Picking up my comics this week, I saw that the first issue of Marvel’s Resurrexion event came out. I love the X-Men but the books have sucked for years. And as a fan, that just hurts me. Rumors have abounded that Marvel has made the line weak on purpose to spite Fox, who currently hold the move license for the characters, but that’s just a rumor for all I know. This event, though, while not explicitly acknowledging that, seems intended to be a show of force in restarting the X-Men line for people to jump back on.
So, ever hopeful, I picked it up, brought it up to the counter, and as the owner was ringing me up, going book by book, he got to the X-Men book, said, “Eh… this isn’t very good.”
And I just nodded my head. “Yeah… I kinda figured. But… hope, right?”
He glumly nodded his head and then finished ringing me up.
And sure enough, as I read it that night, the book did indeed suck. Whether its planned or not, Marvel just can’t seem to get their act together on the X-Men, with this book, in particular, focusing on an uncharacteristically gloomy Kitty Pryde, referencing so much of the convoluted stories that have plagued the book line for the past few years – just burdening the series right from the start – and, quite bluntly, having art that, while technically proficient, just doesn’t suit a dynamic comic book series. I REALLY want to like the X-Men again but I doubt I’m going to pick up a second issue here.
So, this morning, I saw a headline from Newsarama: Late ’16 Sales Downturn Told Marvel ‘People Didn’t Want Any More Diversity’.
The story quoted David Gabriel, Marvel’s Senior Vice President of Sales, Print & Marketing, with him blaming a recent sales downturn on “the market “turning up their noses” at any title not featuring a “core Marvel character” and that “What we heard was that people didn’t want any more diversity. They didn’t want female characters out there. That’s what we heard, whether we believe that or not. I don’t know that that’s really true, but that’s what we saw in sales.”
Now, it is certainly true that Marvel has recently upended all their core books: There’s a female Thor; a black Captain America (while the white Captain America has become evil); two Iron Men, one a young black woman and the other… Dr. Doom; etc., etc.. But here’s the thing: To me, most of those changes have been pretty cool.
Marvel’s problem isn’t diversity.
Marvel’s problem is that, individually, too many of their books just suck; collectively, their big event crossovers have been terrible for years, not to mention inconsequential (which is worse); and, overall, their books cost too much ($4).
Back at the comic shop, the owner and I once had a long discussion on Marvel because this has been an issue for a while. I remember once leaning against the counter, looking at the racks, and just going through my opinions of all the books (which is the fun sort of thing you can do in a comic shop – especially in one where the owner isn’t trying to pretend that every book is good). So, let’s do that here, going through Marvel’s April 2017 Solicitations, and figuring out which I would actually buy and why:
Black Panther: The Crew #1
Maybe – I really liked the original Crew so I’ll probably give this a try. I wasn’t inspired by Coates’ initial Black Panther run, though, and I’m little disappointed that Jim Rhodes is still dead, but hey, worth a try.
X-MEN BLUE #1 & #2
Maybe – Ugh, so torn! Again, I want this to be good, and Magneto as mentor to the original X-Men sounds interesting, but they’ve dropped the ball so much, I can’t trust this’ll be any good.
X-MEN GOLD #1 & #2
No – Same team that did this week’s X-Men Prime, so no thanks.
ALL-NEW WOLVERINE #19
No – Just looks like more of the same. I like the character but this hasn’t hooked me. Killing Wolverine in a weird way but brining back Old Man Logan probably didn’t help.
WEAPON X #1 & #2
Yes – Just since Greg Pak is on board. I enjoyed his run on the Hulk. Also, this looks like a spiritual successor to X-Force, which I also enjoyed.
BEN REILLY: THE SCARLET SPIDER #1
Yes – Peter David AND Mark Bagley? I wouldn’t even have to know the name of the book to be on board here. That costume does look terrible, though…
ROYALS #1 & #2
No – More Inhumans crap. I don’t need the second-rate X-men, thanks.
NICK FURY #1
Maybe – James Robinson’s Starman was one of the best comic runs of all time. The only issue is that 616 Nick Fury is kind of a mess. They should have just ported the Ultimate one over and left it at that. This “son of Nick Fury” thing just seems awkward.
MONSTERS UNLEASHED #1
No – Don’t care.
CHAMPIONS #7
Yes – Love me some Mark Waid.
AVENGERS #6
No – Oddly, though, Mark Waid hasn’t been able to make this one work for me. Go figure.
INFAMOUS IRON MAN #7
Maybe – I WANT to like this series but Bendis just tells stories SO SLOW. Bringing the Maker back to be Doom’s foil is genius, though.
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #6
Maybe – Same as above. Can’t Marvel find another writer? Just make Bendis an editor or something. Great idea guy; plodding execution.
OCCUPY AVENGERS #6
No – This has gone six issues already?
CAPTAIN AMERICA: SAM WILSON #21
Yes – I genuinely love this book. Its (purposely, I’d assume) reminiscent of one of my favorite Guggenheim runs of Captain America, when Steve Rogers becomes The Captain and has a whole crew. I liked Brubaker’s run but it was way too dark. This, to me, gets the sweet spot of being serious yet fun. Plus, if you want to get a 90s kid to buy a Marvel comic, just add Rage as a supporting character.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: STEVE ROGERS #15 & 16
Yes – This took me a little longer to get into but its fun, as well. I think the series suffered from the initial media attention which poorly described the premise. Too many people thought they were undoing Roger’s origin, when that wasn’t the case at all. Plus, again for a 90’s kid, adding Baron Zemo isn’t a bad idea, either.
ULTIMATES 2 #6
No – Again, don’t care.
U.S.AVENGERS #5
No – I got the first issue of this and was really disappointed. And as a HUGE New Mutants/X-Force fan, having Cannonball and Sunspot leading the team should make this an automatic buy.
GREAT LAKES AVENGERS #7
No – Really wanted to like this series but I quit after four issues. They should have gotten Dan Slott to pick this up as his previous mini-series runs on the title were fantastic.
THE MIGHTY CAPTAIN MARVEL #4
No – Civil War 2 kinda killed Captain Marvel for me (thanks, Bendis). Plus, while I want to like the Cosmic stuff in Marvel, it’s rarely been done well enough to draw me in and keep me there.
THE TOTALLY AWESOME HULK #18
No – Again, wanted to like it, but meh…
HULK #5
Maybe – I got the first issue of this, which wasn’t bad. Just didn’t hook me. If the review are good, though, maybe I’ll pick it up.
UNCANNY AVENGERS #22
No – Cable, Rogue, and Deadpool on the Avengers should be awesome. This is not. And the Unity Avengers squad has always been a mess to me. And Red Skull is a terrible villain as he has no element of redemption about him – he’s a Nazi! Maybe they’ll bring back Xavier, though, so people can finally REALLY reset the X-men books.
MIGHTY THOR #18
Maybe – Honestly, I hear good things about this book, but I have such a hard time getting into Thor, male or female.
SPIDER-MAN #15
No – HOW MANY BOOKS DOES BENDIS WRITE A MONTH?!?!
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #26
Yes – I picked up the last issue and bringing back Silver Sable has the 90s kid in me intrigued. Plus, Dan Slott is the man.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: RENEW YOUR VOWS #6
Maybe – I didn’t EVEN realize this was still going… the first issues a while back were fun.
SPIDER-GWEN #19
No – I have no idea what this is about and 19 issues feels too late for me to understand.
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING PRELUDE #2 (of 2)
No – Movie tie-in? Hell, no.
VENOM #6
Maybe – A Todd McFarlane cover? SLIGHTLY tempting. Otherwise, a no. Who cares? I did enjoy the initial Flash Thompson run. But that was years ago at this point, shockingly.
SPIDER-MAN 2099 #22
Maybe – I like Peter David but I’ve fallen WAY behind on this… I may have to TPB it eventually.
SILK #19
No – Another book I have no idea about.
MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR #18
No – I LOVED the first issue of this. Then issues two and three kinda sucked so I let it go. They’re free to win me back, though, with a good cross-over or something.
MOSAIC #7
No – More Inhumans nonsense.
MS. MARVEL #17
Yes – I’ve enjoyed this series, overall. It hasn’t blown me away lately, though, so it’s on the edge. Make mine Marvel… please?
HAWKEYE #5
Maybe – I like Kate as Hawkeye. She’s fun. Add in Jessica Jones? Perhaps that’s enough to have me give it a try.
AMERICA #2
No – I might be interested in these but the covers have just been pin-ups that tell me nothing about the story. Covers are a lost art form in and of themselves, now that I think about it….
POWER MAN AND IRON FIST #15
No – Another series I tried for a few issues then passed on. I love the characters and their chemistry together but this was bland to me… which was especially sad as I quite liked the art.
IRON FIST #2
No – First issue didn’t look interesting so I’m not likely to give this a try.
JESSICA JONES #7
No – Holy God, another Bendis book? How does that guy even pretend he’s putting a real effort into these books?
ELEKTRA #3
No – Not really feeling more Ninja nonsense.
BULLSEYE #3 (OF 5)
No – First issue was terrible.
DAREDEVIL #19
No – I haven’t tried Daredevil in a long time and this probably isn’t going to be the issue to bring me back.
THE PUNISHER #11
No – After Chuck Dixon did his run on the Punisher, I thought any writer would be hard pressed to make a mark on the character. Then Garth Ennis hard two wildly different runs on the book, ranging from a goofy black humor Marvel Knights take on the character to the Marvel Max’s grittiest, serial killer crime story I’ve ever read. Every other writers take on the character is going to be less than in my head until I see something really great… which is unfortunate, as I’m sure I’m missing at least some decent stuff.
KINGPIN #3
No – The covers for these have actually intrigued me but not enough to purchase. Maybe the first trade eventually if the reviews are good.
PATSY WALKER, A.K.A. HELLCAT! #17
Maybe – You know what? This looks cute. She’s going to the mall with Jubilee. This may be the only chance I get to see a fun take on an X-Men character in a while.
MAN-THING #3 (OF 5)
No – I wanted to like this just for RL Stine (I LOVED the Fear Street books as a kid – Screw you Goosebumps fans) but flipping through the first issue didn’t do anything for me. Again, maybe a trade if the reviews are decent.
DOCTOR STRANGE AND THE SORCERERS SUPREME #7
No – I’m sorry but Doctor Strange is a terrible character. There, I’ve said it. Name one good run of stories revolving around him that went for more than five issues.
DOCTOR STRANGE #19
No – See above. Also, the first issue of this sucked to me.
MOON KNIGHT #13
Yes – This has gotten good again.
THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #19
Yes – This is the best book Marvel makes. ‘Nuff said.
GHOST RIDER #6
No – Danny Ketch or bust. 90’s forever!
GWENPOOL, THE UNBELIEVABLE #14
Maybe – I have no idea what’s going on here but that cover looks fun.
BLACK PANTHER: WORLD OF WAKANDA #6
Maybe – I thought Kasper Cole was a fascinating addition to the Black Panther universe a few years ago. This might bring me back into Black Panther.
BLACK PANTHER #13
No – Eh… this sounds exactly like the kind of mystical stuff that leave me cold about Thor and Doctor Strange.
SILVER SURFER #12
Yes – Slott and Allred are great. This is a consistent buy for me.
THE UNSTOPPABLE WASP #4
Maybe – I was unaware of this. Art looks fun.
SLAPSTICK #5
No – I wanted to like this but two issues in and it was way too dark.
THUNDERBOLTS #12
No – Another one where the first issue sucked. And I LOVED The Thunderbolts back in the day.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #19
No – Mother. Fucker. ANOTHER BENDIS BOOK? How many can there be?
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: DREAM ON #1
No – Why?
THANOS #6
No – I’ve loved some of Thanos’ stories by Jim Starlin when the character is this grand force of nature more than a villain. Few get him right outside of that, so I’m rarely interested in trying other takes on him.
NOVA #5
No – Not interested. Not against it but just not interested.
GAMORA #5
No – Again, outside of the movies, the Cosmic stuff is just meh to me.
ROCKET RACCOON #5
No – See above.
STAR-LORD #6
No – See above… man, that’s a lot of Guardians books.
DEADPOOL VS. THE PUNISHER #1 & 2 (OF 5)
Maybe – Deadpool miniseries, although plentiful, are rarely terrible. I’m just not feeling a crossover with The Punisher. It might be good, though. Who knows?
SPIDER-MAN/DEADPOOL #16
No – Another one of those, “I read the first issue and didn’t like it” books.
DEADPOOL & THE MERCS FOR MONEY #10
Maybe – I enjoyed a few issues of this but not enough to buy it consistently.
DEADPOOL #29
Maybe – I used to buy this regularly but just fell out of it. I wouldn’t be adverse to trying it again.
OLD MAN LOGAN #21 & 22
No – Don’t care. Fix the X-men!
And that’s pretty much it aside from kids comics, Star Wars comics (which are good!), and trades.
So, tallying that up (counting the double issues once):
- 10 Marvel books for sure I’ll buy.
- 18 books I’ll consider.
- 43 books that I definitely will NOT buy.
And so, I can only present my own perspective but the act of looking through this really makes me secure in feeling diversity is not the issue here, at least for me, and I really hope that that’s not the lesson Marvel walks away from here.
My plea to Marvel:
- Don’t give up on diversity; representation is not just a good long term plan but its the right thing to do. By the same token, you don’t need to change EVERYONE at the same time. Legacy characters are great but so are new characters. Be the House of Ideas!
- Stop nerfing the X-men. If you truly want to restart them, then restart them. Just bring Xavier back, bring the school in Westchester back, bring the great villains back, and then build from there. Just as Batman: The Animated Series defined all the characters involved, the X-men cartoon did the same for those characters. Characters can progress but they can’t be unrecognizable.
- Don’t give up on the cosmic books but I think you need another small-scale Annihilation-like event for them every once in a while.
- Bendis’ stories are terrible. Again, great ideas but quite frankly I feel ripped off spending $4 on any single issue. He defines writing for the trade, which is just the worst. Promote him already and get over it. Either way, you shouldn’t have one writer being responsible for so much of your universe’s real estate.
- Bring back Hickman and the Fantastic Four.
- Lay off the line-wide crossovers. Mini-ones are fine but you’ve had more clunkers than winners lately, looking over a list here. Secret Invasion was pointless; I don’t even remember anything about Utopia or Siege; Fear Itself was probably your absolute worst; and Civil War 2 was probably your most disappointing.
- $4 is too much for a single issue. I kind of feel like you’re pushing people towards the Marvel app with that one.
- I like comic book art to look like comic book art. Don’t be afraid to hire more cartoon-y artists.
How do you all feel?
Saw The Hunt.
Geekery & Whatnot 