State of Marvel and Hype
A friend and I were discussing some comics the other day. It seems like DC has all the hot properties right now -- Identity Crisis, Green Lantern: Rebirth, and JLA: Classified come to mind in particular. Marvel's got big Avengers stuff happening but the other hype seems a little less.
Maybe my tastes are changing but I think that Marvel is in a low period right now. At first, I really enjoyed Straczynski's Amazing Spider-Man, but it hasn't proven to be that exciting to me (and this is even before the bizarre events of the Sins Past storyline). Spider-Man taking on cosmic foes doesn't interest me much and Ezekiel's story definitely fizzled out.
I may also be getting overwhelmed with Bendis. The Pulse isn't that striking. His Ultimate X-Men storyline wasn't that great. Ultimate Spider-Man is starting to get boring for me (and they got rid of Gwen so quickly!) I didn't really enjoy Avengers: Disassembled. Daredevil, previously my favorite of his Marvel works, seems to have lost something since it came back from the Echo hiatus.
Then the X-Men. I love Astonishing X-Men with Joss Whedon but there are way too many X-Men books out these days. I love the characters, the premise, but when I read X-Men: The End and can't recognize half the characters because they appear in books I couldn't afford to buy, it makes me sad. I'd like to know what's going on in the X-Universe. When Magneto shows up in Avengers, I'd like to know how/why he's alive again in Excalibur and what he plans for the Scarlett Witch. Sure, I know that District X is another part of Manhattan, but can you tell me more? Is NYX the same as District X? Why did X-23 (a female Wolverine) make her comics debut around the same time as the Native (another female Wolverine)? Do Jubilee, Gambit, Nightcrawler and Rogue all have fanbases large enough to warrant individual series, especially in light of the soon to be ended Mystique and White Queen series?
Marvel's X-Line is diluted, the Ultimate line is on its way and soon the rest of Marvel will suffer from Benis overexposure. I know Marvel's run right now by Bendis, Millar (who I haven't yet soured on) and Straczynski but I think they may need a jolt of new creativity. It seems like the current mindset is that Marvel looks at only short term profit lines and do whatever they want to the characters. It seems like they view the fans as people who don't want to accept any changes at all and so they should tell whatever stories they want regardless of fan reaction. They're wrong. Some fans react poorly to any changes but most fans just want to see the characters and continuity treated with respect when you make changes. Fans have spent a lot of time with these characters, so if you're going to tell them that all the stories they invested time and money into are going to be contradicted, you had better have a good reason.
If a character has acted or spoke a certain way for thirty years, fans won't accept an immediate change in behavior. That's why Hal Jordan fans got so upset when he went insane in DC Land. But Peter Parker told Aunt May his secret after thirty years and there was nary a peep. Why? Because it was well done. Comic fans accept Tim Drake and the death of Jason Todd. They've accepted three Flashes. They've accepted Mary Jane instead of Gwen Stacy. They've accepted the removal of Wolverine's adamantium. It can be done. Just tell good stories.
Maybe my tastes are changing but I think that Marvel is in a low period right now. At first, I really enjoyed Straczynski's Amazing Spider-Man, but it hasn't proven to be that exciting to me (and this is even before the bizarre events of the Sins Past storyline). Spider-Man taking on cosmic foes doesn't interest me much and Ezekiel's story definitely fizzled out.
I may also be getting overwhelmed with Bendis. The Pulse isn't that striking. His Ultimate X-Men storyline wasn't that great. Ultimate Spider-Man is starting to get boring for me (and they got rid of Gwen so quickly!) I didn't really enjoy Avengers: Disassembled. Daredevil, previously my favorite of his Marvel works, seems to have lost something since it came back from the Echo hiatus.
Then the X-Men. I love Astonishing X-Men with Joss Whedon but there are way too many X-Men books out these days. I love the characters, the premise, but when I read X-Men: The End and can't recognize half the characters because they appear in books I couldn't afford to buy, it makes me sad. I'd like to know what's going on in the X-Universe. When Magneto shows up in Avengers, I'd like to know how/why he's alive again in Excalibur and what he plans for the Scarlett Witch. Sure, I know that District X is another part of Manhattan, but can you tell me more? Is NYX the same as District X? Why did X-23 (a female Wolverine) make her comics debut around the same time as the Native (another female Wolverine)? Do Jubilee, Gambit, Nightcrawler and Rogue all have fanbases large enough to warrant individual series, especially in light of the soon to be ended Mystique and White Queen series?
Marvel's X-Line is diluted, the Ultimate line is on its way and soon the rest of Marvel will suffer from Benis overexposure. I know Marvel's run right now by Bendis, Millar (who I haven't yet soured on) and Straczynski but I think they may need a jolt of new creativity. It seems like the current mindset is that Marvel looks at only short term profit lines and do whatever they want to the characters. It seems like they view the fans as people who don't want to accept any changes at all and so they should tell whatever stories they want regardless of fan reaction. They're wrong. Some fans react poorly to any changes but most fans just want to see the characters and continuity treated with respect when you make changes. Fans have spent a lot of time with these characters, so if you're going to tell them that all the stories they invested time and money into are going to be contradicted, you had better have a good reason.
If a character has acted or spoke a certain way for thirty years, fans won't accept an immediate change in behavior. That's why Hal Jordan fans got so upset when he went insane in DC Land. But Peter Parker told Aunt May his secret after thirty years and there was nary a peep. Why? Because it was well done. Comic fans accept Tim Drake and the death of Jason Todd. They've accepted three Flashes. They've accepted Mary Jane instead of Gwen Stacy. They've accepted the removal of Wolverine's adamantium. It can be done. Just tell good stories.
posted by Blogman @ 13:31
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