Waiting for Wednesday, Volume 3, Issue 4

Not much going on today. Nope. Not all all. Especially nothing doing in the world of comics. All quiet on that front, for sure. So quiet, in fact, you might say things are (wait for it) dead.

And, when I say, "things," I don't mean to imply that--that is to say, I mean, it's not the Thing who bit it today. Or, wait. No. It could be--the Thing, I mean--but I honestly have no idea.

Ya know what?

Let's start over.

Despite my claim to the contrary above, today is a pretty big day in comics. Marvel's flagship super hero team book, Fantastic Four, sees the death of one of its characters.

And, like I said, I have no idea who bites it today.

I haven't gone to the store yet, and I have stayed clear of...well...the entire Internet, save this here blog. This will be the one time--the one time--that some yahoo doesn't spoil the news for me.

Now, there's always the possibility that this is simply hype, and that a character won't die. But, um, the cover for today's issue 587 is pretty ominous. (And only a little bit funny.)
And the solicitation information from Marvel isn't much happier:

One of the four will fall!

Excellent. Thanks.

So, who will it be? I have no idea. I'm not a particularly big fan of death in comics, but if you've read the funny books for just a little while, it's inevitable that one of the characters you read has "died."

If you've read comics for a few years, it's a pretty good bet that that same character has come back to life since then.

It's part of the fun of comics, and it allows the books to garner some much-needed publicity. So, even though I don't love the idea of "killing" a character just to bring him or her back in a year or two, I get it. I understand why it's done, and as long as the story is well told, then I'm cool with it.

Plus, you know, it's only a character in a work of fiction. So, no one is actually dying. Which is always good.

Just for the heck of it, though, let's go ahead and give a guess as to who meets the Watcher today. (And, please take into consideration that I read this series in trade and am currently way behind, so I really, truly, and honestly have no facts upon which to base this.)

Hmmm...

Okay, so Reed's death would be felt the most around the Marvel Universe, since his staggering brilliance often saves the denizens of the MU (and not to mention writers) in a very deus ex machina kind of way. He'd be a massive loss for Marvel, but they tend to do some crazy and uninhibited things over there, so 2-1 odds say Mr. Fantastic gets dead.

Johnny's always been the loose canon of the group, and his going off and doing something stupid and/or exceedingly brave may very well be the cause of his untimely demise. But, for this "event," that would be too obvious. No, I think the Human Torch will be here to stay. I'll give it 10-1 odds that he actually gets offed, making him the long shot in this race that nobody wants to win.

The Thing is another way too easy pick. He makes the most sense, though, considering his death would have the least impact in terms of being a plot device for the Marvel Universe. Benny's not done yet, I say, and I'm giving him 4-1 odds of meeting his Great Aunt Petunia.

Sue is the most-liked character on the team, and her death would be the most emotional, both for the characters (she's Johnny's sister and Reed's wife, after all) and for the reader, so I'm thinking her chances are not too good. 1-1 odds say the Invisible Girl will be no more.

I'm thinking it'll be either Reed or Sue--both would be the toughest choices for Marvel to make. I have a feeling they're going all in on this one, though, so we'll see if I'm right.

-- -- -- --

There are, of course, plenty of other books coming out today. But, as there's the threat of another big snow storm 'round these parts today, and I have to do a full day's work in just about a half-day, I need to speed this up.

So, quickly, here's what else I'm buying.

From Vertigo and writer Brian Wood, The New York Five, issue one:

Here's the solicitation from the publisher:

There's nothing more exciting than college life in the big city. But complications can follow you from dark places – and not just from your boring hometown.

In THE NEW YORK FIVE, Riley's sister Angie is making a name in the Lower East Side with her new band, and now Riley is the black sheep of the family. Lona's murky past appears to have been hiding an alarming proficiency for stalkerism, and Merissa and Ren will confront uncomfortable situations involving older men.

But who is the "five" in THE NEW YORK FIVE? Find out as Vertigo reunites this cast with its stellar creative team of Brian Wood (DEMO, DMZ, NORTHLANDERS) and Ryan Kelly (LUCIFER, Local) in this standard-sized 4-issue miniseries.

And from Wizard Entertainment, what looks to be the final issue of Wizard Magazine. I'll have much more on this later in the week, but I wanted to mention that, from all accounts, this month's issue will be the last for that publication.

It's certainly the end of an era in comics with the cancellation of Wizard, and it comes at a time both expected and kind of surprising. Which is hard to do. Wizard's content has been better recently than it has been for several years, but the market can simply no longer support a magazine about comics.

Or, rather, more than one magazine about comics.

And so Wizard is the latest victim of the publishing decline here in the US and pretty much everywhere else. If you've ever thought about picking up an issue, you'd better do so today because it will likely be your last chance.

Right. Sorry about the depressing nature of this post--deaths of characters and publications. Don't despair, though. It's Wednesday! Go buy comics! That's what I'm going to do.

But before I go, what are you Waiting for?