MARVEL FOR NOVEMBER 2005

Today I'm taking a look at what Marvel has to offer for November. In the interest of saving time and repetition, I'll mainly be looking at the trades being offered by Marvel this month. I really consider myself more of a Marvel Zombie, so it was a bit surprising to me that DC has a lot more stuff that I'm interested in this month. The full solicitations can be found at Comic Book Resources, Comics Continuum and Newsarama.

Marvel Comics For November

Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 10: New Avengers TPB - I've been following J. Michael Straczynski's work on Amazing Spider-Man from the beginning. His work on the book reaches it's tenth collection with this trade which collects issues #519-524. I loved what he was doing with John Romita Jr. However, now that Mike Deodato Jr. has taken over the duties on art, the book has lost some of its appeal, and I think it has a lot to do with the art. That being said, I'm still looking forward to seeing how Spider-Man's life is affected by being part of the Avengers.

Excalibur Classic Vol. 1: The Sword Is Drawn TPB - This trade collects The Sword Is Drawn and issues #1-5 of Excalibur by Chris Claremont and Alan Davis. This may just be the book of the month for me. You see, this is the book that started it all for me. Before Excalibur I had pretty much only read G.I. Joe comics. But when I saw this book on the spinner rack in Scottie's Drug Store I just had to have it. Excalibur was my introduction to the Marvel Universe and the world of comics in general. I can't put my finger on exactly why, but I was just drawn to that cover. Alan Davis' artwork was like nothing I had ever seen. In fact, he is still one of my favorite artists. I was particularly taken by the character of Nightcrawler. This book made him one of my all time favorite characters. Unfortunately Chuck Austen really screwed him up, and I haven't read any of solo book which is currently being published. I was about 12 years old when this book began, so I'm not sure how well it will hold up. But I'm more than willing to give it another try after all these years.

Unfortunately, I'm not at all interested in New Excalibur #1 which begins in November.

Marvel Knights Spider-Man Vol. 1 HC - This hardcover collects issues #1-12 by Mark Millar, Terry Dodson and Frank Cho. I read these issues as they were released, but I would love to get this collection in order to see Dodson and Cho's artwork in a larger format. The story had its ups and downs, but overall it was a fun read.

Marvel Knights Spider-Man Vol. 4: Wild Blue Yonder TPB - This trade collects issues #13-18 which directly followed Millar's run on the title. To be honest, I haven't really heard much about Reginald Hudlin and Billy Tan's work on the book. I do remember not being all that impressed with the artwork I've seen, so I may have to give this one a look first.

Ultimate X-Men Vol. 12: Hard Lessons TPB - You don't really hear much about it, but Brian K. Vaughan has been writing Ultimate X-Men for a while now. In fact this will be the fourth trade collecting his work on the title. I don't think this is Vaughan's best work, but Ultimate X-Men is definitely the best X-Men book around these days.