Whew!

Another Wolverine Files update — this time, 014: Weapon X Origins.

Check it out and let me know what you think…

And a status update on the previous chapter, 013: Secret Agent Man, Eh?

I will wait to add Wolverine: Manifest Destiny and Wolverine: Agent of Atlas (see Part I and Part II) until those respective series come to a close. I’ve had too many problems trying to include ongoing storylines, so for the most part, I will wait for them to conclude before adding them to the chronology…

Marvel Apes #1
Cover: John Watson
“Apes of Wrath”
Writer: Karl Kesel
Artist: Ramon Bachs

“The Official History of the Marvel Apes Universe, Part 1: When Simians Clash”
Writer: Tom Peyer
Art: Barry Kitson

I love monkeys.

I’ve seen every “Planet of the Apes” movie.

I followed Roddy McDowell’s career simply because of the way he portrayed Cornelius.

Hell, I even named my business, Typing Monkeys.

So believe me when I say that I was looking forward to ‘Marvel Apes’.

That is until I read the first issue.

‘Marvel Apes’ is dreadful. It’s not funny. It’s overly verbose. The characters are less than two-dimensional. I could go on and on.

The only saving grace is the artwork by Barry Kitson in the backup story. Artwork that is truly spectacular and quite evocative of Arthur Adams in his prime.

Certainly worth flipping through at your local comic book store. But not worth the $3.99 cover price.

And Wolverine? He graces only the cover.

From Marvel (preview):
“Flingin’ feces, True Believer– the entire Marvel Universe has gone APE!
Just when he thinks life can’t get any worse or weirder, Marty Blank – a.k.a. that lovable loser, the Gibbon — finds himself and the brilliant-and-beautiful Dr. Fiona Fitzhugh transported to a world where monkeys rule and humans don’t exist!
SEE the spectacular simian city of Monkhattan!
MEET the hominoid heroes and villains – SPIDER-MONKEY! DOC OOK! IRON MANDRILL! SIMIAN TORCH! THE APE-VENGERS! And more!
THRILL to the return of Speedball!
CONTAINS No-Ads, as we are thrilled to present you backup tales exploring the Apeiverse!
LEARN the dark secret of the primate planet!
WORRY that the fate of the entire universe is in the hands of the Gibbon!
Not a hoax, not a dream, not an imaginary story – just the most not-to-be-missed mini-series of the season! If you only buy one (well, two) comics this month about super-powered, intelligent apes-in-capes, it must be MARVEL APES!” On sale September 4, 2008.

Marvel Adventures The Avengers #26
Cover: Leonard Kirk

You can barely make him out, but Wolverine is standing in the corner of the dugout. That’s as close as he gets to the latest issue of ‘Marvel Adventures the Avengers’.

And we can all thank God for small favors as this story is especially dreadful, even by Marvel Adventures’ standards.

From Marvel (preview): “It’s the bottom of the ninth, the Avengers are down by two, two strikes down and bases loaded. The stakes for the Cosmic Pennant have never been higher. How will Galactus call this one? Okay… we admit. We have no idea what’s going on in this story. Kirk drew the cover, and now Parker has to come up with something. THAT’S GOOD COMICS!!!” On sale July 16, 2008.

GeNext #1
Cover: Doug Gregory Alexander

Chris Claremont continues the storyline he began in the ‘X-Men: The End’ trilogy, chronicling the next generation of X-Men.

Luckily it’s not as verbose as one might expect coming from Claremont.

And while Wolverine only barely cameos on the cover, it is a safe bet he will make an appearance later in the run.

From Marvel (preview): “You asked for it, X-Fans, and now, you got it! Marvel.com asked you what Chris Claremont’s next project should be. You, the fans, said you wanted to know what today’s new generation of X-Men would be like if the Marvel Universe aged in real-time! Who are the children of the X-Men? And what happened to the original team, Professor X, and Magneto after over 30 years of conflict, victories, and tragedies? Now, at last, the answers arrive as beloved X-Men scribe Chris Claremont reveals an all-new generation of mutant teens!”
On sale May 14, 2008.

Avengers/Invaders #1
Cover: Alex Ross

Awesome cover by Alex Ross (see larger version here) featuring Wolverine as part of the New Avengers.

Unfortunately, no Wolverine on the inside.

All in all, a very auspicious start to what promises to be an interesting series.

From Marvel: “The original Invaders (Captain America , Bucky , Human Torch , Toro , and the Sub-Mariner) return in a twelve issue maxi-series by the award winning team behind EARTH X, Justice and Project Superpowers .The greatest super-team of World War II finds themselves transported from the battlefields of the Second World War to a future they never imagined! Now, the Invaders find themselves confronted by two teams of Avengers who want desperately to believe these heroes are who they say they are, while Tony Stark faces his greatest challenge since the Civil War as he must deal with the ‘return’ of Steve Rogers. Confronted by a world they barely recognize, the Invaders will have to show two teams of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes just what kind of power, courage and sheer determination it took to defeat the forces of unrelenting evil in the Twentieth century. In fact… they may just have to do it again in the Twenty-First. ” On sale May 7, 2008.

I’ve decided to unveil a new category: Covers — issues that only feature Wolverine on the cover, but not in the story itself. For the inaugural post, we have two issues, one from last week (March 26) and one from this week (April 2)…

Marvel Atlas #2
Cover: Staz Johnson

From Marvel: “Your only guide to Marvel’s Earth concludes! Antarctica, Africa, the Middle East, and North, Central and South America are highlighted as the Marvel Atlas plans your trip to Wakanda, Atlantis, the Savage Land, Sky Island and the U.S.A. (home of a super hero or two)! Visit the realms of the Black Panther, the Initiative, Omega Flight, the Sub-Mariner, Ka-Zar and more…” On sale March 26, 2008.
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Young X-Men #1
Cover: Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson

From Marvel: “In the wake of Messiah CompleX, there are no X-Men and young mutants Rockslide, Blindfold and Dust are alone and directionless. Until the day Cyclops recruits them to hunt the new incarnation of the Brotherhood – and kill them. Joined by a pair of new recruits, the young X-Men learn a hard truth about the world post-Messiah CompleX: sometimes old allies make for deadly enemies.” On sale April 2, 2008.
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