The Good

This is about fifty pages of comic book stories. Similar to the previous POINT ONE issue, this packs in the content. The stories feature Nick Fury Jr and Agent Coulson, Star-Lord, the new Nova, Miss America and Loki, Ant-Man and Forge. Each story features the creators that will be working on the upcoming titles so it's a great sample to help in making the decision of which titles to add to your pull list.

I wasn't thrilled over the idea of Marcus Johnson turning into Nick Fury Jr. The same goes for having Agent Coulson appear in comics. But their interaction with Maria Hill works. Marcus Johnson hasn't been elevated to the ultimate soldier just yet. He is new to this world and it's great to see Nick Spencer make him more believable. There were moments in BATTLE SCARS that he appeared to be able to do too much too soon. Throw in a man from the future and you have an intriguing story.

The Star-Lord story gives us a glimpse at 20 years ago. We get to see how the craziness of his life began. The story hasn't changed but we get to see how the events unfold courtesy of Steve McNiven's art. This will lead into the upcoming GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY series.

The Nova story features the new Nova, Sam Alexander. I think we all agree that we'd rather have Rich Rider back but I have to admit I'm intrigued to see what Loeb and McGuinness have planned for the character. We don't know much about him and it's hinted that he has been active since before his first appearance in AVENGERS VS. X-MEN.

Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie give us a short featuring Miss America and Kid Loki. It's a lead in to the the upcoming YOUNG AVENGERS. It offers enough of a tease to get us even more excited for the title.

Would it be surprising to say that I loved the Ant-Man story by Matt Fraction and Mike Allred? One of the questions many had when FF was announced as part of Marvel NOW! was which Ant-Man would this be. This is where we find out. We also see that he has a major bone to pick with Doctor Doom that will definitely play a role in upcoming issues.

Dennis Hopeless and Garbriel Hernandez Walta give us a haunting early look at CABLE AND X-FORCE with a focus on Forge.

This comic also features the AR app. The cover gives us Marvel EIC, Axel Alonso, explaining what Marvel NOW! is all about. Despite their announcements, people have been wondering if it was a reboot, a relaunch or what. It's only used a few times inside. The best use was during the Ant-Man story showing new readers why exactly he has a grudge with Doom.

The Bad

Even though it's close to fifty pages of story, it still has a $5.99 price tag. This book is an important piece for each title but looking at the cover, I can't say it's overly compelling for new readers to pick up, especially at that price. Many readers already struggle to buy all the comics on their pull list.

The stories are all tied together in a way through the Nick Fury Jr. story. We're to assume that they are being told the the other stories contained here. It's a little awkward and doesn't always flow properly. The ending is a cliffhanger and will leave you scratching your head a bit.

The Verdict

There's a lot of new titles coming under the Marvel NOW! banner. This oversized issue gives us a taste of six upcoming titles. It's a cool look at what we can expect but there is also the $5.99 price tag to consider. It is worth it if you break it down but it might be a little much for some readers to spend on stories where they're not quite sure what they'll get. Some of the characters might not be appealing to everyone. If you do plan on reading any of these series, you would definitely benefit to seeing what goes down here. They may not be absolutely crucial to the enjoyment of those series but it will enhance your reading experience. As the story focuses on taking a look at the future, this does feel like we are doing just that, peeking into what's coming up. This is a great sized comic and will give you a good chunk of material to let you spend some time kicking back and reading. If you're curious what is coming up in Marvel NOW!, you'll want to check this out.