Marvel Team-Up Themed Solicitation Conspiracy Unveiled!
Others have already offered their takes on Marvel's June 2004 solicitations, but I couldn't resist adding my own thoughts:

• Mike Deodato Jr. is the new artist on Amazing Spider-Man, the cover of which indicates a return to the strange head-in-crotch anatomy first popularized by Todd McFarlane back in the eighties.

• What the heck is going on in that cover to Amazing Fantasy #1?  Is that a tiny spaceship the cover character is chasing?  If not, why does there appear to be a very small person trapped beneath the glass dome of whatever the heck that thing is?

• Spider-Man 2: The Movie comic-book adaptation.  Because it really doesn't matter who the creators adapting this are.

• OHOTMUSM04 - Best. Acronym. Ever.  Or at least unwieldiest. 

• SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #15 & #16:  I'm such a sucker for Spider-Man team-ups, especially ones with Captain America, so I'll probably check this 2-parter out.  I only wish Steve Epting were doing the interior art as well -- what a stunning cover.  (Is that based on an old Spider-Man model kit, or is my memory playing tricks on me?)

• Glad to see that Electro (one of my favorite Spidey villains) is back to his classic costume.  Too bad he's appearing in an overpriced, "hyper-realistic" book written by Mark Millar.

• In ASTONISHING X-MEN #2, "Cyclops and Emma Frost re-form the X-Men with the express purpose of astonishing the world."  Huh?  "The express purpose of astonishing the world"?  I'm almost tempted to pick up the book to see what that means.  For some reason, I'm thinking of that flamboyant kid from School of Rock:  "With these FAB-U-LOUS new costumes, you X-Men will finally be able to ASTONISH the world properly!"

• UNCANNY X-MEN #445:  Must...not...let...love of Alan Davis art override rationality.

• "Yeah, that pose does look a little impractical, and maybe she would lose her left leg if she tried that move, but you have to admit that it does show off her breasts really well.  And isn't that what's really important?"

• CABLE & DEADPOOL #4:  What??  No sample of the cover by Liefeld for me to mock??  It's an outrage!!  (But I did like the line about the puppies.)

• IDENTITY DISC #1:  I can't wait for next month's "special event" from Marvel, "Marvel Comics Presents," a tribute to the cover-inspired stories from a to-be-determined Marvel editor whose initials start with "J" and "S" -- maybe Jim Salicrup?
  

• SHE-HULK #4:  Ok, now I'm convinced that Marvel knows about my fondness for Marvel Team-Up style stories and is preying on that weakness.  This series seems to be getting decent reviews so far, but I'm reluctant to pay $3 for any Marvel comic.  So I guess I'll gamble and wait for the trade.  (If Marvel's general TPB program is any indication, it's not much of a gamble, and I'll probably save money in the long run:  Looking at this month's trades, TPBs collecting six issues range in price from $12.99 (INCREDIBLE HULK VOL. 7) to $14.99 (ELEKTRA VOL. 4, MYSTIQUE VOL. 1), which works out to between $2.17 and $2.50 an issue.)

Finally, this cover is great:


What a brilliant Road Runner-inspired homage to cartoon-style violence.  It'll be even better if Mister Sensitive is able to knock out Iron Man with an anvil in the actual comic.  And when are we going to get an X-Statix hardcover, Marvel?

(And to end on the theme of my unholy love for Marvel Team-Up, am I the only one who would be excited about an Essential or Marvel Age collection of those old Spidey Super Stories comics?  C'mon!  Marc Singer, you're with me, right?  Right??)
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