Marvel seems to have dominated this week's superhero news by announcing that Robert Downey Jr, otherwise known as Tony Stark, will be appearing in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming. Hey, that's awesome!
But with some good news comes some possibly bad news. It looks like Marvel and Sony are no longer in talks with Michael Keaton to star in the flick, where fans were hoping he'd play the Vulture, a legacy Spider-Man villain. It would be sort of odd, anyway, for Keaton to don some comic garb after Birdman.
And to top that off, Marvel has officially dropped Inhumans from it's film release schedule. The film, which was slated for release in 2019, had no director or cast attached, though Vin Diesel has been more than expressive in his intent to play the role of Black Bolt. This move, however, has some thinking the X-Men may be on their way back to Marvel. Hmmm.
No matter which side you're on, here are some must-reads for this week.
Invincible #127
It's been a few months since the last issue of Invincible, the self-proclaimed best superhero comic in the universe. And, well, a lot has changed. If you haven't read Invincible, it's not a hard read to jump into, just start at the beginning and you'll be hooked. After all, this is the same guy (Robert Kirkman) who writes The Walking Dead. Anyway, this issue takes place after a nearly five year time skip, after main character Mark Grayson was sort of stuck in the past for more than he would have liked to have been.
His daughter, Terra, is older now, and barely remembers her father. She was just a kid when Mark disappeared. Eve is also older, and seems to love her new home among the stars, but there some things she hasn't told Mark yet, and plenty of cliffhangers in this issue means there's a lot of crazy about to go down. What happened to Oliver? How is Earth looking these days? Why is Allen the best character ever?
Though it was a good return issue, it's also a good time to reflect on what sort of book Invincible wants to be, and what kind of hero Mark Grayson is. Just past 120 issues, it looks like this series still has the heart it needs to press on, and we're waiting any minute now for an adaptation to be announced.
Divinity II #1
Imagine if Russia lost the Cold War simply because they were trying to get a cosmonaut to the edge of the universe, not just to the surface of the moon. Well, Divinity II is sort of like that. The first part, just called Divinity, released to great reviews last year, and offered a mysterious main character who didn't necessarily seem like a good guy. But who would be after being condemned and forgotten by your government, being left to float among the stars for 50 years?
Divinity II tells the story of another of the three cosmonauts sent into deep space by Russia. Mishka is a devout Soviet-sympathizer who just wants to serve her country. So, she kills her cosmonaut buddy and uses his suit as a battery to power her ship back to Earth. Yeah, it's pretty dark. But with this issue teasing a confrontation between Divinity's main character and Mishka, things are about to get very interesting.
Superman Lois & Clark #7
Alright guys, the cat is out of the bag. Jon now knows his papa is Superman. This issue of Lois & Clark had Jon rescuing his mother Lois from a burning building by discovering that, yes, he has powers himself! This might have been obvious considering Super Sons is one of the DC Universe Rebirth titles. Beyond that, this issue dealt with Jon revealing his powers to his father, Clark, and Clark in turn telling his son he is Superman and then zooming off to, well, be Superman.
But the real tease her is if you've been following the other Superman books. Our New-52 Supes is dying, and he's looking for people to continue his legacy once he's gone. He finally found Supergirl in this week's Action Comics book, but it looks like our Lois & Clark Superman may be taking on the mantle (along with three or four others). Phew, it's a busy Super-world.
Captain America Sam Wilson #8
While this series and crossover event (Avengers Standoff) have been fairly consistent, writer Nick Spencer took this week's Sam Wilson story to the next level by essentially giving us a team-up between Bucky Barnes, Wilson and newly rejuvenated Steve Rogers. And much of this issue deals with Wilson's own confusion over whether he'll continue to be Captain America once the Pleasant Hill drama is solved.
And, spoilers, he will be! At least for now, despite the title of Steve's new book being Steve Rogers: Captain America. Hey, that's OK, since there are like a hundred Spider people anyway. But no, it's good. If Wilson can represent a solid paradigm change for Marvel, and Steve can give us some classic Cap action, fans should have nothing to complain about. Right, right?
Karnak #3
Warren Ellis is a king when it comes to scaring the crap out of readers, and Karnak is no different. Though the book has been plagued by delays, each issue seems to deliver wonderfully on its promises. Deeply exploring what it means to be Inhuman, beyond the powers, Karnak is after a weird, cultish group and he's not holding back.
This issue has Karnak teaming up with the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and subsequently causing hundreds of unusual zombie people to explode. Yeah, he does that, with his voice. His "power" is to find the flaw in everything, so he emits a frequency to reverse the screams of the zombie people. It just so happens that they explode upon hearing said frequency. Why, you ask? Because he is Karnak.
