What You Might Have Missed In Marvel’s May 2017 Solicitations

In recent months, Marvel has taken to quietly letting cancelled series end, rather than announce it ahead of time with a "Final Issue" solicitation. With that in mind, it's worth paying attention to what isn't in the solicitations, and this month there are quite a few titles without new issues. Patsy Walker AKA Hellcat, Black Panther: World of Wakanda, Great Lakes Avengers, Silk, Silver Surfer, Thunderbolts, Gamora, and Deadpool and the Mercs For Money are all without new installments in May, and of those at least Hellcat and Silk are confirmed to be ending. While Robbie Reyes will cameo in the surviving Unbelievable Gwenpool, it looks like Ghost Rider might be finished too.

While most of Marvel's so-called "architects" have since left the publisher to focus on creator-owned work, Jason Aaron has stayed with the company, focusing on Doctor Strange, The Mighty Thor and Star Wars. However, May sees his final issue of Doctor Strange, and all signs point to an imminent conclusion to his epic Thor saga. Could Aaron be following Kieron Gillen's lead by holding onto his Star Wars work while focusing more on creator-owned projects? It does seem plausible based on this month's solicitations.

Charles Soule and Ron Garney's run on Daredevil has been underrated, but a blast to read, melding the gritty noir of Frank Miller with the out-there world building of Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr. There's just been one thing missing, and that's the classic red duds. In May, readers finally get answers to how Matt Murdock put the secret identity genie back in the bottle, and it looks like that might be accompanied by a return to his most classic costume.

It was inevitable that the young Jean Grey's presence in the present would lead to a confrontation with the Phoenix Force at some point, but what's really exciting is the idea that she'll have back-up from people who know what they're dealing with. Seeing Rachel Grey, Quentin Quire and the returned-from-comics-limbo Hope Summers all sharing a cover with Jean is very exciting for a certain kind of fan, and their different perspectives on what The Phoenix can do will provide interesting clashes within the book.

I know, I know, the biggest mystery of the past few years of Marvel Comics has been, "Where the heck is Wonder Man?" but thankfully that question will be answered in May's installment of Uncanny Avengers. Last time we saw Simon Williams, he had been subsumed completely within Rogue's mind, but judging by the cover here, everyone's favorite A-Lister is making his return in a big way just in time to make what is sure to be a huge splash in 2017.