Panini UK relaunch Astonishing Spider-Man

Panini UK's fortnightly comic The Astonishing Spider-Man gets another relaunch with a new No.1 this Thursday, 15th January.

The comic's previous run ends with issue 33 (on sale now) which concludes the 'Superior Spider-Man' story arc of Doctor Octopus inhabiting the mind of Peter Parker. A controversial story, but one which I really liked. Personally I've never been a huge fan of Spider-Man comics. I liked Steve Ditko's run in the sixties, and the issues that John Romita inked himself in 1972, but otherwise I've been fairly indifferent to the strips. (Although I've still followed it on and off over the decades.) However, since Dan Slott took over the writing duties several years ago he's really turned the Spider-Man strip around, providing good solid escapist fun and various twists and turns. Having Doc Ock as an arrogant Spider-Man provided a lot of laughs. 

With the new Astonishing Spider-Man No.1, Peter Parker has regained control of his own mind and body and the status quo is restored. And in Parker's life that means various ups and downs, including dealing with people who Doc Ock had cheesed off (as most people didn't know Parker had been 'taken over').

Along with other material, The Astonishing Spider-Man No.1 reprints the American Marvel comic The Amazing Spider-Man No.1 from June 2014, which was the top selling comic of the year (see news item on Down The Tubes). Story by Dan Slott, artwork by Humberto Ramos. 

This is the fifth renumbering of The Astonishing Spider-Man, a comic which dates back to 1995. Prior to that, Marvel UK had been publishing Spider-Man under various titles since Spider-Man Comics Weekly in 1973. And before that, reprints of Spider-Man's early adventures had appeared in Pow! (1967/68), Smash! and Pow! (1968) and TV21 (1970/71). Selected Spider-Man reprints also appeared randomly in various Alan Class comics in the 1960s. 

The Astonishing Spider-Man No.1, on sale 15th January from WH Smiths and other shops. 100 pages for £3.50. 

New look for Marvel Legends in October

Next month, Marvel Legends becomes the last of Panini's six Marvel Collectors' Editions titles to be revamped with a Marvel Now! branding. Following its sister publications such as The Mighty World of Marvel and Avengers Universe, the comic will restart with a new No.1 and have a slight redesign including a new logo. 

Marvel Legends (which I've always considered to be the modern equivalent of Odhams' Fantastic) features individual stories of Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America and this line-up continues in the new look issue. It will be an ideal 'jumping on point' for new and lapsed readers as the first issue begins new story arcs for all three strips. 

The last issue in the current series, No.102 (shown below) is in shops now, and the new Marvel Legends No.1 goes on sale on October 16th, still at £3.50.

New Pocket Books from Panini

Panini UK have just announced the publication of three new Marvel Pocket Books. If you haven't encountered these books before they're excellent full colour paperback compilations of classic Marvel strips. Bookshops will be able to order them for you if they don't have them in stock already, and they'll also be available on Amazon.

I'm particularly pleased to see a Deathlok the Demolisher collection for this, his 40th anniversary year. This cyborg saga was my favourite Marvel comic back in 1974, and seemed so modern and edgy for its time. 

Here's all the info from Samuel Taylor who worked on the books...

Fans of classic Marvel comics!

We at Panini Towers are proud to announce the release of three new Pocketbooks – Rocket Raccoon: Guardian of the Keystone Quadrant (Rocket Raccoon #1-4, Tales to Astonish #13, Marvel Preview #7 and Incredible Hulk #271), Uncanny X-Men: The Trial of Magneto (X-Men #195-200) and Deathlok the Demolisher (Astonishing Tales #25-28 and #30-35)!

Whether you’ve fallen for Rocket Raccoon after his breakout appearance in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, discovered the dastardly Deathlok in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., or want to learn the final fate of the X-Men’s greatest enemy, there’s something for everyone in our latest batch of Marvel pocketbooks! Available from all good bookshops and online retailers, Panini's pocketbooks remain one of the best deals in all of comicdon!

They're available right now, so go out there and MAKE YOURS MARVEL!

Excelsior,

Samuel

PS If you're in the market for some mighty Marvel mastery, the ISBN numbers are as follows...

Rocket Raccoon: Guardian of the Keystone Quadrant - 978-1-84653-193-4

Uncanny X-Men: The Trial of Magneto - 978-1-84653-204-7

Deathlok the Demolisher: Origins – 978-1-84653-194-1

More Marvel relaunches for the UK

As reported here a few weeks ago, Panini UK's Marvel reprint monthlies are currently undergoing a relaunch. When the stories within the comics reach the 'Marvel NOW!' point (which instigated significant changes in the American originals), each title is being given a facelift and a renumbering at No.1.

The new first issues of Avengers Universe and The Mighty World of Marvel are in the shops now, and on July 17th Wolverine and Deadpool No.1 hits the stands. Two weeks later, on July 31st, a new volume of Essential X-Men begins.

This will only leave Marvel Legends with its original numbering for now, but that title reaches a significant point too, with No.100 published on July 24th. Marvel Legends will also be revamped in a few month's time, when its stories catch up to the Marvel NOW! issues.

All of these special issues have 100 pages for the usual price of £3.50 and are available from WH Smith, selected newsagents, and comic speciality shops. 

British Marvel NOW!

Over a year ago, Marvel Comics in the USA instigated their Marvel NOW! relaunch for most of their core titles. New first issues, often new creative teams, even costume changes for several characters. Over here in the UK, the Panini reprints of Marvel Comics are quite a way behind, but this year sees them reach that Marvel NOW! point, - and they're celebrating it with relaunches of their own, staggered across 2014.

Astonishing Spider-Man, which was only six months behind the US Superior Spider-Man comic, relaunched last year with a new No.1. In April, Incredible Hulks relaunched, and this month sees the NOW! factor affect Avengers Assemble which relaunches on June 19th with Avengers Universe No.1.

One comic that's had more relaunches than most is The Mighty World of Marvel. Originating in 1972 as Marvel UK's first weekly, it changed its title to Marvel Comic in 1979, then became the monthly Marvel Superheroes later that same year. It folded in 1983 with No.397 but was swiftly revived as a monthly Mighty World of Marvel with a new No.1, lasting for 17 issues, ending in 1984. Skip to 2003 and The Mighty World of Marvel was back from the dead again, with Vol.3 No.1, published every four weeks by Panini. In 2009, after 86 issues it folded again, but was immediately revived with Vol.4 No.1 the following month.

Which brings us to the present. The current issue of The Mighty World of Marvel (Vol.4 No.62) is the last, but July 3rd will see the beginning of volume 5 with a new No.1 for its Marvel NOW! revamp. It will feature a bold new logo, and the arrival of The Guardians of the Galaxy, just in time for the movie, joining another new series Avengers Arena and rounding each issue off by continuing the Daredevil stories.

As you can see from the covers shown here, the new first issues kick off with a whopping 100 pages, after which they'll settle down to the usual 76 page format. On July 31st Essential X-Men will also restart with a new No.1, with Marvel Legends, and presumably Panini's Wolverine and Deadpool title, set to follow.

Is it really necessary for comics to do this? Well, first issues do hopefully attract increased orders from retailers and, although it's a cliché, they are a good "jumping on point" for new readers. This time around there are some drastic shake-ups in the stories so it does make sense to re-number. Although if it's used too often retailers and readers tend to become jaded. 

For now though, there's a fresh new look coming to the UK Marvel reprints and if you haven't read Marvel Comics for a few years these new premiere issues would be an ideal entry point.

Marvel classics for a new generation

As most readers of this blog will know, Panini UK publish several 76 page comics every month which reprint various recent Marvel titles. What's not so well known, because they're not so well advertised, is that Panini also occasionally publish books that reprint older, classic tales from Marvel's early days, with around 200 pages each.

The two latest books are out now. Both are softback, digest-size (130mm x 200mm) full colour editions with excellent printing, featuring some great material. Thor: In the Shadow of Mangog reprints Thor Nos.189 to 198 (June 1971 to April 1972). Stories by Stan Lee and Gerry Conway with fantastic artwork by John Buscema (and a cover by John Romita). Captain America: The Coming of the Falcon reprints Captain America Nos.111 to 119 (March to November 1969). Classic end-of-sixties material by Stan Lee, Jim Steranko, Jack Kirby, John Romita, John Buscema, and Gene Colan.

Those credits are almost a who's who of Silver Age Marvel. Both books feature material from an interesting period of the company's history. The initial surge of the 'Marvel Age of Comics' was winding down and the comics were coasting a bit, - except for the dynamic and creative Steranko pages of course, which are worth the price of the book alone. However, even the other material (especially the superb John Buscema Thor pages) has a freshness and excitement often lacking in contemporary superhero comics. 

What these stories display is the fine skill of keeping a story lively whilst advancing the plot. Admittedly the plots are paper thin, and quite childlike at times, but they still feel more substantial than today's 'decompressed' storytelling techniques of extended dialogue sequences. It's also just... well, nice, that there's no sadistic violence and gore in these old stories. If, like me, you prefer comics as an hour or two of light escapism from the depressing real world, then these books are for you. 

Both books should be available in bookstores now, at £6.99 each. You'll find them cheaper to buy online though. However, if you want to order them from your local Waterstones or Smiths, heres the ISBN...

THOR: In the Shadow of Mangog
ISBN 978-1-84653-191-0

CAPTAIN AMERICA: The Coming of the Falcon
ISBN 978-1-84653-192-7