Civil War II is a comic event happening now in Marvel. It's not very popular. But that doesn't mean the publisher isn't releasing anything good, or that there isn't anything interesting coming from them.
Their newest release initiative, Marvel Now!, subtitled "Divided We Stand," will be shaped by the aftermath of Civil War II—and we already know about their promising new changes and titles.
First up, there's going to be a new person wearing the Iron Man armor. Riri Williams, a black teen girl genius introduced in Brian Michael Bendis's Invincible Iron Man, will take over the red-an-gold suit from Tony Stark. The man himself will be busy with reevaluating his life and saving his company, while Riri will handle the adventuring side of the title.
Next up, we have new team books that will be replacing currently ongoing series, and taking them into a new direction. Al Ewing's fun New Avengers will become U.S.Avengers, a patriotically-themed ensemble led by Roberto "Sunspot" Da Costa and comprised of his buddy Cannonball, Squirrel Girl, Red Hulk, Pod, Toni Ho (Ho Yinsen's granddaughter) as the new Iron Patriot and Captain America of the future, Danielle Cage. Knowing the author—and judging by the G.I. Joesque promo image—we can expect a well-written, tongue-in-cheek series.
Another series, taking the place of Mark Waid's All-New, All-Different Avengers, is Champions, written by Waid, drawn by Humberto Ramos, and focusing on the younger members of the previous team (Ms Marvel, Nova and Spider-Man Miles Morales). Following some falling out (presumably having to do with how the adults handle their little uncivil war), they'll embark on their own, joined by Amadeus Cho (the current Hulk), time-displaced teenage Cyclops and Viv Vision, the Vision's daughter. This title is more of a wait-and-see—the roster is promising and the writer generally talented, but that didn't stop All-New, All-Different Avengers from being disappointingly mediocre. Let's hope it does better now.
Next up, we have a return from a long running superhero team that never had their own ongoing series: the Great Lakes Avengers. Consisting of Mr Immortal, Flatman, Doorman and Big Bertha, the team has a more comedic, quirky nature and their biggest title had them working with Squirrel Girl, who quite obviously had the top billing. Written by Zac Gorman (Rick and Morty) and drawn by Will Robson, Great Lakes Avengers is promising to be a new addition to Marvel's big line of comedic comics.
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| Design by Stuart Immonen |
And, last but not least, we'll be getting a new Inhuman, appearing both in Charles Soule's Uncanny Inhumans and in his own solo title written by Gheoffrey Thorne and illustrated by Khary Randolph. Following his terrigenesis, basketball player Morris Sackett becomes Mosaic - an Inhuman separated from his own body who has to possess other people to interact with the world. While the concept is reminiscent of DC's Deadman, it's promising enough that we hope it'll be worth following on a monthly basis.
And that's just the beginning of announcements for Marvel Now!. We'll keep you up to date as they come.
Dominik Zine is a nerdy lad from northeastern Poland and is generally found in a comfy chair with a book in hand.
