The best of Marvel Comics this fall

The summer events are winding up — but that doesn’t mean that Marvel comics is slowing down. This fall is all about fallout at the House of Ideas, with the final repercussions of War of the Realms and House of X/Powers of X hitting shelves.

Keep reading for the biggest comics coming out of Marvel Comics this fall.

Esad Ribić/Marvel Comics

King Thor

Written by Jason Aaron, drawn by Esad Ribić; kicking off Sept. 11

War of the Realms might have been the big operatic finale number to Jason Aaron’s six-year run on the Thor mythos — but the four-issue King Thor miniseries is the coda. At the end of time, and All-Father Thor should be enjoying a well-deserved rest with the remnants of humanity and the pantheon that protects them. But instead, Loki’s gotten ahold of the god-killing weapon, All-Black, the Necrosword, and it looks like it’s final, final, final confrontation time.

If Aaron has shown anything in his tenure on Thor, it’s that he knows how to spin the biggest cosmic yarns without losing sight of stakes and emotion, and with Esad Ribić on art, the book will have visuals to match. If you liked War of the Realms, King Thor will be a must-read.

Bill Sienkiewicz/Marvel Comics

New Mutants: War Children

Written by Chris Claremont, drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz; kicking off Sept. 25

There are many, many X-Men fans out there who credit their love of the characters to one specific series: New Mutants as written by the legendary Chris Claremont. And among those, there are many who will tell you that the absolute peak of the series is when Bill Sienkiewicz drew it.

Both Claremont and Sienkiewicz are returning to the New Mutants this fall, for a story set in the era they first collaborated on the series, with the characters of Magik, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Cypher, Mirage, Karma, and Sunspot.

Not every creative team can recapture magic more than 30 years old, but regardless, this is a series to watch.

Leinil Francis Yu/Marvel Comics

X-Men

Written by Jonathan Hickman, drawn by Leinil Francis Yu; kicking off Oct. 16

As we’re all devoured by House of X/Powers of X hysteria, it’s important to remember that the two six-issue miniseries — or one 12-issue miniseries, if you prefer, and I do — are only the prelude to a line-wide relaunch of the X-Men.

That relaunch begins, of course, with a brand new X-Men ongoing series, drawn by Leinil Francis Tu and written by Jonathan Hickman himself. The team-up is a conspicuously odd one, seeming to consist entirely of seven members of the Scott Summers/Jean Grey family (Scott, Jean, Scott’s dad, Scott’s brother, and three of their children from three different timelines) and … Wolverine?

What ever Hickman has planned for this X-Men team, and you can bet he has plans, it stands a chance of being just as engaging as House of X/Powers of X.

Russel Dauterman/Marvel Comics

Marauders

Written by Gerry Duggan, drawn by Matteo Lolli; kicking off on Oct. 23

There are five more new X-Men books launching this fall — Marauders, Excalibur, New Mutants, X-Force, and Fallen Angels — with more promised in a second wave of titles. Possibly you should be paying attention to all of them.

But if I had to point to one in particular, it would be Gerry Duggan and Matteo Lolli’s Marauders, who both House of X/Powers of X writer Jonathan Hickman and X-Men senior editor Jordan D. White say is something of their favorite in the line. What is Marauders about? Well, it’s got Kitty Pryde, Emma Frost, Storm, Pyro, Bishop, and Iceman in it, and they’re… protecting mutants on the international high seas?

If you say you’re not intrigued by that you’re lying.

Erica Henderson/Marvel Comics

The finale of Squirrel Girl

Written by Ryan North, drawn by Derek Charm; hitting shelves on Nov. 13

In less than five years, Ryan North and Erica Henderson — and later Derek Charm — took a character who was barely more than a joke, and put her in a position to lead not one but two television adaptations. And they did it not by making the character a bigger, more successful joke, but by making her the sweetest, bravest, most compassionate, and most patient superhero on stands today.

And, of course, by keeping the series just as funny.

For her finale, Squirrel Girl is facing off against all of her many enemies, but is aided by all of the even more numerous allies she’s made along the way. It’ll be bittersweet, but I can’t wait to see how North and Charm put a cap on this fabulous series.