Let’s take a look at what’s out from Marvel Comics this week! This post covers Marvel Comics April 5 2023 releases.
This list includes every comic and digital comic out from Marvel this week, plus collected editions in omnibus, hardcover, paperback, and digest-sized formats. For each new release, I’ll point you to the right Crushing Comics guide.
Marvel Comics April 5 2023 Collected Editions
This is a slim week for new collected editions – there’s just four books out, and one is a reprint!
Adam Warlock Omnibus (2023 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302949877 / digital)
See Guide to Adam Warlock. This collects Warlock’s full Silver & Bronze Age Warlock saga all in one place for the first time, from his debut as “Him” in the pages of Stan Lee & Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four to Jim Starlin’s psychedelic late-70s space epic! You can read this and continue directly to Infinity Gauntlet.
Fantastic Four Epic Collection Volume 3: The Coming of Galactus
(2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302950415 / digital)
See Guide to Fantastic Four. This is the third time this particular Epic has been back to print. That speaks not only to the fact that it’s one of the Marvel’s most-significant stories of all time, but also speaks to the ongoing success of the Epic Collection line as we head into its second decade. It’s doing exactly the thing it’s meant to do – getting books all into the same format and reprinting them whenever necessary!
Marvel-Verse: Guardians of the Galaxy (2023 digest-size paperback, ISBN 978-1302950705 / digital)
See Guide to Guardians of the Galaxy. This collects a smattering of stand-alone Guardians stories from the middle of Bendis’s run through the beginning of Duggan’s run, including one previously uncollected issue – Guardians of the Galaxy: Dream On (2017) #1. A decent, if scant, sampler platter if you’re averse to sampling digitally on Marvel Unlimited – but it’s hard to take it seriously without any material from the 2008 series.
Star-Lord: The Saga of Peter Quill (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302950712 / digital)
See Guide to Star-Lord, Peter Quill. This is the collection if you want to grab Star-Lords earliest set of continuity stories in the Marvel Universe. I say “continuity” stories because the character of Peter Quill as Star-Lord first debuted in the 1970s, but all of his early adventures have been since rendered as occurring in a separate reality due to some unresolvable time travel shenanigans. That means when Quill pops up in the 2003 Thanos ongoing series, it’s technically his first appearance (though, making things even more confusing, at the time he was assumed to still be the same character as that 1970s version). All of this and more is explained in my guide!
Read on for a rundown of Marvel Comics April 5 2023 single-issue releases, including a link to their accompanying guide pages on Crushing Comics.
Marvel Comics April 5 2023 Physical Comic Releases
It’s a small week for collected editions, but a big one for singles! A total of 17 individual comics makes this a major release week for Marvel.
The Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #23 – See Guide to Spider-Man – Peter Parker (2018 – Present). I caught up on the first half of this run a few weeks ago and, shock of shocks, I totally loved it. I am a noted John Romita Jr. hater, but a different inker and colorist makes all the difference on his artwork here, and I really enjoy the vibe from Zeb Wells that Peter is forcing himself to be responsible because everyone currently hates him. I know a lot of people think the big mystery of this book is dragging on too long. Maybe I’ll get to that point by the time I’m up to issue #23. However, at the moment it just seems like a good Spidey run to me. That said, my main requirement is purely that the quipping-while-thwipping doesn’t suck, so I’ve got a low bar (though it’s a bar that Nick Spencer never quire cleared).
The Avengers: War Across Time (2023) #4 – See Guide to Avengers Flagships (2010 – Present Day) or my brand new Guide to Kang the Conqueror. This lovely and nostalgic Paul Levitz and Alan Davis mini-series continues! It’s Levitz’s first marvel series, ever.
Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty (2022) #11 – See Guide to Captain America. I’ve been saying for a few of these posts now that this series is my #1 book to catch up on, so I finally made the time to read it last month. HO LEE SHIT. Y’all, this book is amazing, Carmen Carnero is delivering new career best work on every issue, and she is drawing every issue and every cover like it’s the 80s and that isn’t a big deal. Lanzing & Kelly’s plot really sizzles. It’s just great Marvel Comics. This issue is the lead-in to the crossover between this Steve Rogers book and the companion Sam Wilson book; it continues into Captain America: Cold War Alpha (2023) #1.
Cosmic Ghost Rider (2023) #2 – See Guide to Ghost Rider. I’ll tell ya, hardly anything sounds less interesting to me than one Cosmic Ghost Rider… except two Cosmic Ghost Riders. And yet… this is written by Stephanie Phillips, who I dig, with art by Juann Cabal, who I am obsessed with. That tempts me to read it, despite myself.
Ghost Rider (2021) #13 – See Guide to Ghost Rider
I Am Iron Man (2023) #2 – See Guide to Iron Man. This series by Murewa Ayodele and Dotun Akande celebrating 60yrs of Iron Man spins out of their spectacular back-up tale in Iron Man (2020) #25.
Immoral X-Men (2023) #3 – See Guide to X-Men – Age of Krakoa. The Sins of Sinister is drawing to a close! I have no idea what’s happening in it, but I look forward to reading a summary when the line gets back to actual reality.
Joe Fixit (2023) #4 – See Guide to Hulk – Bruce Banner. While I typically roll my eyes at this endless stream of retcon insert series, a revisitation of original Joe Fixit Hulk by Peter David that co-stars Spider-Man and Kingpin has a much stronger pedigree than the typical retcon mini-series.
Planet of the Apes (2023) #1 – Oh hell, now I need a guide for this, eh? How hard could it be? There’s just… (counting) (still counting) (counting continues) … well, it turns out there are 42 Planet of the Apes comic series to date, so actually this might turn out to be kind of hard. Do you want to see this guide? Comment below if you do! As little attachment as I have to this franchise, it has Dave Wachter on art, who is a must-read artist for me from his time on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Iron Fist. I guess that means I’ll at least check out the first issue.
Rogue & Gambit (2023) #2 – See Guide to X-Men – Age of Krakoa. I haven’t caught up on this Stephanie Phillips series yet, but I’ve enjoyed a lot of her work at indie pubs, so I’m looking forward to it!
Scarlet Witch (2023) #4 – See Guide to Scarlet Witch. The penultimate issue of the well-received Steve Orlando mini-series. Each issue of this comic is a standalone adventure, although this issue picks up some threads from the first three. Even though this series is ending, it looks like Orlando has the green-light to continue his run, as the June Annual claims it is the “Prelude to Contest of Chaos.”
Spider-Gwen: Shadow Clones (2023) #2 – See Guide to Spider-Gwen, Ghost-Spider. It has been a bummer to see Marvel struggle to keep a character as dynamic as Spider-Gwen going in her own series. Some of that can be chalked up to Jason LaTour writing her into the ground as if no one else would be allowed to touch the character after him, but some of it comes down to simply being unable to find a strong niche for Gwen to occupy. I don’t know if giving her a Clone Saga of her own is the solution, but Emily Kim did a fantastic job on her 2022 run on Silk and Kei Zama’s art looks spectacular. Here’s hoping they can spin this into a new ongoing.
Spider-Man (2022) #7 – See Guide to Spider-Man – Peter Parker (2018 – Present). This ends Dan Slott’s abbreviated return to writing Spidey, and introduces Spider-Boy for some reason.
Star Wars (2020) #33 – See Guide to Star Wars. Continues the loose arc of “No Space” stories focused on Luke.
Star Wars: Hidden Empire (2022) #5 – See Guide to Star Wars. This is the final issue of the trilogy of event mini-series from Charles Soule to add more texture to the period after Empire Strikes Back.
Venom (2021) #18 – See Guide to Venom. I’ve started catching up on this series, and it’s an unusual one. I find that Bryan Hitch’s artwork often gives book a static, slow-moving quality – which is ironic given he is the father of decompressed “Widescreen Comics” (as discussed in my launch essay for my Guide to The Authority). Combine that with Al Ewing firmly in his Immortal Hulk mode and turning the symbiote into a time travel device, and you have a decidedly weird book that is unlike any prior Venom run.
Wolverine (2020) #32 – See Guide to Wolverine. Beast’s villain arc begins to peak as it leaps from X-Force into Wolverine’s titles.
Marvel Comics April 5 2023 Digital-First Comic Releases
These releases are exclusively available on the Marvel Unlimited app – you cannot access them from a web browser even if you have a subscription! They also haven’t been quick to be released in print, though we’ve now see print version of both X-Men Unlimited and It’s Jeff at more than a one year lag from their original release.
- Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic (2022) #40 – See Guide to Avengers (2010 – present).
- Love Unlimited Infinity Comic (2022) #44 – I haven’t decided where this should be placed yet! (Any thoughts?)
- Marvel Meow and Pizza Dog Infinity Comic Chapter (2023) #2 – This Pizza Dog series might turn out to be entirely a backdoor Kate Bishop series. I’ll have to keep an eye on it as it continues to run.
- Marvel’s Voices Infinity Comic (2022) #47 – The current arc is about Negasonic Teenage Warhead! Maybe I need to place both this and Love Unlimited based on who is appearing in each arc. Thoughts?
- Spider-Verse Unlimited Infinity Comic (2022) #44 – See Guide to Spider-Man, Peter Parker (2018 – present)
- X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic (2021) #81 – See Guide t0 X-Men – The Age of Krakoa