Okay, I said I wouldn’t write a rant about the All-New
All-Different Marvel. But after reading the premise for this latest gimmick, I
can honestly say it’s the most retarded thing I have ever read. Y’know what
Marvel needs? An All-new All-different editorial team with a new vision and a
fresh perspective for Marvel’s catalog of characters.
All-New All-Different Marvel seems like it takes a page from
DC’s Dysfunctional New 52, mixes it with crushed ice and the remnants of Heroes
Reborn According to the masterminds of this hot mess, In the aftermath of the
Third Secret Wars, The Living Tribunal and all the cosmic beings are all dead,
all the alternate universes in the Marvel Universe are gone, and the Marvel
Universe is now a single world called Battleworld comprised of bits and pieces
of the previous universe including a portion of the 616 New York City.
If that makes sense to you, then you’re what’s wrong with the
comic book industry. Axel Alonso takes a page from Dan Didio’s fucked up
business plan for DC Comics and makes comics more FUBAR instead of making them
FUN.
Like Marvel NOW, three years ago, we get a bunch of characters
in new costumes and new gimmicks. A whole bunch of cancellations and slew of a bunch of new number one
issues. And yet another promise that Marvel Comics will be easier for new
readers to access.
Good Gravy.
Y’know what would make comics easier to access? If Marvel and
DC would STOP rebooting their universes every three or so years.
The whole All-new All-Different Marvel is False Advertising
as I see it. If comic fans peel behind the label they’ll see it’s the same old
Just as it’s been Marvel Comics readers have been getting since 1994 with The
Crossing, Onslaught, and Heroes Reborn. A promise of change, and then things
going back to classic in three to five years.
It’s getting harder and harder to care about comics because
just as you get into them everything gets made all-new and all different for
absolutely NO REASON.
I don’t think anyone at Marvel understands what the phrase
All-New All-Different actually means. Back in 1975 the All-New All-Different
X-men worked because…it was actually ALL NEW and ALL DIFFERENT. The original
poor-selling team of whitebread X-men were replaced with a team of
international heroes readers of all ages and races could relate to and identify
with. A team that better fit the metaphor of what being a mutant meant with
cool powers and the angst to go with it.
Yeah, The mission of the X-men remained the same; they were
people born with X-tra powers. And some story elements that worked were kept,
along with some of the cooler big bads like Magneto and the Juggernaut, but the
premise Of the Len Wein/Chris Claremont/ Dave Cockrum/John Byrne’s X-men was
completely different from the Lee/Kirby/Dick Ayers X-men or the Neal Adams
X-men. The story models were completely different. The book had a completely
different feel from the previous X-men comics from the 60’s. It was actually all
new and all different compared to the original X-men concept.
All-new All-Different Marvel just feels like a pitiful
attempt to Copy Dysfunctional Dan Didio and his dysfunctional New Fifty-two
concept. A concept that has FAILED since its initial launch in 2011. DC’s Brand
has lost market share and merchandising dollars as lifelong fans have stopped
buying comics, action figures and other merchandise.
The way I see it All-new-All-different Marvel is a huge
mistake for the Marvel Comics brand. Marvel studios is on a roll with films
like Avengers: Age of Ultron which follow the old 616 comics to the letter.
Marvel Legends and Marvel Select are back to doing Gangbuster business for
Marvel in the action figure markets. Kids are buying Marvel Merchandise like
crazy. Why kill all that momentum with a stupid gimmick?
Okay, the comics aren’t selling like they used to back during
the boom days of the 1990’s. But what drove fans like myself out of the
marketplace was all of these damn gimmick stories like Onslaught, Heroes Reborn
and stunts like Marvel NOW that changed shit up for the sake of changing it.
The formula for superheroes is time tested to work, but most creators today
keep trying to reinvent a wheel that already spins.
Promising readers an all-new-all-different reading experience
Promising us that things will never be the same, but then giving us comics WORSE
than we read in the 1960’s, 1970’s and the 1980s and part of the 1990’s.
The big problem at Marvel in its publishing division has
always been the fact that a bunch of New Jack Fools in creative keep trying to
fix what ain’t broken. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby gave readers a universe of
time-tested characters that WORK. There’s no need to change what already works.
To all the comic book creators out there: You’re not gonna
become the next Stan Lee or Jack Kirby by doing what they DIDN’T do. So stop
trying so damn hard to be all-new and all-different. Because your version of
all-new and all different usually just SUCKS.
My Question to the bigwigs in the comic book industry is: Why
is it so hard to actually do something…All-New and All-Different? Or even give
us a fresh take on an old character? Mark Waid and Chris Samnee gave us that on
Daredevil. And it was great. But just as fans got back into Daredevil…The
Universe gets rebooted around him taking all the momentum from that book just
as the new TV series debuted on Netflix.
So much for brand synergy. All the fans of the AWESOME TV show won’t be able to go pick
up that comic at the comic shop and find out if the comics are as cool as the
show.
My biggest issue with today’s comic creators is that they act
like writing and designing comic books are rocket science. They put characters
in overdesigned costumes that hurt your eyes. They make stories go longer than
they should. They take characters in directions they shouldn’t go. Simplly put,
they try TOO DAMN HARD.
Latest book in the Isis Series! Same price as 4 Comics |
For me writing fantasy stories like those in the Isis series is
EASY. It’s basic good guys and bad guys. Right and wrong. Black and white. Good
triumphing over evil. Personally, I think too many in the comic book industry
overthink things and overanalyze them. When creators like myself keep it
simple, readers enjoy the same old characters and continue to buy more new
comics year after year.
I think it has something to do with the movies. You notice the characters that got screwed the most can't be used in movies? Iron Man's going to be the flagship character after the fans settled on Spider-Man shortly after Amazing Fantasy 15(I know they made a deal with Sony). The Fantastic Four doesn't exist. The X-Men are getting screwed. I think this is Disney fighting back. When the Fantastic Four movie(black Johnny Storm and white Sue Storm) comes out, there will be no FF comics on the shelves. When the Apocalypse movie comes out, the mutant universe in the comics will be so screwed up I don't know how potential new readers will react.
ReplyDeleteVic78