In 2004, Marvel Comics launched a new ongoing series titled Excalibur, this time dealing with the efforts of Professor Xavier and Magneto to rebuild the devastated mutant nation of Genosha (which was destroyed at the beginning of Grant Morrison‘s X-Men run).
Other cast members included Callisto, another mutant leader and former member of the Morlocks, and newcomers such as Wicked, Freakshow, Shola Inkosi, and Karima Shapandar. Archangel and Husk also appeared in the series. The grouping never laid claim to the name Excalibur, despite the title of the series. The series’ last issue was #14, released in May, 2005. Events of the “House of M” storyline concluded Xavier’s and Magneto’s partnership. Afterward, the mutant members of the group showed up in the “Son of M” series, where it was revealed they had all lost their powers due to the “Decimation.” However, they used Quicksilver‘s stolen Terrigen Mist to bring their powers back, which caused them to go out of control, but the effect wore off later, leaving them human.
BRZRKR is a comic book series created and written by Keanu Reeves and Matt Kindt and drawn by Ron Garney. The comic follows an immortal warrior, known as Berzerker, as he fights his way through the ages. The first issue of the 12-issue limited series was published on March 3, 2021, by Boom! Studios. It raised more than $1.4 million USD in its funding campaign on Kickstarter.
The Trials of Shazam!, a 12-issue maxi-series written by Judd Winick and illustrated by Howard Porter for the first eight issues and by Mauro Cascioli for the remaining four, began publication in August 2006. The series redefined the Shazam! mythos, the characters, and their place in the DC Universe. Trials of Shazam! featured Captain Marvel, now with a white costume and long white hair, taking over the role of the wizard Shazam under the name Marvel, while Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel lose their powers. A powerless Freddy Freeman is then drafted to prove himself worthy to the individual six gods evident in the “Shazam” acronym so that he can become their new champion and herald under the name Shazam, although a witch Sabina from the Council of Merlin attempts to take the power herself, as ordered by her father Merlin. Atlas is killed during the series by Sabina, but Apollo’s healing replaces him. Marvel helps Freddy when he is trapped by the weight that Atlas bore.
Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man was published from June 2017 to December 2018. After the first six issues, the series reverted to legacy numbering with issue #297 as part of the line-wide Marvel Legacy relaunch. The series’ original creative team had Chip Zdarsky as writer, with Adam Kubert providing the artwork. Notable recurring characters included Teresa Durand, J. Jonah Jameson, Johnny Storm, and original character Rebecca London.
Various issues as well as the annual were illustrated by guest artists; Kubert’s final issue as artist was #307, excluding covers. Zdarsky left the series with issue #310. The series ended with issue #313, the final three issues being a tie-in to the Spider-Geddon event written by Sean Ryan.
Peter Parker – the Spectacular Spider-Man #1 Ebay Variant NM $5
Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man V3 #3 NM $4
Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man V3 #4 NM $4
Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man V3 #5 NM $4
Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man V3 #6 NM $9
Jughead: The Hunger launched on March 29, 2017 as a one-shot comic alongside the New Riverdale “pilot” lineup. It was written by Frank Tieri with art by Michael Walsh. Due to positive critical and fan reception, the book was picked up as an ongoing series.
It is the first title to debut under the Archie Horror imprint and is its third title overall behind Afterlife with Archie and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which released issues before the imprint was created. The series returned with its first official issue on October 25, 2017, with Pat & Tim Kennedy taking over as artists.
Years after he banished the Crooked Man, Hellboy returns to Appalachia when a young psychic warns Tom Ferrell of looming danger. But the Crooked Man’s house is no longer empty, and threats both new and old simmer in the Virginia woods.
Mike Mignola returns to continue the tale of ”The Crooked Man.” He’s joined by artist Zach Howard and colorist Dave Stewart for a stellar fright fest!
Hellboy and the BPRD – The Return of Effie Kolb #1 NM $4
In midcentury America, the world’s greatest superheroes triumph in their public battles, while struggling with private ones. Social and political unrest take a personal toll: one member joins the counterculture movement, others grapple with personal demons, and suspicion and betrayal cast a shadow over the most trusted friendships.
Jabba the Hutt lives to negotiate, and the art of the deal is his only discipline. But the goods he trades are the lives of others, and in that line of business you can’t lose your head. In this self-contained story, Jabba finds himself bartering with GaarSuppoon, rumored to be an absolute devil at the negotiating table. There’s a valuable lesson to be learned here: In a deal with the devil, you can always refuse. In a deal with Jabba, it’s not advised.
American Flagg, which ran 50 issues (Oct. 1983 – March 1988),was one of the first titles to be published by First Comics, an early alternative press comics company founded in Evanston, Illinois in 1983. Unusually for the time, the company offered its freelance writers and artists creator rights, including ownership of their creations.Regardless, writer-artist Howard Chaykin, then living in New York City, felt trepidation when First Comics approached him to do a project. He recalled in 2010,
“My concern had all and everything to do with the fact that this was a brand new company, located in [a suburb of] Chicago. I’d always worked for companies I’d visited and had day-to-day-dealings with. [But they talked about a financial plan that would make it possible for me to get out from under the debt I had accrued working for [publisher] Byron Preiss[illustrating early graphic novels]. It was encouraging, so I went home and concocted a scenario, a pitch document, and that was it.”
Chaykin devised a series set in 2031, a high-tech but spiritually empty, consumerist world in which the American government has relocated to Mars, leaving what remains of the U.S. to be governed by the all-encompassing corporation the Plex. The series star is Reuben Flagg, a former TV star drafted into the Plexus Rangers and posted as a deputy in Chicago, Illinois.
The first 12 issues, running through cover-date September 1984, consisted of four interlocking, three-issue story arcs. Chaykin recalled his difficulty in producing 28 pages of art and script monthly. “I was still a smoker and a drinker at the time. And [the output was such that] I’d never done anything like that before, and it was insane. It just devoured my life I had no assistants. I didn’t how to work with an assistant at that point, and it was a very difficult process. … I was trying to do a fairly high-quality product and I didn’t want to slough it off.”