Marvel Comics blabbery

I'm curious to know if there are any 'new readers' any more.

(Sorry, I may have exaggerated the number of issues by one. But only because the first was technically Superior Spider-Man #1.)

xpost Seriously. I can't believe that initiatives like this attract new readers in significant numbers, but I'm sure they turn off new-ish readers who wonder why the fuck things are constantly restarting and they definitely turn off long-time readers who want them to just keep telling their goddamn stories already without all the gimmicky bullshit.

This old reader feels odd about Dan Slott suddenly having written Spider-Man for a decade, I'll tell you that for nothing.

I guess he's done as of the relaunch? Marvel's been cagey with their May solicits so I can't be sure. I think Nick Spencer is taking the reins.

Jason Aaron taking over Avengers is a welcome change, I will say.

For sure, shame it's Ed Mcguiness though

Also these new lines will invariably have their trade paperbacks labeled as Vol 1 - it's insane trying to figure out the order of Marvel's trades, every comic has like 10 Vol 1s!

It's like having a page-a-day calendar that starts over at January 1st every couple of months.

Fair play, they did keep the same TPB numbering for Ms. Marvel when it was restarted back in (oof) 2016.

Agreed re: Jason Aaron – that’s the only detail here that keeps my eyes from rolling any back further in my head. But otherwise, yeah – this is totes redunk. The “Legacy” thing just happened! It’s still ramping up!

(If there are good series with good creative teams, idgaf about the numbering. But the ever-faster clip of these new “initiatives” smell so phony and desperate.)

a propos of nada i'v been going back through hickman's run starting with secret warriors... it's pretty amazing tbh. like all the seeds of Secret Wars are there in secret warriors and early FF run

xps uugh Ed McGuinness. Him and Humberto Ramos need to be flagged for "dead '90s style" and have their numbers retired

xp yeah, Squirrel Girl had to do the same thing with their trades. i mean they even ended up rebooting twice in one year at some point

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lol

I'm kind of dying at the fact that any time someone references an infinity stone/gem in one of the movies, someone at Marvel decides they need another comic arc about them for maximum synergy. And every plot has to be titled "Infinity <Something>", or just "Infinity" if you count the arc that wasn't really about them during Hickman's giant Avengers crossover thing.

Now that I think about it, why the heck was that called Infinity, anyway

It's amazing they haven't had a Secret <Something> film yet.

don't give them any ideas

wait people don't like ed mcguinness??!

Yeah, I don't know what that's about. I mean, I guess I get it if the exaggerated cartoony-ness isn't your thing, but unfavorably comparing him to Humberto Ramos is just nuts.

i really like mcguinness' clean, chunky style - it's really distinctive

mind you as i've attested elsewhere i like humberto ramos' work too so what do i know

can we get Nick Spencer booted from everything and whoever is writing that X-Men book with Kitty Pryde leading a team of fascists booted from that book

mcguinness is fine, the biggest weakness he has is too many loeb collaborations

ed mcguinness, you stand accused of collaborating repeatedly with jeph loeb - how do you plead

Yeah, I like McGuinness' stuff too - at his best he's like a cross between Ron Wilson and Richard Corben. His style doesn't seem especially 90s.

Ramos otoh...

I'll give Ramos props for never drawing a character the same way twice. Who's that guy? Oh, I guess it must be the same guy from the previous panel. You're keeping me on my toes, Ramos!

All right, maybe I jumped the outrage gun a bit. Only a couple of titles reverting to #1 in May, with most other titles retaining their Legacy numbering. But I reserve my right to blow a gasket over something completely lacking in consequence once this matter once again rears it's ugly head.

Hey, Hickman is finishing his SHIELD mini at looooooooooooooooong last, so that's something. And a weekly Deadpool miniseries/RPG(?!?) by Al Ewing? Color me intrigued!

I don't mind Mcguiness - I think the first issue of that JL story he did around (gulp) 15 years ago with Morrison is one my fave single issues EVAH. But his cartoony beefcake style is better suited to DC.

concentrated so much, unfairly, on writers over artists for so long that I’m loving this conversation

oops my bad, i confused McGuinness with another artist on the same title. he's fine, i guess.

That Hulk story line Loeb and McGuinness did is all-time awful.

You will not besmirch the christening of the Rulk in my presence, good sir.

I'm pretty sure a six-year-old would laugh at another six-year-old for coming up with something as stupid as 'Rulk'.

‘rulk’

http://static4.uk.businessinsider.com/image/59721be39d0918319c32a05e-480/scooby-doo-shocked.png

I hated what they did to Doc Sampson, he was always one of my favorite characters in the Hulk.

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I guess that's pretty minor than Hulk having kids with his cousin, Green Goblin sleeping with Gwen Stacy or some of the other transgressive story lines from the past decade or so.

The Brave, Bold, and the Misplaced Apostrophe in “Parent’s”

you realise that's a fake cover

Seriously. Batman never appeared in The Brave and the Bold. Get real.

So pass my critique along to the faker!

And every plot has to be titled "Infinity <Something>", or just "Infinity" if you count the arc that wasn't really about them during Hickman's giant Avengers crossover thing.

Now that I think about it, why the heck was that called Infinity, anywa.

AFAIK, Hickman's Infinity was originally supposed to be only about the Builders (which makes sense since his Avengers run had been leading up to the conflict with them), but someone upper in the hierarchy made him add Thanos to the story (possibly because of Thanos' higher visibility thanks to the MCU?), so I guess the "Infinity" name came from there.

IMO this wasn't a good idea, since Hickman can't really write Thanos, and he decided to ignore all the character development Thanos had gone through since the conclusion of Infinity Gauntlet, making him into a megalomaniac tyrant leading a bunch of space pirates, just like he was at the beginning of IG.

On top of that, it wasn't very long after Abnett & Lanning (who do know how to write him) had given the big T a fitting and sweet conclusion to his story in the Thanos Imperative, so there was really no need to bring him back so quickly (though you can blame Bendis for that). I guess it was inevitable he would eventually be resurrected, especially considering the cross-marketing possibilites with the MCU, but he doesn't really add anything to Hickman's Avengers arc.

I've been mostly out of loop with Marvel since the ending of Secret Wars, since a lot of the creators I liked have left or been reshuffled to titles I don't care about. I've only been following Ms. Marvel and Squirrel Girl, but what else has been good with post-SW Marvel? Besides Al Ewing's books? Or is Marvel's latest golden age completely over now?

Chip Zdarsky's Spidey is good.

Tom King's Vision series is as good as everyone says.

It’s been a very dry 2-3 years for marvel

I dug Waid’s short run on Black Widow. Bendis started well on Iron Man until he Bendis’d it. Thor has been solid but not as good as the pre-SW run. Zdarsky’s improving as a writer but still workmanlike.

David F Walker on Luke Cage is cool if you're into 70's grindhouse...oh I just googled to make sure I had dude's name right and apparently it got cancelled :/

Thor is the only thing I’m still reading regularly, I think it’s very good.

I think she's got an edge against the Mangog -- Jane's lacking most of the hubris that the Mangog feeds on, could be an interesting angle in the story

I'm still only about six months into the post-Secret Wars books. I'll take a glance through what I've read and see what I'd recommend. Moon Girl is the first thing that springs to mind as pleasant surprise.

Thor
Ultimates/Ultimates²
U.S.Avengers
Black Bolt (underrated gem imo)
Royals

Dr. Strange w/the Aaron/Bachalo issues
Black Panther And The Crew (might be good collected, kind of long on exposition so far without much action)

No idea if it has stuck/will stick, but Ewing's repurposing of Galactus in Ultimates is pretty brilliant.