The Top 10 Most Anticipated All-New Marvel Series

Gavin Gronenthal ’16\Emertainment Monthly Editor

A few days ago, a massive leak was released releasing all of the creative teams and issue number one covers from Marvel’s All-New, All-Different line of comics. Post Secret Wars, the Marvel Universe will be completely reborn, with the status of many a Marvel hero and villain will be taking whole new directions. As of today, it’s official, and there’s a lot to be excited about with over 40 new series launching in October, so we’ve narrowed it down with much difficulty to just ten series to get excited over.

Keep in mind, a few series were left off this list due to how similar their place in the Marvel Universe is pre-Secret Wars, so titles we’re excited for like Ms. Marvel, The Mighty Thor, A-Force, and Howard The Duck (yes, believe it or not) are off this list by only a hair. So let’s start the countdown:

10. Old Man Logan/All-New Wolverine

Wolverine will have been dead a full year once Marvel’s All-New, All-Different line pulls around, but that doesn’t mean his presence won’t be more than felt in the new Marvel U. With two books to the legendary heroes name, one looks to explore the old, and one the new.

Old Man Logan sees Andrea Sorrentino continuing the stellar artwork he’s been doing on this alternate dimension Logan’s Secret Wars tie in, but now he’s joined by Green Arrow collaborator Jeff Lemire. Both men received huge acclaim for their work together at DC, and one can only imagine it’ll continue when they take the reigns of Mark Millar and Steve McNiven’s inspired take on a broken and beaten Wolverine-No-More. Meanwhile, Tom Taylor has a chance to really stretch his writing talents with All-New Wolverine, which stars Laura Kinney, the former X-23 who is now taking up the mantle from her mentor/clone. Taylor received universal acclaim on the Injustice: Gods Among Us digital series for DC, but only got to show a very small fraction of his ability at Marvel with Superior Iron Man, which only lasted nine issues thanks to Secret Wars. Now, with rock solid artist David Lopez on board, All-New Wolverine is sure to unlock Tom Taylor’s full potential along with Laura’s.

9. The Vision

Even the harshest critics agreed that Vision was far and away one of the highlights of Avengers: Age of Ultron, and his new solo book is looking to capitalize on that. Luckily, he’s got some credentials to back it up: Tom King, who’s co-writing on DC’s spy thriller Grayson has made him a hot commodity; and Gabriel Hernandez Walta, possibly one of the most underrated artists in the industry after some inspired work on Magneto.

While Vision has never truly had an ongoing solo series, there’s more than enough going on in that android brain of his to keep a character alive. While we’re certainly nervous, we’re also incredibly excited, and we can’t wait to see what’s next for everyone’s favorite Avenging android.

8. Invincible Iron Man

Marked as the flagship title for the All New All Different Marvel along with The Avengers relaunch (more on that later), Invincible Iron Man sees Tony Stark returning to his more heroic side after a brief stint as the inverted Superior Iron Man. Now, armed with a brand new suit that encompasses all his other suits and and a knockout creative team, Marvel has deemed their arrogant do gooder their new mascot.

Whether or not you agree with that decision, it’s hard not to be excited about this book. Brian Michael Bendis, who has basically been Marvel’s architect for the future for some time, was born to write Tony Stark. His books notably jump up in quality whenever Iron Man enters the field, and he’s written some of the best Iron Man stories in history without ever touching a solo book. His collaborator is a familiar one to Bendis fans: David Marquez, who has continually shown his prowess on every Marvel book he touches. The former Ultimate Spider-Man duo look to take Tony to his highest possible point, and there’s a chance they might just do it.

7. All-New All-Different Avengers

While we might have known about this title for quite some time, it still managed to squeeze it’s why on to our list. Why? Well, it’s simple: this looks to be a perfect combination of classic and new. With veteran Eisner winner Mark Waid writing, and the art split by up and comer Mahmud Asrar and artistic legend Adam Kubert, this book looks to dive into both the history of the Avengers and pave the way to its future.

Though naysayers have often cried foul on the three youngsters getting into the main team (Kamala is barely 15 after all), we would argue that Miles, Kamala, and Sam not only represent diversity in Marvel, but also the very best of what the comic industry titan has to offer in terms of character. Pair that with the Falcon Captain America, the Female Thor, a shiny new Tony Stark, and classic avenger Vision, and you’ve got a concrete roster for the ages and many future Avenger’s ages to come. While not ever Avenger is completely “All-New,” we certainly think this team will feel “All-Different.”

6. Spider-Man

Okay, so we may have gone against our earlier statement on this one: this isn’t a great team on a new book, or a new team on a great book. This is the original creators of Miles Morales, Marvel king Brian Michael Bendis and superstar Sara Pichelli, writing and drawing him once again. So what makes this so special? That’s an easy answer: Miles is now the Spider-Man of the Marvel Universe.

While Peter will have his own title as well, it’s on a far more global and different scale, And Miles’s story has been heralded as the Spider-Man book you’ll know and love, dealing with high school and saving New York all over again. Miles has been one of the best new characters to arrive in Marvel in the past two decades, and placing him front and center in the Marvel universe is exactly where he needs to be. We desperately want to see more of Miles, find out what happened to his supporting cast from the Ultimate Universe, and watch his original creators build a legacy for him in this bold new world.

5. Ultimates

A book similar in name only, Ultimates looks to have little to no connection to the now completely deceased Ultimate Universe. However, it’s not the title that interests us. A spiritual successor to Al Ewing‘s own Mighty Avengers series, his take on The Ultimates seems to look at threats that even the Avengers can’t handle. Kenneth Rocafort looks to give his unique and often under appreciated art style to the book, which should breathe extra life into these already vibrant characters.

And that’s what has us so curious: the team. A powerhouse crew of unlikely proportions, it consists of Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Blue Marvel, Spectrum, Miss America, and – strangest of all – Galactus. What could possible happen in Secret Wars that could see the world eater saving worlds instead of, well, eating them? And how will this team operate with a literally celestial entity on their side? Strange thing have happened at Marvel, but Galactus on a superhero team? Color us intrigued.

4. Karnak

Definitely one of the biggest shocks from Marvel’s announced books, Karnak is certainly a title that’ll make people scratch their heads. Considering Marvel is pushing the Inhumans like there’s no tomorrow, why was Karnak picked as the only one (aside from the always fabulous Ms. Marvel) to have a solo book? It seems even more strange if you recall the last time we saw Karnak: committing suicide from Avengers Tower in Matt Fraction’s first issue of Inhumanity.

But Emertainment is going to let you in on a little secret about Karnak, a character most don’t even know about: Karnak is, aside from maybe King Black Bolt and Lockjaw the teleporting dog, the coolest Inhuman in all of the Marvel universe. Coupled with his mastery of martial arts, his Inhuman ability is to detect weaknesses and exploit them, which is one of the most simple and yet complex powers ever invented in Marvel. The book is also written by all star comic writer Warren Ellis, who had a very brief but brilliant run on Moon Knight recently. His unique and dark style of writing combined with the mystery surrounding Karnak himself puts this book at a deservingly high spot on our most anticipated list.

3. Captain Marvel

While Carol Corps members were notably distraught when they heard writer Kelley Sue DeConnick would be leaving the character she nurtured into the powerhouse we know and love today, they didn’t need to worry long about Captain Marvel. Tara Butters and Michelle Fazekas, the showrunners of Marvel television’s very own Agent Carter series, are taking the reigns as Carol Danvers enters into a bigger and badder new world. Armed with a passionate fan base and a movie on the way, there’s good reason to get stoked about Captain Marvel.

But our number one reason for our excitement is the artist attached to the book: Kris Anka. Anka was brought into the Marvel Universe a few years ago and has been dominating the art scene ever since, with interiors on Bendis’s X-men books, excellent covers and costume redesigns across the board. Although we’ve seen him draw Carol before, the reveal of his new cover (with a few tweaks to the costume, pictured above) cement the fact the he was born to draw Captain Marvel, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

2. Doctor Strange

Believe it or not, it’s been almost two decades since The Sorcerer Supreme has had an ongoing series, and with his movie on the way, it’s high time he had one. And who better to launch it than Jason Aaron himself? Aaron has perhaps been Marvels most consistent writer since around 2011, churning out hits like Thor, Weirdworld, and Wolverine & The X-Men with almost no stopping him. Strange is a character who needs an all star writing treatment to put him squarely on the map, and Aaron is just the man for the job.

Returning to pair with his Wolverine & the X-Men creative partner is Chris Bachalo. He drew Strange to great effect in Bendis’s New Avengers series back in 2009, and has continued to prove why he’s one in the best in the business every issue Of ever book he’s drawn since. Both writer and artist revel in the weird and crazy sides of the Marvel Universe, a place where Doctor Strange fits right at home. The Doctor is in, and we couldn’t be happier.

1. Extraordinary X-Men

The X-Men have faced a lot of rough times, both in their comic and out of it. Cyclops and Wolverine literally split the entire population in two, which led to Cyclops later possessing the Phoenix and killing Professor X, which in turn led to Beast recruiting the original X-Men from their teenage years in the past to try and stop Cyclops from killing everyone. If that wasn’t enough, Wolverine “died,” leaving his entire school in the lurch, and Secret Wars seems to have thrown all their books back to the 1990s.

On top of that, die hard fans of the X-books have been accusing Marvel of some nasty politics behind the scenes, claiming that the Inhumans are being forced in as the X-Men’s replacement, due Mutant film rights being held by Fox. Whether or not this is the case, it has been a while since the X-Men have felt like real heroes: despite a brief few Aaron penned issues of Amazing X-Men and some of Bendis’s run with the All-New X-Men, it seems as though the X-Men are always fighting each other. But thanks to the new all star creative team of Jeff Lemire and Humberto Ramos, all that might change.

Bringing together a knockout team of Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Magik, Iceman, past Jean Grey, and Old Man Logan, Lemire has made the most solid core X-Team that we’ve seen since Joss Whedon wrote Astonishing X-Men. Lemire’s confident character work is often coupled with intense and off the wall action scenes, which is perfect for Ramos’s jazzy and fluid pencils, which have only improved with age. In essence, Extraordinary X-Men is the X-book readers have been waiting for, even some don’t know it yet. It’s been a while since we’ve been astonished, so let’s hope that this new team shows us something Extraordinary.

Those are our picks for the series to get most excited about come October. Check out the rest Emertainment Monthly for future updates and comic book news, and let us know what you think in the comments section below.