance between The Penguin and his “crush” from Batman Returns, Catwoman.” So, if you love Danny Devito’s work, I’d preorder this one, as I feel like it’s going to be a real collector’s item. (Also, if you’re an Ivy fan, because the Ivy variant cover is stunning and I had no shame in picking it for this section’s image instead of Danny DeVito.) It’s really neat to see someone like DeVito, who is responsible for Penguin being as iconic as he is today, coming back to revisit the role and the storytelling in a new medium. As time has progressed and we see titles like Batman ’66, Batman ’89 and Superman ’78 which are directly set in the multiversal words of the films and television shows of those year, the lines between comics and movie are blending in a really exciting way.
In other exciting DC Comics movie news, the HBOmax Batgirl film starring Leslie Grace has cast the villain. The rumors say we’ll be seeing Barbara Gordon facing off against the original version of the Firefly villain, Garfield Lynns. Firefly is most often portrayed as a pyromaniac with homicidal tendencies. And who to cast to play such a man, but someone the internet is full of burning love for- Brendan Fraser. Currently starring on the HBOMax series Doom Patrol as the voice/flashback actor for DC character Robotman.
I am one of those fans of Fraser’s who quotes his films at the most inopportune moments- most often yelling “I’d have enjoyed this interview a lot more if I had gotten my CUP OF COFFEE” at my friends- so this was a hugely exciting piece of news for me. I was already excited for Batgirl and to add my beloved Brendan Fraser to the cast is more than I could dare hope for. I cannot wait.
Other News:
Finally, in the other DC I was talking about, the Library of Congress has put a selection of comics and pop culture literature donated by Steve Geppi in 2018 on display. I was lucky enough to go to Geppi’s Entertainment Museum in 2017. I was very saddened when I heard it had closed and I can’t wait to get a chance to check out some of the incredible collectables I didn’t get a chance to see in the museum in their new spot in the Library of Congress! While the LOC does require tickets and pre-registration, you can also check out the virtual version of the Geppi’s Gems exhibit here!
With a little vacation in mind as a treat, I wish you all a very happy halloween weekend! And if you’re in the mood for some festivities, you can read part one and part two of my Halloween week special posts and check back tomorrow for the final section- Many a Quaint and Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore.
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