Changes Coming at Marvel?

There are all kinds of rumours circulating about a shakeup at Marvel following AvX. The most persistent one, about a DC style reboot, I discount as highly unlikely, but some of the other suggestions have been intriguing, including a mass cancellation and relaunch of the books in the Avengers line and possibly Jonathan Hickman taking over Avengers after his run on FF finishes. Opinions, folks? Anybody?

It wouldn't be too big a surprise given what they did with their Ultimates line. I think things are going to stay ugly for comics for a while. I wouldn't be surprised at anything happening at this point.

I really doubt it. Marvel know their fanbase, and their fanbase are much more invested in the backstory than a lot of DC readers. They've never really thrown anything out of continuity, not in over fifty years. Well, except for John Byrne's 'Spider-Man: Chapter One', thankfully...

I don't know what to make of the big two nowadays. I never would have thought DC would have pulled the stunt it did last year, and I have to admit with the 1 year anniversary coming up, finding it less likely they will be going back.

Had hoped my goodbyes with DC were temporary last year.

As time passes, I'm finding I'm missing DC less and less. I've discovered a lotmore stuff that interests me outside of the big two. But it's still a shame.

More teasers are emerging. Apparently, Rick Remender will be writing a team book called Uncanny Avengers which will include members of both the Avengers and the X-Men, while current Fantastic Four writer Jonathan Hickman moves on to Avengers and Brian Bendis writes X-Men, a new series in which the original five X-Men time travel to the present day and are less than pleased with how the world has changed.

tony ingram wrote:X-Men, a new series in which the original five X-Men time travel to the present day and are less than pleased with how the world has changed.

Yeah, this'll go well. I mean, bringing back the E-2 Kal-L to make him look stupid while saying things older fans were saying was such a good idea.

Oddly enough, I thought the exact same thing...

tony ingram wrote:Oddly enough, I thought the exact same thing...

For many reasons I hated Infinite Crisis, but this was the big one. Kal-L was made into nothing more than a cranky old man, who'd lost his mind. Not only was he used to mouth things that older fans had said, but he apparently wasn't bright enough to see what was going on around him. And then to blame other people for it. Just terrible.
And don't get me started on Identity Crisis...

Looks like Marvel's response to the New 52.

20 new #1s over five months :

http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/07/03/marvel-now-jean-grey-exclusive/

Mbast1 wrote:

tony ingram wrote:Oddly enough, I thought the exact same thing...

For many reasons I hated Infinite Crisis, but this was the big one. Kal-L was made into nothing more than a cranky old man, who'd lost his mind. Not only was he used to mouth things that older fans had said, but he apparently wasn't bright enough to see what was going on around him. And then to blame other people for it. Just terrible.
And don't get me started on Identity Crisis...

What they did to Kal-L was appalling. I think that's where the DCU started to go wrong, for me. Infinite Crisis #1 promised so much, but the series was really the death knell of the old DCU. And in the end, it went out with a whimper.

MLP* wrote:Looks like Marvel's response to the New 52.

20 new #1s over five months :

http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/07/03/marvel-now-jean-grey-exclusive/

This actually has me quite excited. Not the new number 1's, because Marvel are always doing that, but some of what they're teasing. The original X-Men are old favourites (and aside from Beast, have mostly been ruined as characters in the here-and-now) so seeing them on an extended time travel adventure to the present sounds great, and I'm glad the real Red Skull is coming back: he was killed off in an absurdly anticlimactic way, and Sin was never a real substitute. I also love the Guardians of the Galaxy (and if that movie is done right, it could be a real hit). And best of all? Not a reboot!

Marvel, at least, knows its fanbase...

tony ingram wrote:What they did to Kal-L was appalling. I think that's where the DCU started to go wrong, for me. Infinite Crisis #1 promised so much, but the series was really the death knell of the old DCU. And in the end, it went out with a whimper.

It went out ugly, as a character who was meant to be a sweet goodbye to the old multiverse beat the E-2 Superman to death. They really only brought those characters back to malign and kill them. I just don't think there's any way it wasn't meant as an insult. I think it was there that TPTB at DC decided that the past shouldn't exist.

I intend to support this so hard. Just SO hard, you guys.

I'm especially excited about the X-Men one. I've always been fascinated by the unique dynamics of that original, utterly Wolverine-less team.

Mbast1 wrote:

tony ingram wrote:What they did to Kal-L was appalling. I think that's where the DCU started to go wrong, for me. Infinite Crisis #1 promised so much, but the series was really the death knell of the old DCU. And in the end, it went out with a whimper.

It went out ugly, as a character who was meant to be a sweet goodbye to the old multiverse beat the E-2 Superman to death. They really only brought those characters back to malign and kill them. I just don't think there's any way it wasn't meant as an insult. I think it was there that TPTB at DC decided that the past shouldn't exist.

When did Didio take over?

Sam_Vimes wrote:I intend to support this so hard. Just SO hard, you guys.

I'm especially excited about the X-Men one. I've always been fascinated by the unique dynamics of that original, utterly Wolverine-less team.

Likewise. Though it may have something to do with the fact that my original introduction to the X-Men was sixties reprints, so they're still the 'real' X-Men to me. Wolverine and friends will always be the 'new' X-Men, and anyone who joined after Kitty or, at a push, Rogue I tend to disregard entirely.

Multiple Series Ending in October as Marvel NOW! Begins

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/multiple-marvel-series-ending-in-october.html

Avengers Academy, Daredevil and X-Factor are going nowhere. I am, therefore, happy.

tony ingram wrote:When did Didio take over?

I don't know, but I am almost positive he was in charge before IC.

I think you're right.

I like these covers :

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/matt-fraction-marvel-now-fantastic-four-ff.html

Even though Miss Thing looks bloody weird and has the campest superhero name I've heard in years !

I don't understand this whole 'create a distaff counterpart by putting 'Miss' in front of the superhero's name' thing.

Lucy McGough wrote:I don't understand this whole 'create a distaff counterpart by putting 'Miss' in front of the superhero's name' thing.

I know, it's horribly sexist.
That's why I prefer Ms. Marvel...

Shouldn't Sue Richards refer to herself as Mrs Fantastic?

That would be silly!

Though Sue did strike a blow for feminism in the early 1980s when she renamed herself from 'Invisible Girl' to 'Invisible Woman'.

Quite right too. I'm still waiting for a main-Earth distaff counterpart of Superman called Superwoman

Who is Medusa, leader of the inhumans?

There is actually a character called Superwoman, in fact there have been several. Lois Lane was the first to briefly use the name, then Luma Lynai, Kristin Wells and Dana Dearden, and of course there is the villainous Superwoman of the Crime Syndicate. The most recent Superwoman was Lucy Lane, sister of Lois.

Medusa, real name Queen Medusalith, is the wife of the Inhumans' King, Black Bolt, and the sister of Crystal. She has at various times led the Inhumans in Black Bolt's absence and been a substitute member of the Fantastic Four in Sue Richards's absence (as her sister was before here; Crystal filled in when Sue was on maternity leave, and Medusa later took over when Reed and Sue's marriage hit a rocky patch).

"Miss Thing" is a common expression here in America meaning "someone who THINKS they're all that but they're NOT all that", so I don't think it's sexist so much as it is a silly joke, ala' "U-Go Girl" from X-Force/X-Statix.

EDIT: Just realized Mike Allred is to blame for both of these examples. It all makes sense now. . . .

Sam_Vimes wrote:"Miss Thing" is a common expression here in America meaning "someone who THINKS they're all that but they're NOT all that", so I don't think it's sexist so much as it is a silly joke, ala' "U-Go Girl" from X-Force/X-Statix.

I never understood that one either, until I looked it up.

Sam_Vimes wrote:"Miss Thing" is a common expression here in America meaning "someone who THINKS they're all that but they're NOT all that", so I don't think it's sexist so much as it is a silly joke

Thanks, Commander. That's interesting

Thinks they're all what, exactly?

'That'. Don't you know what 'that' means?

tony ingram wrote:There are all kinds of rumours circulating about a shakeup at Marvel following AvX. The most persistent one, about a DC style reboot, I discount as highly unlikely, but some of the other suggestions have been intriguing, including a mass cancellation and relaunch of the books in the Avengers line and possibly Jonathan Hickman taking over Avengers after his run on FF finishes. Opinions, folks? Anybody?

It's interesting to look at this again since we now have the new Secret Wars on the horizon.

"Interesting"? I would say "alarming"...

tony ingram wrote:Kristin Wells

Relating to Kristin Wells, and less Superwoman, if you haven't read Elliot S! Maggins's two Superman novels (from whence she comes) I'd really recommend them.

http://www.amazon.com/Superman-Miracle-Elliot-S-Maggin/dp/0446911968/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1423688812&sr=8-3&keywords=Elliot+S%21+Maggin

http://www.amazon.com/Superman-Last-Krypton-Elliot-Maggin/dp/0446823198/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1423688812&sr=8-5&keywords=Elliot+S%21+Maggin

I have Last Son of Krypton-great book!

I bet the ending came as a surprise!

Lucy McGough wrote:I bet the ending came as a surprise!

It's not about what you think it is...

tony ingram wrote:I have Last Son of Krypton-great book!

Miracle Monday is good, also. Well worth the time.

Mbast1 wrote:

tony ingram wrote:I have Last Son of Krypton-great book!

Miracle Monday is good, also. Well worth the time.

I've never actually seen a copy of that one, I might have to track one down at some point.

tony ingram wrote:

Lucy McGough wrote:I bet the ending came as a surprise!

It's not about what you think it is...

It's actually a history of Themyscira?

tony ingram wrote:

MajorHoy wrote:

tony ingram wrote:There are all kinds of rumours circulating about a shakeup at Marvel following AvX. The most persistent one, about a DC style reboot, I discount as highly unlikely, but some of the other suggestions have been intriguing, including a mass cancellation and relaunch of the books in the Avengers line and possibly Jonathan Hickman taking over Avengers after his run on FF finishes. Opinions, folks? Anybody?

It's interesting to look at this again since we now have the new Secret Wars on the horizon.

"Interesting"? I would say "alarming"...

And since Secret Wars (21st Century version), we've had . . .
Is anybody still regularly following any Marvel comics these days?

MajorHoy wrote:

tony ingram wrote:

MajorHoy wrote:

tony ingram wrote:There are all kinds of rumours circulating about a shakeup at Marvel following AvX. The most persistent one, about a DC style reboot, I discount as highly unlikely, but some of the other suggestions have been intriguing, including a mass cancellation and relaunch of the books in the Avengers line and possibly Jonathan Hickman taking over Avengers after his run on FF finishes. Opinions, folks? Anybody?

It's interesting to look at this again since we now have the new Secret Wars on the horizon.

"Interesting"? I would say "alarming"...

And since Secret Wars (21st Century version), we've had . . .
Is anybody still regularly following any Marvel comics these days?

I'm not buying any regularly, baically because I can't afford to, but I do try to keep up with developments and it's looking as though they are trying to move back to a more traditional approach with a number of characters going back to their classic incarnations. Peter Parker is back to being a photographer for the Bugle instead of a Tony Stark wannabe, Thor is male again, Tony Stark is Iron Man again, and the Hulk, Wolverine, Jean Grey and the FF are back from the dead, or about to be. Perhaps someone finally realized that, as with New Coke, it's rarely a good idea to mess with a successful formua.

tony ingram wrote:I'm not buying any regularly, baically because I can't afford to, but I do try to keep up with developments and it's looking as though they are trying to move back to a more traditional approach with a number of characters going back to their classic incarnations. Peter Parker is back to being a photographer for the Bugle instead of a Tony Stark wannabe, Thor is male again, Tony Stark is Iron Man again, and the Hulk, Wolverine, Jean Grey and the FF are back from the dead, or about to be. Perhaps someone finally realized that, as with New Coke, it's rarely a good idea to mess with a successful formua.

But Iceman is still gay and Captain Marvel is still a woman.

MajorHoy wrote:

tony ingram wrote:I'm not buying any regularly, baically because I can't afford to, but I do try to keep up with developments and it's looking as though they are trying to move back to a more traditional approach with a number of characters going back to their classic incarnations. Peter Parker is back to being a photographer for the Bugle instead of a Tony Stark wannabe, Thor is male again, Tony Stark is Iron Man again, and the Hulk, Wolverine, Jean Grey and the FF are back from the dead, or about to be. Perhaps someone finally realized that, as with New Coke, it's rarely a good idea to mess with a successful formua.

But Iceman is still gay and Captain Marvel is still a woman.

Well, Carol Danvers is still Carol Danvers, whatever name she's using. There was a female Captain Marvel as far back as 1982, so I don't see that as an issue, really. Mar-Vel has been dead for 36 years!

Statistically, some of the superheroes we're already familiar with must be gay. Why not Iceman?

Lucy McGough wrote:Statistically, some of the superheroes we're already familiar with must be gay. Why not Iceman?

My issue with that is that I've followed Iceman as a character for decades, and it was never previously hinted at as even a possibility. He's had numerous relationships with women, and during the early 1980s New Defenders series, was absoutely horrified and revolted when Cloud, the mysterious young woman he was pursuing, unexpectedly changed sex (it's a long story).

Fair enough.

By the way, what's Marvel's latest direction being referred to? We've had things like "All-New"; "All-New, All-Different!"; "Marvel NOWdammit!"; and "Legacy" seemed to be the last kewl theme which I guess quickly went cold.

MajorHoy wrote:By the way, what's Marvel's latest direction being referred to? We've had things like "All-New"; "All-New, All-Different!"; "Marvel NOWdammit!"; and "Legacy" seemed to be the last kewl theme which I guess quickly went cold.

This is no latest direction. It's still basically going in the same direction set up by Legacy, which was really just the title of the one-shot that kicked it off.  It's an ongoing return to the classic characters and, in some cases, the tone of the older stories. And it seems to be working, from what I can gather. Captain America is Captain America again, Steve Rogers beating up bad guys and teaching moral lessons, Peter Parker is back to working for the Bugle, Thor is back to being Thor and Stark is back to being Iron Man. Even Wolverine is either back or coming back (I'm unclear on which).

If you don't mind me saying so, you seem to be coming at this from a POV where your assumptions are very much based on pessimism. Why would you "guess" Legacy "quickly went cold" if you're not reading the stuff?