As much as I hated DC rebooting their entire universe and starting their stories over with the New 52, I have to admit that they sure knew how to launch new products. In July and August 2011 all of the old books ran their last issues...some ending record setting runs like Action Comics with its 904th issue. In September, DC began rolling out all 52 of the new issues, each book starting with a new number 1.
While I didn't like starting from scratch, I have to admire how organized and professional the New 52 launch was. Sure most of the books were flat out garbage, but they launched when they were supposed to. All your garbage was on time! I wish I could say the same about Marvel and their Marvel Now! launch. Granted, Marvel Now! Is not a reboot, the continuity is unaffected and decades of storylines will remain untouched, however the initative was meant to relaunch old books with new #1 issues and set the whole universe in a new direction that spun out of the Avengers Vs. X-Men crossover.
I am excited about almost all of these books, but they are all coming out in small little smatterings. Where the first issues of the New 52 books rolled out every week in September of 2011 (we are up to the 14th issue of the remaining New 52 books, by the way), the Marvel Now launch seems so scatter shot and unorganized that it is hard to keep up with the release schedule. The first Marvel Now! issue was Uncanny Avengers which arrived in October. The second was a very disappointing anthology book called A + X (Get it? Avengers plus X-men! We are all one big happy family now! Yay!) that also released in the last week of October.
The rest of the books are arriving in inconsistent batches. In November we will see 9 new/relaunched books: All-New X-Men, Captain America, Deadpool, FF, Fantastic Four, Indestructible Hulk, Iron Man, Thor: God of Thunder, and X-Men Legacy. December brings us 5 new/relaunched titles: Avengers, Avengers Arena, Cable and the X-Force, New Avengers, and Thunderbolts. The new #1s don't stop there either, they keep rolling out into the new year! January brings us five more books: Morbius: The living Vampire, Savage Wolverine, The Superior Spider-Man, Uncanny X-Force, and Young Avengers. February will see the last five of the new #1s: Fearless Defenders, Guardians of the Galaxy, Nova, Secret Avengers, and Uncanny X-Men. Whew! The only books to survive the relaunch/renumbering are Avengers Assemble, Daredevil, Journey into Mystery (Thor's original book), Red She-Hulk (Formerly Hulk then Red Hulk), and Wolverine and the X-men.
So if you are keeping count (I wouldn't blame you if you weren't...it's confusing!) that's a total of 26 new books all being launched over a space of 5 months. (I didn't even count the excellent five issue "Avengers Vs. X-Men: Consequences." mini-series!) DC launched 52 new books in one month! One month! What's the hold up, Marvel? I understand that Marvel has taken time and is carefully wrapping up storylines before launching into the new titles, but there is no reason this couldn't have been done in November and launched the whole line in December. I could do with out Brian Bendis' self serving "End Times" storylines in Avengers and New Avengers. After reading these two presumably connected stories so far, I can't help but get the feeling that Bendis wanted to wrap everything up himself without letting anyone else play with his toys. I won't give anything away if you haven't read them yet, but the "End Times" stories are basically mini-event based stories that make sweeping changes, clean house and tie up threads that have been hanging for a long time. Couldn't these matters have been taken care of months ago? Rather than getting a billion dreadful "Avengers Vs. X-Men" tie-ins, we should have been seeing these issues. I loved Bendis' early run on Avengers with Avengers: Disassembled and New Avengers, but his last story with the two books is just sub-par at best.
Ranting and raving aside, let's take a look at the Marvel Now books that we have seen so far. Are they worth your time and money? Our Scale: Marvel Wow! = A must read, can't miss book. Marvel Now! = A good read Marvel Maybe! = Not bad, not great Marvel No! = Don't read this crap!
Uncanny Avengers #1: The first issue was set during the end of Avengers Vs. X-Men and the beginning of Consequences. We basically see Captain America admitting that he didn't handle the war with Cyclops and his crew well. Cap decides to create an Avengers team with an emphasis on Mutant relations. The lineup will be led by Cyclops awesome brother Havoc and include Captain America, Rouge, Scarlet Witch, Thor and Wolverine. So far, the build up was great. We get to see lobotomized mutant villains attacking our new team! So far, I like the idea of a merger between the Avengers and the X-men, it seems natural since more than a few X-men were also avengers at one time or another. The first few pages show a mystery villain doing some mutant brain surgery...the final page reveals our villain is a great classic Marvel big bad who is going to use the brain of a powerful/dead classic marvel character to "Eradicate the mutant menace!". I've never seen this guy fight mutants before. (Maybe in crossovers or when he/she teamed with Magneto, but never solo) So this should be a fun new team book, it carries a lot of A Vs. X baggage with it, so it's not the best jumping on point, but it does a good job of recapping what previously went down. The only sad thing is that we will probably never see a movie version of this team. Fox has the X-men film rights and Disney/Marvel Studios has the Avengers film rights, keeping this pairing a comic book only delight. MARVEL NOW!
A + X #1: I like anthologies. I am a frugal person, so when I see two stories for the price of one, I am all over that book. The problem is that most anthologies aren't that great. Some stories are good, others are hit and miss and some are just flat out horrible. This book gives you the latter two story types. The whole idea of the book is to feature mini tales that pair Avengers characters with X-Men characters. There just isn't any rhyme or reason for the pairings. The introduction basically tells us that the stories may or may not be in continuity. "Turn your brain of and enjoy!" That would be easy to do if I enjoyed crap. The first story pairs Captain America with Cable. Remember when you were 12 and you really wanted to see that story. Here it is and it's not that good. Cap meets Cable during WWII. Cable is on a mission to destroy time traveling Nazi Sentinels (Yeah, you read that right!). Cap helps him destroy said robots and Bucky wishes he had a robot arm like Cable. (A not too subtle hint at Bucky's Winter Soldier fate.) The next story has Wolverine and Hulk argue over a piece of cake...yes. A piece of cake. Never mind that these guys have ripped into each other for decades. Never mind that Wolverine first appeared in the Marvel Universe to KILL THE INCREDIBLE HULK...forget all that. They want cake. Then all of a sudden an old grizzled Wolverine (Possibly from Days of Future Past) and old grizzled Hulk (Possibly Maestro from Future Imperfect) attack the present day duo. The future versions disappear and we learn that they were sent by the Future Red Hulk to kill his past self? What the Hulk? At least the first story made some sense and had a full story. The second story didn't even have an ending. Dreadful storytelling by Jeph Loeb, a writer who should know better. The art was good, but who wants to see detailed art featuring a two usually brutal men eating cake. MARVEL NO!
Iron Man: This issue starts off the way a relaunch should. We are introduced to the core players in a way that doesn't seem awkward or over explanatory. This look at Iron Man gives us a character that is closer to the movie version than the previous series. He even decides to stop making weapons (forgetting that he operates a walking, flying, shooting-everything-that-moves weapon) just like he did in the first movie. This of course leads into a deadly weapon, the living technology known as the Extremis virus returning. The storytelling is very solid and is a great jumping on point for new readers. I loved Warren Ellis' original Extremis story and I hated when the Extremis was written out. The techno virus turns its victim into a living super computer. When Tony Stark was infected in the previous series, he was able to control his suit and other tech with his mind. He basically had super powers for the first time. We don't know if Extremis is going to be re-introduced into Stark's DNA but since the virus is tied into the story for Iron Man 3, I think it is safe to say so. The art is very crisp and true to the characters. Tony doesn't look too much like Robert Downey Jr. like some of the previous artists have done. It's worth checking out as the story develops. MARVEL WOW!
Fantastic Four: If you read my Avengers Assemble review a while ago, you know I love Mark Bagley. I love seeing him draw more than just Spider-Man, so this new Fantastic Four title is a visual treat. Matt Fraction is just the luckiest, lack luster writer this side of Chuck Austen. For those of you who don't know, Chuck Austen was a critically panned, writer who fans seemed to loath and yet the guy wrote the X-Men, the Avengers and Captain America. I actually liked some of Chuck Austen's work. His Avengers run was fun. I do not like anything that Matt Fraction has been writing. I just can't see how he is getting all of these amazing writing jobs. Just look at how awful Fear Itself was....he "killed" Thor for the one millionth time...only to replace him with a troll and bring him back a few issues later. Now we see a Fantastic Four where their powers are fading and killing them and Mr. Fantastic must take his whole crew (For a book called Fantastic Four, there are about 50 supporting cast members) in a time/space ship/floating school in order to find a cure. While they are gone from our universe they will be replaced by a new team...The FF which debuts later this month. I am looking forward to that book, this one was a by the numbers....changing the status-quo story that Matt Fraction is known for. Nothing revolutionary here. The art is brilliant as usual. If you want a great story look into Mark Millar's Fantastic Four run or the recent Johnathan Hickman run. Both are brilliantly told on different levels. This book is dangerously close to boring. MARVEL MAYBE!
Thor: God of Thunder: I didn't like Matt Fraction's Mighty Thor title. It was just boring and not at all the type of Thor story that hooked me in. I was happy to see the book go. While I wasn't a huge fan of The Avengers Vs. X-Men series, I loved the issues written by Jason Aaron. He can tell a big story while still holding onto character and substance. God of Thunder builds up a cool mystery. Some force is killing ancient Gods and Thor needs to crack the case before his Asgardians are next. Yeah, stories like that have been told before, but it is the way the story is unfolding that makes for an interesting book. We see young Thor in the age of vikings...a hotheaded jerk, not unlike the Chris Hemsworth movie version before Odin banished him. Young Thor encounters a murdered god and centuries later his contemporary self encounters more slain gods on an alien world that has forgotten their elder gods. It's also cool to learn that Thor actually hears prayers made to him and answers them. I have never seen that touched upon before. The issue ends with the mystery deepening in the far future where a one-eyed, one armed grizzled Thor sits on the Asgard throne. He arms (literally!) himself with his metal replacement arm and fights weird god killing dog like beasts. The stage is set and I am really looking forward to the rest of the story. The art is very good and depicts all three eras in unique ways. There is no confusing the timelines. The story is strong and doesn't reveal too much, but enough to keep me interested. MARVEL WOW!
X-Men: Legacy: This is a book that just doesn't need to exist, let alone be part of the Marvel Now! relaunch. The story follows Legion, the son of the late Professor X. The art is choppy and the storytelling is even choppier. The story is all over the place and the only character we remotely know or have any history with is Legion himself. He isn't even a character that anyone can relate to or root for. We are talking about the guy whose only claim to fame was accidentally killing his father (How many times has he "died") setting off the awesome Age of Apocalypse storyline. Being the catalyst for a nearly 20 year old event is not enough to warrant your own book. Just avoid this. It won't last long. MARVEL NO!
All-New X-Men: I am not sure what the pitch meeting was for this book, but I was excited to see Brian Bendis branch out and write a book with characters he hasn't really worked with before. The premise is just a little ridiculous...even for an X-Men book. We meet Cyclops and his new revolutionary/extreme crew co-captained by Magneto. They avenge mutants who were harmed by anti-mutant groups and rescue a young mutant woman who can alter time and space. The whole mission is broadcast on television and The X-Men are not amused. Ice Man wants to arrest Cyclops which would undoubtedly start another Marvel Civil War. Beast comes up with a "brilliant" plan. Time travel to the past, before Cyclops became such a dick. This way, past Cyclops can talk some sense into current Cyclops. Of course, from the cover and all the previews we know that the whole original X-Men team will come to the present day. Yeah, the story will have a lot of interesting meetings between old and modern teams, and it will be cool to see Jean Grey react to a world that has seen her die twice, but this just doesn't seem like a plan Beast would actually come up with. "Hey guys, I know we are risking damage to the space time continuum, but the old Cyclops was much cooler than our current jerk Cyclops...maybe a chat would set things in order!" Not a smart idea from a supposed super genius. There was even a woman who was manipulating time at the beginning of the story! She could have accidentally brought the old team to the present day, that would have been more believable (for the comic book world) than the Beast thinking this was a great plan. I hope the time altering woman has some kind of part in this premise. The foundations of this book just seem to weak to last very long. It's not a bad book, just a very limited idea in a field that usually has no limits on storytelling. MARVEL MAYBE!
Deadpool I am a huge fan of this character. In the 90s, writer Joe Kelly took the idea of Deadpool and added "Lunatic" to his profile. Yes, he still has a healing ability and kills for money, but now he is insane and often breaks the barrier by talking directly to the reader. The book was very funny but was mishandled many times after Joe Kelly left. Brian Posehn is a stand up comedian and comic book fan who you may be familiar with from the Comedians of Comedy tour. As the new Deadpool writer, he is breathing a hilarious new life into the character and giving us a crazy plot involving the resurrection of great American presidents as evil zombies. Deadpool is hired by SHIELD to double kill the zombie presidents and avoid chaos. This ends badly in this issue...it is sure to be a riot. I highly recommend this read if you are not easily offended. MARVEL WOW!
Well, there you have it, those are the books we have so far, I will keep updating my reviews as the books hit the shelves. Happy reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment