Future Marvel Comic Books: What I’ve Learned from Free Previews

I don’t read nearly as many comics as I used to. Often the $3.99 cover price of a single floppy prevents me from taking a flier. I’m reading a quirky mix of Marvel Unlimited binging, nostalgia-fueled classics like Amazing Spider-Man and GI JOE, plus a sampling of newer stuff from Image.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not consistently sucked into the Free Previews marketing flyers / pamphlets / floppies that are given out at the counter at my Friendly Local Comic Shop (FLCS). In fact, Marvel comics has a LOT to look forward to for the rest of 2019.

Here’s a few highlights I learned about from the free Previews mags on the FLCS counter:

Jonathan Hickman is taking over the X-Men. This is such big news that it generated its own article, so I’ll send you there for the details. But, suffice it say, the Nerds on Earth Slack is alight with us Nerds squeeing with excitement about what Marvel Previews tells us is coming with the X-Men.

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And here’s a first look at the the SIX X-Men titles that will be launched as a follow-up to Hickman’s big X-Men event.

JJ Abrams and his son are writing a Spider-Man title. Spider-Man #1 drops in September, 2019, and is a 5-issue mini-series. Previews tease the appearance of a brand new villain named Cadaverous and issues will run 40 pages instead of the typical 22(ish).

Although I’m genuinely thrilled that Abrams’ son Henry gets a chance to develop his writing chops, this feels like a bit of a “gimmick” comic in the vein of “Hey, famous celebrity name on the cover!” Yet, it is drawn by the incredibly talented Sara Pichelli, which makes it worth a look.

A new crop of artists will be featured. Marvel has been touting its artistic “Young Guns” for over a decade now, but the latest slate was featured in a recent Marvel Previews.

Here are the artists:

• Russell Dauterman (War of the Realms)
• Aaron Kuder (Fantastic Four)
• Pepe Larraz (House of X)
• Mike Del Mundo (Thor)
• Javier Garrón (Miles Morales: Spider-Man)
• Marco Checchetto (Daredevil)

As usual with the Young Guns, these artists aren’t necessarily fresh-faced. Many have been working in the industry for years, but they are newer to the scene and this signals that Marvel will be leaning on them heavily in the year to come.

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#1000. Marvel Comics #1000 is a comic that celebrates the decades-old history of Marvel Comics. It’s an 80-page behemoth that features 80 stories from 80 different creative teams. Honestly, I can’t see a way it wouldn’t be worth it to pick it up. With that range, it’s impossible that there isn’t at least something in there for everyone.

Claremont and Sienkiewicz reunite. Sure, it’s just a one-shot, but two legends are coming together again for New Mutants: War Children #1.

The next crossover event was teased. “Acts of Evil!” appears to be an event that included characters such as Moon Knight and Wolverine, but details are scant right now.

And there was a ton more teasers in Marvel Previews but I shan’t go on. Too many titles, in fact. Perhaps it’s time to give Marvel Unlimited a try. For a small monthly fee you can read tens of thousands of Marvel titles. The ones previewed above will come to the digital service 6 months after their print release in your FLCS, but with so many good Marvel comics to choose from (never mind the back catalog!), Marvel Unlimited is a great way to “preview” everything yourself!