The Marvel Now! renumbering of Daredevil means big changes for The Man Without Fear, even though the storytellers will remain the same. Waid and Samnee have both teased the end to their award winning run on Daredevil. We covered tweets and confirmations from them both. We should have known that news like that around Halloween can often times be a trick, but in this situation we’ve been rewarded with a treat. It also appears that we’re in for a price bump of a dollar on the popular title when it reboots with issue #1. The good news for fans though, is that at that price point, the book should come with Marvel’s bonus digital edition.

The big change that Waid has in store for Matt Murdock is a coast change, and that kind of news has the comics world buzzing. What would drive Matt to move from Hell’s Kitchen to San Francisco? What will the digital Marvel Infinite comics have to do with the Marvel Now! title and will Javier Rodriguez and Joe Caramanga continue to work on the book alongside Waid and Samnee? Some of those questions will be answered soon, but until March of 2014 all we have is this Q&A over at Marvel.com, Samnee’s Twitter feed, and the official word from Marvel Comics below:

New York, NY – November 26^th, 2013 – You just can’t keep the Man Without Fear down! Matt Murdock makes his All-New Marvel NOW! debut with an exciting new monthly series starting with Daredevil #1 this March!

 

Beloved by critics and fans alike, Eisner-Award winning storytellers Mark Waid (Captain America, The Amazing Spider-Man) and Chris Samnee (Thor: The Mighty Avenger) re-team to take Marvel’s fearless hero in a bold new direction – starting with a move to The City by the Bay!

 

Spinning out of the groundbreaking new Infinite Comic series Daredevil: Road Warrior, Daredevil #1 marks a new start for Matt Murdock. Armed with an imperceptible radar sense and a passion for justice – the blind lawyer from Hell’s Kitchen is ready to make his mark on the Golden City’s streets. But, San Francisco local vigilante, The Shroud is already keeping the street safe – and he’s not ready to share the spotlight!

 

Big changes are in store for the Man Without Fear – as old haunts and familiar faces emerge ready to give the devil his due!

 

“Mark and Chris (along with Javier Rodriguez and Joe Caramagna) have made history on Daredevil over the past couple years,” said Senior Editor Stephen Wacker. “But their new plans for the Man Without Fear are their most exciting yet. This is a perfect place to jump on see what everyone is talking about.”

 

Every FIRST ISSUE bearing the All New Marvel NOW! branding includes a code for a free digital copy of that same comic on the Marvel Comics app for iOS and Android devices.

 

Once again, the biggest creators bring you the biggest characters in the biggest stories…and it’s happening NOW!

 

Daredevil #1 strikes this March!  For more on Moon Knight & All-New Marvel NOW!, please visit now.marvel.com and join in the conversation on Twitter with hashtag #MarvelNOW.

Preview art courtesy of Marvel Entertainment, LLC

Think Geek has these incredible Iron Man 3 Arc Reactor coasters. They come in a set of 4 so you and your friends can make your spirit of choice glow arc reactor blue. They have an on/off switch as well as a battery conserving auto off function that shuts them down after 5 minutes. They’ll set you back $30 + shipping. You’re on your own for finding a Jarvis to pour your drinks.

When I first started to collect comics, Ninja Turtles were my drug of choice. I went for Ninja Turtles and nothing but. Soon however, I found that Turtles alone couldn’t sate my thirst and for whatever reason I gravitated to Spiderman. He’s been my favorite hero ever since (though Iron Man gives him a run for his money). By now the Spiderman section on my shelf almost rivals the Turtles section and on occasion I go back and read some of my favorites. The longest complete run I have is Marvel Knights Spiderman, it ran 23 issues (before being renamed, Sensational Spiderman, and handed to a new creative team) so I read it from time to time.

MK Spiderman was written by Mark Millar of Civil War and Kick-Ass fame, among other things. Though originally slated to be written by Kevin Smith, scheduling conflicts resulted in it being handed to Millar. While I love me some Kevin Smith, Millar churned out a great book.

Issue one begins a four part arc titled “Down Among the Dead Men” which, in a nutshell, is the story of Peter’s identity being discovered by an unknown figure and the dangers that presents to him and his family.

Issue #1 opens on two restaurant employees taking out the trash when they discover Spiderman laying in a pile of trash looking fairly badly beaten with tufts of hair sticking out through his torn mask. The Green Goblin appears tossing pumpkin bombs into the alley, Spiderman narrowly saves the two restaurateurs before giving chase to the Goblin.

They leave the alleyway and break into the main streets of the city. During their exchanges it becomes apparent that both Spidey and the Goblin aware of the true identity of their opponent. Spiderman fights hard, gouging eyes and ultimately beating the Goblin with a mailbox at the suggestion of an onlooker. I’m not talking about a simply little neighborhood mailbox, but a big bulky R2-D2 looking official postal service drop box. The Goblin doesn’t get up.

For some reason the crowd begins to turn on Spidey, saying he went overboard, that he could have caused brain damage. That he’s dangerous and reckless, and they threaten to call the police. Spidey leaves the Goblin hanging web cuffed and leaves the scene, returning home.

When he gets to Aunt May’s house he’s greeted by May and Mary Jane, they are packing things up for Aunt May to move into the city. She’s finally ready to leave the house and thinks it would be best to have a family in it again. She’s gotten an apartment in the city near Peter and MJ. Peter vomits into the sink and takes a dozen Tylenol to dull the pain.

Aunt May, though worried goes to record the news footage, saying she wouldn’t be much of an Aunt if she didn’t record her nephew’s heroics. It’s clear that she and Mary Jane are both aware of Peter’s little hobby.

Note: The story, save a handful of details, is one we’ve seen before. Spidey balancing being a masked hero with his normal life. What makes Millar’s take special is the dialogue and the way the characters are handled. He makes them real, three dimensional with bits like Peter’s discovery of Iron Man tapes alongside his own. It turns out May records him too because she has a bit of a crush on Stark. “It’s the little mustache sweetie.” she says “Don’t you think it makes him look like Ronald Colman?”

Peter and Aunt May reminisce in his old bedroom and embrace. As a mysterious figure watches from a tree across the street. Cut to Peter in a classroom. He’s a science teacher. The students say they Googled his name and found out that he used to be a photographer for the Bugle and got all the Spiderman pictures, the conversation turns to how he’s married to a supermodel, Mary Jane, the class breaks into a gossip discussion about the details of his life. Peter wonders if they do background checks on all their new teachers.

In the midst of the conversation another teacher enters the room and tells Peter he has a phone call from city hall. Someone has vandalized Uncle Ben’s headstone. While he’s at the cemetery surveying the damage he gets another call, assuming it’s from Aunt May’s new apartment, he answers. On the other end of the phone is the mysterious figure that had previously been watching him with a voice, as Peter later says, like cut glass.

The figure on the other end of the line congratulates Peter on finally taking down the Green Goblin and laments he cities inability to differentiate between heroes and villains, he cites the Goblin filing charges on Spiderman for assault. Peter is shocked, someone has called his personal phone and knows that he is Spiderman.

He protests, saying there must be some mistake. But the figure on the other line tells him to stop being childish and asks if defiling Uncle Ben’s grave was enough to convince him or if he would have to do something truly terrible. Peter asks what he wants and he responds saying that he simply wants Peter to know how bad things can quickly get when something so simple as his real name falls into the wrong hands.

Peter leaves the cemetery and swings across the city out of costume. There’s no time for a change. He reaches Aunt May’s new apartment and crashes through a closed window. The interior has been ransacked and Aunt May is nowhere in sight.

First issues are hard to review, they are like origin story movies. They set the stage so you sort of just have to roll with them. The real test is where the story will go from here. Personally I think where it goes is pretty cool, which is why we are talking about it now. Stay tuned for issue #2 or if you simply can’t wait, hit your local comic shop or favorite digital site and pick them up.

Cheers.

Mark Waid has had compliments and praise for Thrillbent which is setting the standard in digital comics storytelling. It would appear that Marvel Comics wants to tap into this and add Mark’s tallents to their Infinite Comics line. It’s all but announced that Waid and Samnee will be leaving their fan favorite and Eisner award winning run on Daredevil with issue #36. The story will continue, however only digitally. For more information, check the official statement from Marvel Comics after the preview art break.

Preview art courtesy of Marvel Comics:

New York, NY – October 31^st, 2013 – Gear up for a road trip unlike anything you’ve ever experienced as Matt Murdock heads west in Daredevil: Road Warrior – the latest game-changing Infinite Comic hitting digital devices this February! Following other blockbuster Infinite Comic series like Wolverine: Japan’s Most Wanted & Iron Man: Fatal Frontier,Daredevil: Road Warrior is designed specifically for mobile devices and fully embraces the technological opportunities – while still staying true to the medium’s greatest strengths!

 

Acclaimed Daredevil writer Mark Waid teams with artist Peter Krause to take Matt Murdock on a brand new journey full of adventure, excitement, and more than a few dangers! Launching the week after Daredevil #36, the final issue of Waid’s and artist Chris Samnee’s award-winning series – Daredevil: Road Warrior finds the Man Without Fear beginning his coast-to-coast journey from the Big Apple to sunny California!

 

“Matt’s beginning a whole new chapter in his life following the events of Daredevil #36, and he’s excited but apprehensive at the same time,” Waid said in an interview with Marvel.com. “You can be a Man Without Fear and still be a little worried about where the next paycheck is coming from. Daredevil: Road Warrior is a coast-to-coast adventure/chase with thrills aplenty.”

Is the west coast a new beginning for the Man Without Fear? Or can you take the crimefighter out of the city – but never the city out of the crimefighter? Find out as Daredevil begins his grand journey this February in Daredevil: Road Warrior!

 

Available right at your fingertips, these new Infinite Comics will be available for purchase this February on the Marvel Comics app (for iPhone®, iPad®, iPod Touch® & Android^TMdevices) and online in the Marvel Digital Comics Shop!

Marvel Comics has just announced new previews of the upcoming Origin II. The series is highly anticipated because the first was such a critical darling. Included below is the announcement from Marvel Comics. After the announcement, take a look at the juicy preview pages and then let us know what you think of the upcoming next chapter in Wolverine’s origin story.

This December, experience an all-new chapter in the secret origin of one of Marvel’s most mysterious characters – but first, Marvel is proud to present your new look at ORIGIN II #1! ORIGIN II, the five part landmark comic event, brought to you by the all-star creative team of Kieron Gillen & Adam Kubert, chronicles an untold tale of the man who would become the Wolverine. One that shapes the hero he was destined to become!

Set a few years after the events of Origin, ORIGIN II finds James Howlett running with the wolves…until something unexpected brings him back into the world he left behind. Follow the first X-Man as he finds his way back to civilization and runs afoul of someone Sinister. Someone who has just discovered mutantkind for the first time. Plus, discover the shocking secret behind James’ greatest foe! Now he must choose: is he man or is he beast?

Plus, don’t miss out on Marvel’s most ambitious cover treatment yet! In celebration of this landmark series, Marvel is giving ORIGIN II #1 the red carpet treatment with a special acetate cover! Gorgeously rendered by superstar artist Adam Kubert, this unique cover features an ominous base layer underneath a second acetate layer of the clawed mutant entering the fray! Click here to see the cover in action on Marvel.com. A special sneak peek of the acetate cover was sent to retailers for preview and features a Sinister surprise underneath the ominous base layer.

Written by: KIERON GILLEN
Art & Cover by: ADAM KUBERT
Variant Covers by: SALVADOR LARROCCA &
SKOTTIE YOUNG
FOC: 11/04/13 ON-SALE – 12/25/13

Marvel has just released preview pages for next months issue of Daredevil #33. A carry over storyline from this months issue #32, Daredevil will continue to fight supernatural forces. The cliff hanger at the end of issue #32 was a doozy so enjoy these panels after the official Marvel statement below. Before we get to that though, some sad news from Chris Samnee’s Twitter feed:

According to the tweet, he has linked to an upcoming cover to what will be the last issue of Mark Waid’s Eisner award winning run on Daredevil. The solicit for issue 36 isn’t out yet, so if Samnee’s tweet is correct, issue #36 will be the final issue in that series. I’m sure we’ll be seeing another Marvel Now! reboot shortly after but for fans of the Mark Waid run, that will probably not be good enough. 

This November, Matt battles for survival against supernatural foes unlike any other in the terrifying Daredevil #33! From the award-winning creative team of Mark Waid and Chris Samnee comes one of the strangest Daredevil tales yet! The Man Without Fear’s quest to end the Sons of the Serpent organization has put him in the undead clutches of the ghastly Legion of Monsters! Now, Daredevil must battle against Zombies, Werewolves, Mummies, and even the Daughter of Satan! Not to mention the Sons of the Serpent themselves! With these frightening foes closing in, is it possible the Man Without Fear might just be afraid of something after all? Don’t miss th shocking Daredevil #33 for the answer! 

Preview Pages Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Chis Samnee
Publication Date: November 20, 2013
Price: $2.99

Chris Samnee’s Cover to Issue #36 of Daredevil he included in his tweet:

With just over two weeks before opening to wide audiences, the news concerning Thor: The Dark World keeps coming. Yesterday Moviefone posted an exclusive clip on their Youtube page. The clip, included below, is a minute long and focuses primarily on scenes between Thor (Chris Hemsworth) & his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston). The effects look great and seeing Hiddleston makes me glad that Loki is getting his own Marvel Now! book this Winter.

In addition to the new clip, Geek Prime posted an article here concerning the after credit sequence in Thor: The Dark World. Their claim is that an unnamed source has said there are two scenese in the credits of Thor: The Dark World and that they setup Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers 3. That’s something just about anyone could have guessed but they have more details we can only call speculation and rumor until more sources confirm the content of those scenes. If you’re not squimish about spoilers, here is that link again over at Geek Prime. After that, if you haven’t seen the 15 minutes of b-roll from the film, visit our Big Shiny Robot coverage here. Don’t forget to tweet me about all things Thor @MarkAvo.

Marvel is no longer a stranger to the Japanese market with their Anime adaptations of Iron Man, Wolverine, The X-Men, Blade and lets not forget Stan Lee’s Heroman, their doing pretty well in the of land of the rising coin I’d say.

So with Avengers 2 coming up naturally it’s a great time to make a brand new Avengers Anime but not so fast fanboys, the press release we have tells us that this show is targeted mostly towards Japanese boys ages 6-12 and the characters all look they’ve had some heavy re-designs. Is it just me or do Cap and Thor look like Mega Man X and Zero? I can’t be the only who sees this.

One more observation I have is look at the kids in the back ground, notice how there’s one for each of our heros? If I had to hazard a guess with my trained Anime eye (stop laughing) I’d say each one of our heros will have a partner. We may be looking at the first ever Avengers show that works just like digimon… Maybe I do want to see this?

Meguro-ku, Tokyo, October 23, 2013 — The Walt Disney Company (Japan) Ltd. announced today that it will produce the first Japanese Marvel animated television series targeted at boys. Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers is based on Marvel’s most popular team of Super Heroes, The Avengers and will premiere nationwide on terrestrial television in spring 2014.

 

      Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers will be produced by Nerima-ku, Tokyo-based Toei Animation Co., Ltd., which has produced multiple successful animated series for kids in Japan. Taito-ku, Tokyo-based Bandai Co., Ltd., which has a highly successful track record with major titles, will be responsible for character merchandising. The three companies will collaborate in creating a fully localized Japanese series as well as providing a lineup of attractive products and merchandise targeting the boys market.

 

      The story will revolve around how The Avengers – Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Hulk together with the help of Spider-Man and a group of teens, will harness their respective fighting skills and superhuman powers to foil Loki’s scheme to take over the world. Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers will target boys in the 6-12 age group.

 

      Walt Disney Japan, through its local content strategy—delivering content tailored to meet the needs of local consumers—is actively localizing content to fit the tastes and sensibilities of Japanese audiences. Though the company has produced and broadcast several localized programs, from the animated short-form series Fireball in 2008, Disney’s first animated series produced entirely in Japan, to Stitch!, which stars the popular Disney character with a change of setting from Hawaii to Okinawa. Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers will be its first animated television series specifically targeted at boys and will delight Japanese viewers with an entirely new action-packed storyline that unfolds before their eyes in a high quality 2D animated format. Most recently, this Super Hero team was seen in the 2012 live-action movie, Marvel’s The Avengers, with a world-wide box office revenue that exceeded $1.5 billion and was the third-top grossing film of all time.

 

      Through this collaboration, Marvel, Walt Disney Japan, Japan’s top animation studio Toei Animation, and character merchandising leader Bandai will together leverage their respective strengths to deliver a television series for nationwide broadcast and a range of merchandise that is sure to breathe new life into the boys market in Japan.

Chan, a street magician in Hong Kong is getting heckled for some lame tricks. He spots an attractive woman in a flowered dress, then wows the crowd with a quickly summoned fire-ball.  He brings the girl home, she tells him he’s special, then abducts him.

Agent Ward is evaluating Skye’s critical thinking skills through a wicked game of Battleship. They play cute, and riff on classic 80’s commercials. Coulson is restless, and Agent May is trying to get him to spar and loosen up. The team gets a message that Chan is missing, and things get interesting.

Turns out SHIELD has an Index that they use to keep tabs on people who have developed powers. Stop using your powers, and SHIELD leaves you alone. Start using them, like Chan has, and your SHIELD case worker is probably going to pay you a visit and remind you of the Power Protocols. Since Chan has been using his Pyrokinetic abilities in his act, his case worked stopped by and noticed he was missing.

Also, Rising Tide, Skye’s hacktivist group, has been hacking SHIELD’s database. Skye is in a bit of trouble here, so she promises to track down the party responsible for the leak.

This is great: SHIELD is into some murky stuff, doing a lot of things that you know the Agents don’t necessarily agree with. Simmons jokes about body probes and blanches when Coulson doesn’t discount that as a SHIELD sanctioned tactic. Chan thinks he has been abducted by SHIELD, so you get the feeling that those that know about SHIELD have every reason to be paranoid.

The mystery lady in the flowered dress offers to help Chan increase his powers, become something great. She asks if Chan has ever heard of Steven Rogers, Chan hasn’t; but Captain America? That’s a whole other story. She tells Chan he will be known by the name Scorch (another Marvel Universe character).

Skye? Oh, Skye. She might really be a bad, bad person. Or, she might be really good at sexpionage. Needless to say, she gets herself into some serious trouble and strains her relationship with Coulson. It’s also good to know that Coulson hasn’t been naively trusting Skye, and actually puts a tail on her when she’s not with the team.

Chan gets an injection that makes his powers much stronger, he can summon fountains of flame and hurl pretty sizeable fireballs. I should also mention that the people that abducted Chan were wearing shiny radiation suits. Please, PLEASE let this be AIM. I would seriously lose my mind if AIM ends up being the counter-force to SHIELD. Seriously, Joss. I will wash you damned car. Make it AIM. Give me my army of Gimps in yellow (even metallic gold is okay) bee-keeper suits. Whatever this group is, they are ruthless, and using previously established tech to attain their goals.

Agents of SHIELD is continuing to build momentum. The team is feeling more and more like a real team, Coulson is a flat out stud, the Rising Tide actually has some pretty nifty tricks, and the nefarious bad-guy (whatever it is) is becoming a really fun mystery. Everything with the Superhero Index, the Powers Protocol, and the mysterious Girl in the Flowered Dress was great. Agent May is really menacing at times (she kicks SO MUCH ASS), and I’m pretty sure Skye is much, MUCH more than she appears. The finale is pretty epic, with the whole team kicking some ass together.

Anything not to like? Simmons is still pretty useless, and Fitz might be so, too, but is too damned cute for me to care. Ward is getting a little less stiff, but the show really belongs to Coulson, Skye, and May. I also really liked Agent Qwan, and was really hoping to see more of him… but that hope got burned out of existence.

A new poster hit the Captain America Facebook page. Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” poster. There will also be a teaser trailer posted exclusivley on itunes in just two days.