This Week in Free Comics (25/02/14)

Comixology

• Fantastic Four: The End #1
• Strikeforce: Morituri #1
• Thor: Heaven and Earth #1

Marvel Unlimited

• Uncanny Avengers #11
• Uncanny X-Men (2013) #11
• Wolverine and the X-Men #35

Primer: Where to get comic books? - UK

Firstly, apologies for not updating the blog lately. I've had a lot of things on, even through half term (including reading graphic novels, but shh), and I simply haven't found time to add to the timeline. However, I don't want to leave you guys hanging, and I do feel it would be good to have a series of other posts on here, rather than limiting it to only the timeline. Comic books are an incredibly broad and diverse medium, so to actually take an exploration into comics as a whole, and at Marvel, rather than simply their chronological value, seems apt. I'll be using this 'Primer' series of posts to introduce or reaffirm key ideas about comics, including recommended reading, comics composition, content in other mediums, and things like that. So, to start, I'll be taking a look at where actually to buy the damned things. Being British myself, this is a UK-only look - so apologies, Americans, Europeans and other -ans, but I'm sure you have your equivalents.

Comic Shops

• Most major cities have at least one comic shop. Heck, I came across three different comic shops in Cardiff; London has at least eight per my Google findings. When I was in London last week, I finally found Orbital Comics after meaning to for a while; they're really good, especially in stocking more independent stuff and zines. My friend Zach noted just how many there are, and yeah, they really are the place to go if you're looking for the less mainstream kind of thing. Places like Abstract Sprocket in Norwich and Dawn of Time in Lowestoft help to keep up my need for comics locally, and I've found them to be really friendly and helpful. (Especially Dawn of Time: from their vast number of back issues to the coffee and hot chocolate to the people behind the counter who really do befriend you, it's excellent.)
• Forbidden Planet: One of the main retailers, they have stores nationwide in several key cities, including London, Bristol and Cambridge, as well as Cardiff, Edinburgh and Dublin; there's even a branch in New York. FP have two websites, Forbidden Planet and Forbidden Planet International (confusingly, International has the .co.uk domain.) Forbidden Planet are great for action figures, bobbleheads, comics and what have you, and often have an extensive sale section of comics and graphic novels; some more recent volumes may also have a £1 or £2 discount as well. There have been times where I've spent a full hour looking through in their Shaftesbury Avenue location. Sometimes they get exclusive merchandise in as well, so check that out.
• Traveling Man: The other chain comic store I can think of, Traveling Man have a few locations up north in York, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle; the only one I haven't been to is Leeds, despite being there one summer a few years back! Of note is their 50p back issue boxes, where you'll likely end up with a good pile of comics - I know the time I went to their York branch in 2011 really helped to found my love of comics, coming out with several Captain America issues only a few weeks after I'd seen the film. I made sure to let them know that when I returned last year.

Bookshops

• You cannot beat a good bookshop. I struggle to ask who does not love it. They can be hit and miss sometimes, but you might come across back issues and trade paperbacks in some second hand places.  
• Waterstones are pretty much the pinnacle of any bookshop in the UK. They're our Barnes and Noble, basically: a staple of the bookshop community. Without Waterstones, I don't know what I'd do. I still mourn the loss of Borders, I truly do. At this stage, I might as well see a psychiatrist about it. Waterstones are really great with their graphic novel and manga section. They get new volumes practically every week, and in some branches fill up the equivalant of a wall. Although at full price, with cards and everything it can become worth it; still, their selection alone is commendable.
• WH Smith aren't so great, honestly. Their graphic novels - in my experience - are treated as cigarettes for children, teenagers and adults, held behind the counter (or right by the counter), and made really awkward to get to. Most of their stuff is Titan imports of DC/Dark Horse comics, or Panini's reprints of Marvel stories, so there isn't really much to choose from. They're better in the magazine department, with issues of Astonishing Spider-Man, Essential X-Men, Wolverine and Deadpool, Incredible Hulks and Marvel Heroes racking up the newsstand.
• The Works will occasionally pick-up Marvel back-stock, and sell premiere hardcovers and trade paperbacks from four or five years back for bargain prices; this was certainly the case at the start of 2012 and 2013 - I ended up spending a lot of money - but I haven't seen hide nor hair of anything so far this year, so it remains to be seen if they're getting any more stock in. 

Online

• Amazon: There's stuff out there about how Amazon are unethical, treat their workers poorly and ... but honestly, it's one of the best places to find graphic novels at the cheapest price. Obviously, there's lots of different sellers on there, but usually Amazon directly are fine. It's maybe not the best place to look for individual issues, but with actual graphic novels it's fine, and I've never had an issue with damaged items.  "Related to Items You Viewed" comes in really handy when it comes to graphic novels, just to be able to navigate the back catalogue of graphic novels without having to heap through Wikipedia articles and the like.
• eBay: I'm not all too big on eBay, but for rarer and out-of-print items, it really is the place to go.
• The Book Depository: It has book in the title. 'Nuff said. A lot of bargains are available here.
• Digitial comics: So far as digital comics go, there's both Comixology and the Dark Horse Digital sites/apps for individual issues, and the Marvel Unlimited subscription feature. All of these sites offer a number of free issues as samplers, which is pretty great. Both iBooks and the Android Store have a selection of digital graphic novels available.

Where else?

• The library: Honestly, this is a haven so far as reading graphic novels cheaply - or rather, for absolutely nothing at all - is concerned. You might prefer to buy volumes to add to your shelf, but loaning is useful for finding your way through new material or content from the past couple of years, especially with volumes which may no longer be in print. Every so often a library will sell off their excess stuff to allow new books to come in, so make sure you look out for those. Each county library should have a website where you can reserve and search for items, for a small charge at most, which makes securing graphic novels really easy. For students there shouldn't be a charge; lucky for teenage readers, right? Requesting books in is easy as well.
• Borrow from a friend. It seems obvious, but to borrow it from a bestie rather than spend £10 or £20 is just logical. Plus, when a friend raves about how awesome the book is, then it's the easiest way of seeing if you agree.
• HMV can be surprisingly great, especially since going in and out of administration in December 2012. Their merchandise section seems to have expanded a lot, and they carry books, mugs, t-shirts, badges and other stuff. Stuff like Star Trek Into Darkness and Days of Future Past can be found in graphic novel form.
• Car boot sales are hit and miss, sure, but if you can get past the fact it involves the backs of peoples' cars, then it's a great place to look for back issues. Last summer I was able to find Jim Lee's X-Men #1 for maybe 40p? I was pretty chuffed about that.
• Charity shops are again hit and miss, but I find places like Oxfam more prone to end up with stuff like back issues and graphic novels, often for reasonable prices of £1-2 an issue (sometimes £3) and trade paperbacks for £3-8, depending on the scarcity of the item.
• Memorabilia shops are often a better place to find this sort of thing. I know in Norwich we have both The Movie Shop and Beatinks, which always carry shelves worth of graphic novels amidst CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays, books and other items. Honestly, just look through the shabbier side of town, and you're likely to find at least something. 

This Week in Free Comics (18/02/14)

This will be a weekly post, compiling together free issues on Marvel's Comixology site and subscription based Marvel Unlimited.

Comixology

The New Avengers #1
House of M: Avengers #1
Black Panther (2008) #1
Silver Surfer (2011) #1
Morbius: The Living Vampire #1
Captain America: The First Avenger Adaptation #1

Marvel Unlimited

X-Factor #261
X-Men (2013) #4
X-Men: Legacy #15

Young Avengers: Resolution (v2 #14-15)

Writers: Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie and Emma Vieceli, Christian Ward and Annie Wu (#14); Becky Cloonan, Ming Doyle and Joe Quinones (#15)

Cover artist: Jamie McKelvie
From left to right: Rockslide, Miss America, Broo, Gravity, Spider-Girl, Hulkling, Wiccan,
Pixie, Troll, Marvel Boy, Hawkeye, Julie Power, Surge, Prodigy, Lucy in the Sky  

-        In previews and solicitations, this story is also known as The Afterparty.

-        A playlist for Resolution is available on Spotify.

-        Each issue is split into four sections, with a lead or closing story drawn by McKelvie, and three other vignettes per issue by different artists focusing on a particular character or character pairing.

Collected in:

• Young Avengers: Mic-Drop at the Edge of Time and Space (Marvel Comics, Apr 1 2014)
•  Young Avengers by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie Omnibus (Marvel Comics, Dec 16 2014)
•  #14-15 are available on Comixology.

#14

1.  Miss America/Kate Bishop
2.  Wiccan/Teddy
3.  Miss America
4.  Kate Bishop/Noh-Varr

Continuity Notes

-        This two issue arc explicitly occurs over New Year's Eve 2013/14, at a party multiple costumed heroes are attending. Teen heroes from throughout the Marvel Universe appear in cameos and as background characters throughout.

-        #14 focuses on New Year's Eve, whilst #15 focuses on New Year's Day itself (although New Year's Eve appears in flashback, taking up the Prodigy section.)

-        The third section gives us a flashback to Miss America a decade prior (2003), around the time superheroes began to appear. As discussed earlier, given that she would be older than 14 then (her age in the Vengeance limited series), she would now be at least 24.

-        Kate relates to Miss America her (terrible) "coming of age" birthday experience. As she mentioned "I'm so close to 21" in #11, this issue then occurs within a few weeks or months of that issue. Kate Bishop is a December baby, placing her birth in December 1992. Noh-Varr also asks "How was your birthday?", which makes it clear her birthday was very recent.

-        The splash page of the group dancing at the party is a visual allusion to the variant cover Bryan Lee O'Malley drew for the first issue.

O'Malley / McKelvie

-        David reconciles with Billy and Teddy, resolving the awkward triangle which has built throughout the series.

-        The artwork again depicts rather barren trees, indicating a Fall/Winter setting.

#15

1. Noh-Varr
2. David Alleyne/Loki
3. David Alleyne/Patriot
4. Young Avengers

Continuity Notes

-        Speed finally reappears in this issue, having embodied the form of Patriot. By the end of the issue, he rejoins the Young Avengers as they set off on new (possibly interdimensional) adventures. Whatever comes next is left ambiguous; all we know  is that the Young Avengers have reformed, stronger than ever.

-        Loki reappears briefly to speak to Prodigy, which forms the second section of the issue.

-        Kate comes to the realisation that she's the only "straight" member of the team. Wiccan and Hulkling are obviously both gay; Prodigy is bisexual; Miss America is gay, claiming Ultimate Nullifier was a "phase"; Noh-Varr implies that he has experimented with the same-sex; and Miss America jokes to Kate that she gives her glances. However, as Kieron Gillen notes on his Tumblr, sexuality is in flux and not all of this is fully set in stone, or fully 100% serious. Speed's reappearance obviously puts the idea of an "LGBT superhero team" off-balance. (Unless, of course, Gillen has anything to say about that...)

Pop Culture

-        Among the tracks played at the party are Daft Punk's 2013 song Get Lucky, and The Ronettes' Be My Baby, a callback to the first issue.

-        Loki pulls up an Instagram image on his phone, depicting the team from a few issues earlier, labelled: "Young Avengers (2013)", a fitting closure to the series.

The Evolution of the Young Avengers Roster

#1-5

• Hawkeye (Kate Bishop)
• Hulkling (Theodore "Teddy" Altman)
• Loki Laufeyson
• Marvel Boy (Noh-Varr)
• Miss America Chavez
• Wiccan (William "Billy" Kaplan)

#7-11

• Hawkeye (not the Hawkguy)
• Hulkling (shape-shifting alien hybrid guy)
• Loki (god of mischief)
• Marvel Boy (banished Kree music lover)
• Miss America (interdimensional kicker of butt)
• Prodigy (David Alleyne)
• Wiccan (angsty chaos-magic user)

#12-15

• Hawkeye (21)
• Hulkling (18)
• Loki Laufeyson
• Marvel Boy (21)
• Miss America (24)
• Prodigy (knows pretty much everything)
• Wiccan (18)

Young Avengers: "Young Avengers" (v2 #12-13)

Writers: Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie

Cover artist: Jamie McKelvie

Collected in:

• Young Avengers: Mic-Drop at the Edge of Time and Space (Marvel Comics, Apr 1 2014)
•  Young Avengers by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie Omnibus (Marvel Comics, Dec 16 2014)
•  #12-13 are available on Comixology and as part of Marvel Unlimited.

#12

Continuity Notes

-        Several teenage heroes cameo in this story, including members of the X-Men, Avengers Academy, Future Foundation, former members of the Runaways, and Skaar, among others, hence the title "Young Avengers".

-        The artwork depicts defoliated trees, which places this issue in late autumn, around October/November.

Pop Culture

-        Loki compares Wiccan as the Demiurge to "Scott Pilgrim at the end of the film." (Or, his binary opposite, Nega-Scott.) Wiccan argues "The book was better." Scott Pilgrim is of course the title character of the manga series  of the same name by Bryan Lee O'Malley, which ran 6 volumes between 2004-2010. It was turned into a film, featuring Michael Cera as Scott, in 2010. O'Malley also provided a variant cover for #1.

#13

Continuity Notes

-        Wiccan and Hulkling get back together, after splitting temporarily in #9.

-        Loki leaves the Young Avengers by the end of this issue.

-        Wiccan travels over time and space in a two-page spread of multiple, unlettered pages from across the course of the series.

Young Avengers (v2) #11

"Stage Nervous Breakdown"

Writers: Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie

Cover artist: Jamie McKelvie

Collected in:

• Young Avengers: Mic-Drop at the Edge of Time and Space (Marvel Comics, Apr 1 2014)
•  Young Avengers by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie Omnibus (Marvel Comics, Dec 16 2014)
•  #11 is available on Comixology and as part of Marvel Unlimited.

Continuity Notes

Loki's reborn form

-        Loki, through the power of Wiccan, transforms into his 'Teen Loki' form, bearing somewhat of a resemblance to Tom Hiddleston. The exploits of this older Loki will be further explored in the series Loki: Agent of Asgard. Such a change isn't uncommon in Loki: obviously, there was the transformation into Kid Loki, but also during JMS' Thor run he appeared in a female form; Asgardians can even be known to transform into frogs, as we saw in Walt Simonson's run.! The original design sheet and some commentary can be found on McKelvie's blog.

-        Prodigy calls out for teen heroes (literally, using his cell phone), leading into next issue.

-        Marvel Boy shaves his beard, which he grew during Alternative Culture. (Finally.)

      A Question of Age

-        Hawkeye says "It's nearly my birthday. I'm so close to 21," indicating she is 20. Kate has been aged up in this issue - in New Avengers: The Reunion #1, Bucky refers to her as a "16-year-old girl with no training." Obviously, it's pretty unlikely she has aged over 4 years since that issue (The Reunion was published in 2009, actually 4 years before this issue itself.) Given that the age in this issue is coming from Kate herself, the ages given in this issue take precedence. In the case of the New Avengers issue, it's possible Bucky was being intentionally demeaning to her, or simply unaware of her actual age and guesstimated.

-        Kieron Gillen discussed his choices for the ages of the characters on the Young Avengers roster in response to an ask on Tumblr. Gillen states Teddy and Billy are "about 18," and that Kate "just felt older to Matt and I" in her portrayal. Gillen has repeatedly said that the first incarnation of Young Avengers was about "being 16," whilst the second volume is about "being 18," although not necessarily the age itself. By this logic, Kate would have been around 18 during the original run.

-        Marvel Boy states that he is 21. Miss America was placed at 14 in the Vengeance limited series, her initial appearance. Here in Young Avengers, a few years have passed for her. Gillen stated on Tumblr that "17-18 was my feeling. She's actually younger than a good chunk of the YA folk." Despite his youthful appearance, Loki doesn't really have an age as such, at least in human terms. All we know is he is several millenia old. Per the MCU films however, the opening scene in the Thor film shows us he was born around 965 AD.

F    For Prodigy, our source for this comes from the New X-Men series he featured in from 2004-2006. A computer display denotes his age as 17. As both Hulkling and Wiccan have aged two years since the original run, this means Prodigy would now be 19.

Young Avengers (v2) #10

"Mother's Day"

Writers: Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie

Collected in:

• Young Avengers: Alternative Culture (Marvel Comics, Feb 4 2014)
•  #10 is available on Comixology and as part of Marvel Unlimited.

Continuity Notes

-        Page 4 flashes back to an unseen moment between issues #1 and #2, where Loki manipulates Billy overnight. The caption notes this as "half a year ago," placing the present in August. The Marvel Wiki page notes this scene is an allusion to Siege: Loki, also by Gillen and McKelvie, where Loki manipulates Norman Osborn

-        Noh-Varr's ex-girlfriend, Annie, seen in Dark Avengers and the Avengers Vs. X-Men issues of The Avengers, reappears, another of Loki's constructs. It's implied Noh-Varr's fondness for 60s pop music may come from her: “I taught him everything about Earth. I gave him Ronnettes records! Everything!"

-        This version of Annie says "Ten years from today, I inherited some Kang-tech, and started dancing across timelines. That’s where I bumped into Meree...” Whether this history also applies to the actual Annie is unknown, but we can assume this information is false.

-        Despite the title, this issue doesn't actually occur on Mother's Day.

-    Like with #6, this issue doesn't feature the Young Avengers, and instead focuses on Loki's control over Hulkling, who has been seeing the psychiatrist Leah.

Young Avengers: Alternative Culture (v2 #7-9)

Writers: Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie

Cover artist: Jamie McKelvie

Collected in:

•  Young Avengers: Alternative Culture (Marvel Comics, Feb 4 2014)
•  Young Avengers by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie Omnibus (Marvel Comics, Dec 16 2014)
•  #7-9 are available on Comixology and as part of Marvel Unlimited.

-      Much of the content in this three-issue cycle actually occurs across multiple dimensions, including Earth-212, which has already been seen in the prelude The New World. As such, #8 and much of #9 are not included in the 616 chronology.

#7 "Breakfast Meet"

Continuity Notes

-        This issue skips the narrative forward three months, as noted by internal captions and the issue's solicitation. We see various flashbacks - and Instagram posts - to what has occurred during those intervening months.

-        The third flashback, to two months ago, shows the Young Avengers celebrating Spring Break. By that logic, this would therefore place the first issue in February, and the present in May.

BILLYKAPLAN666: This is one small step for

man, one giant leap for smooching.

LOKIOFASGARD: I hereby ban the use of

the word "Smooch."

BILLYKAPLAN666: Smmooooch.

-        The fourth flashback shows Teddy celebrating his birthday. Although the exact date is not stated in issue, later issues, and Kieron Gillen's own intentions on the subject of aging, this is his 18th rather than 17th birthday. If we do some subtracting, then Teddy would therefore have been born in March 1995.

-        The sixth flashback shows Kate's "interview at finishing school," which would suggest she is around college age.

-        Are Wiccan and Hulkling the first to kiss on the moon? Or the first same-sex couple to kiss on the moon? Debatable, but I can't think of anything else which says otherwise.

-        The Young Avengers are introduced to Prodigy, who has been pursuing them following his solo appearance last issue.

-        This issue occurs around breakfast.

Pop Culture

-        Loki refers to Prodigy as "Mr. Young, Gifted and Black," a reference to Nina Simone's song 'To Be Young, Gifted and Black'.

#9 "The Kiss and the Make-Up"

Continuity Notes

-        The Young Avengers return to their own dimension. Prodigy says "We've spent weeks being led by the nose of this guy." Whilst weeks have passed for the Young Avengers, it's unknown whether they return to the point at which they left, or weeks or months later.

-        Teddy's client bio on the title page give his age as 18.

-        This issue occurs across two separate days.

-        This issue picks up immediately after #8 left off; Prodigy explains about his sexuality:

Prodigy: "I'm bi. Never said that out loud. I realized, well, you know how my power works? Picking up everything except powers from people? Well, I got everything. Skills, talents...and some other stuff. And when my mutation went crazy, and I got everything I'd ever absorbed...I got everything." 

Hulkling: "Oh, wow. That's a trip. Wasn't it strang--" 

Prodigy: "No. That's the strange thing. It was like an awakening. It was like realizing something that was always true and I just couldn't see it until now. It was like all the rooms in my head opening."

-        Hulkling splits with Wiccan temporarily, taking a leave of absence from the team.

-        Leah reappears for the first time since Journey Into Mystery, as an adult version. She isn't, however, the Leah we all know and love, as #13 explains.

Pop Culture

-        Hulkling says that Prodigy's "Wiki page needs an update" (about his sexuality.)

-        Well...

Young Avengers (v2) #6

"The Toll"

Writers: Kieron Gillen and Kate Brown

Cover artist: Jamie McKelvie

Collected in:

•  Young Avengers: Alternative Culture (Marvel Comics, Feb 4 2014)
•  Young Avengers by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie Omnibus (Marvel Comics, Dec 16 2014)
•  #6 is available on Comixology and as part of Marvel Unlimited.

Continuity Notes

-        This issue takes place during the three month gap between #5 and #7. It acts as a side story, and does not feature the actual Young Avengers, instead setting up the following arc through its focus characters.

-        Here we are reintroduced to Speed and Prodigy. Speed was last seen in The Children's Crusade, and since then has briefly moved in with the Kaplans (per #1), and taken up a job more suited to his powers. Prodigy was last seen during Avengers Vs. X-Men.

-        Patriot also reappears, although not quite in the way one would expect: more as a mask than anything else. (He is affectionately dubbed the name of 'Patri-Not' in later issues' Tumblr-themed ['YAmblr'] recap pages.)