Nothing New About the All-New All Different Marvel

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.