Blame it on the Time Gem, that re-imagining of Doctor Strange’s Eye of Agamotto for the MCU, warping temporal conventions and mortal publishing schedules. This week’s Doctor Strange #20, the culmination of Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo’s brilliant run on the book, comes a week after issue #21. Weird, yeah? One might say strange, even. Or maybe Marvel was just really eager to get the first issue from the new creative team on the stands for its Secret Empire tie-in. The real reason for the twisted release schedule, however, can be found in the afterword of this week’s book: “Why, you ask, is issue #21 already on sale? DO NOT BLAME KADAVUS! Blame the incompetent editor whose buffoonery has put him on the edge of infinite torment!” Well, sure. It’s well-established that comic book editors are all buffoons, so I’m sure a slight delay on an oversized book brimming with mind-bending Bachalo splash pages and interior art from the legendary Kevin Nowlan can fall squarely on that moron’s shoulders.
And we’ll excuse it. Because, truly, none of us really wanted to see this creative team bid farewell. We typically spotlight series or storyline premieres in these weekly New Comics posts, but this time we’re making an exception. Since Aaron and Bachalo first introduced us to this new axe-swinging Stephen Strange in the opening week of the All-New All-Different initiative, Doctor Strange has been one of the most exciting and visually gratifying superhero books on the shelf. This new issue even brings back that “sexy incorporeal asian succubus” that had a little something to do with the book’s high finish in our ANAD rankings.
The most important book on the new releases shelf this week is a trade anthology published by IDW, in conjunction with DC Entertainment. Love Is Love, with dozens of stories, artistic tributes, and messages, is a collaboration organized by Marc Andreyko intended to honor those killed at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando earlier this year. From the book’s solicitation: “this oversize comic contains moving and heartfelt material from some of the greatest talents in comics — mourning the victims, supporting the survivors, celebrating the LGBTQ community, and examining love in today’s world. All material has been kindly donated by the writers, artists, and editors with all proceeds going to victims, survivors, and their families. Be a part of an historic comics event! It doesn’t matter who you love. All that matters is that you love.”
One of the most exciting things about this year’s Marvel NOW! initiative has been the rejuvenation of Marvel’s cosmic universe. Since the days of Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, through the ascent of Jim Starlin and Chris Claremont, and even in recent work by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, there has been something uniquely special about the characters, exploits, and themes explored in the company’s spacefaring titles. The All-New All-Different relaunch last year dropped the ball in that regards. Most of the books were mediocre (Venom: Space Knight, Rocket & Groot), phoned-in (Guardians of the Galaxy, Star-Lord), or downright lousy (Drax, Guardians of Infinity). The few saving graces were 
It’s about time, really. One could argue that the prior few volumes of Hawkeye, both the Matt Fraction & David Aja series and the Jeff Lemire & Ramón Peréz version, were intentionally ambiguous regarding the titular hero. Which “Hawkeye” is given the top billing? Shouldn’t we really start calling the book Hawkeyes? But with this week’s Marvel NOW! debut of Kelly Thompson and Leonardo Romero’s Hawkeye #1, there is no room for debate. This is Kate Bishop’s comic book. She’s packing her bow & arrow, saying farewell to Clint, and heading for California.
Bishop settles in Venice, where she’s opened a private investigation office. And she’s taking surveillance photos of surfers. Like all good modern crime narratives, we need to de-romanticize the hardboiled intrigue of the professional detective’s line of work… before completely diving into a flurry of mystery, mayhem, and action sequences. This is still a superhero book after all. And Thompson is already demonstrating a knack for fun capes n’ tights books that serve up the super with a heaping side of sass. The two-page spread of Kate explaining to one potential client after another that she’s not that Hawkeye is gold.
Something’s happening to the Marvel cosmic canon. It’s getting pretty freaking great again. Last year’s All-New All-Different Nova was a nice introduction to Sam Alexander; indeed, it earned high marks in our 
Somewhat lost amid the dragged-out Civil War II event, the ongoing Captain Hydra drama, various Marvel NOW! debuts, and even the fresh look at the cosmic catalog in the pages of books like 
In the aftermath of the Infinity event, we learned that the Terrigen mists unleashed by Black Bolt, while transforming both Earth’s populace and the greater Marvel Universe by awakening the Inhuman potential in thousands of unsuspecting humans around the globe, also have a terrifying side effect. The Terrigen mists are deadly to mutants.
In the post-Civil War II era, which, unfortunately, continues to crazily coexist with the Civil War II era, the Marvel universe still has a need for a team of “awesome people working together to do awesome things.” Maybe more so now than ever. When Ewing and Rocafort’s ANAD Ultimates series wrapped with issue #12 last month, we were treated to yet another one of those g-d spoilers caused by ridiculous scheduling delays. Namely, that Civil War II would conclude with Black Panther switching sides, turning on Captain Marvel, and effectively shutting down their proactive problem-solving super-team of super-scientists. Say it ain’t so, T’Challa. This series was so good.
No, seriously. How many Jeff Lemires are there? Does this one guy ever sleep? Does he take a day off? For the record, I’m okay with his 
While Thanos is no stranger to recent Marvel books, what makes this series particularly exciting is the rest of this book’s cast. It’s a true family affair, as both Thanos’s brother, the former Avenger Starfox, and Thanos’s son, Thane, have plots in motion to come into conflict with the despot. We also get to see the never-humble Champion of the Universe making some bold proclamations regarding Thanos’s fate. Deodato’s style, both in the gritty realization of his action sequences and the geometric wizardry of his layouts, taps into the great 70’s and 80’s Heavy Metal/Epic vibe of classic four-color science-fiction. The House of Ideas has some marvelously trippy characters in its cosmic catalog, and it’s a treat to read a book that looks to explore that roster.
Marvel’s latest NOW! initiative may not have gotten off to the best start, particularly given the fact that so many of these new titles and storylines were meant to rise out of the ashes of the as-yet-to-be-concluded Civil War II event. This isn’t the first time scheduling delays have caused confusing overlaps between “seasons” of Marvel’s releases, and that hasn’t gone unnoticed among comic book readers, many of whom are expressing their rightful frustration by avoiding new series launches. We’re now in week 6 of the “shattered” NOW! initiative, but still two weeks away from the scheduled release of the final chapter of Civil War II. And delays aside, the series just hasn’t been very good. Whether or not it’s fair, much of the heat falls on Brian Michael Bendis. He’s Marvel’s chief architect, and, as the hardest working guy at The House of Ideas over the last decade-plus, it’s only natural to wonder if maybe he’s just feeling a little worn out. Superhero burnout is real, folks. And, the really scary thing is, history tells us it has a very low recovery rate.
But here’s the thing. Bendis isn’t slowing down. On the contrary, he seems out to prove that his knack for telling some of the most compelling and entertaining capes n’ tights stories of our generation hasn’t cooled in the slightest. The continuing adventures of Miles Morales in Spider-Man; new titles Infamous Iron Man and Jessica Jones; and especially this week’s Invincible Iron Man #1, make the bloated and unwieldy Guardians of the Galaxy and Civil War II runs look like company mandates that steered the scribe too far from his home.
The Institute of Idle Time 