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What Marvel NOW I Like and Don't (Caution some spoilers)
Note in the header I didn't say Buy vs/ Not Buy. Yeah, I'm THAT guy. I never know when the turnaround will be so I get my monthly alottment hoping for the (sometimes) mythical turnaround. I've been listening/catching up to the Marvel Now posts, and its compelled me to give me 2 cents on the line. Some spoilers ahead:
My favorite of the new initiative is All-New X-Men/Uncanny X-Men. I list them as one, because even moreso than his days on the Avengers, Bendis is writing these as often two sides of the same tale. I love the original X-Men. I love Cyclops. I love the "kids" aren't naieve and taking things at face value. I love that teen Cyke is earnest, questioning, and villified for decisions he hasn't yet made. I like that Jean Grey is the martyr who was corrupted who is showing, she, not the Phoenix, may have always had a dark side.
My second favorite would have to be Superior Spider-Man. I groaned with the masses with the new direction was announced, but I find it to be well written. Spider-Otto is not showing hints of, if not a better man, than a more sympathetic one, and the tension keeps ratcheting in terms of who knows, who suspects, and who can do something about it.
Third favorite would have to be Avengers Arena. Much like Adam, its the series I should hate that I love. Anyone who thinks of Arcade as a lame, jokey villain should read the latest issue which focuses solely on him and his motivation.
Honorable mentions: Indestructible Hulk - I like the characterization and the threats. My one quibble is the on-going generalizations of all Marvel scientists. Tony is the smartest, no Reed, no Bruce, etc. I want the return to Tony is the smartest at Engineering. Bruce is the best in his field of radiation. Reed is the best theoretical physicist, etc. Sure Hank Pym and Hank McCoy can fight over who is the smartest/best biochemist (pssst its Hank Pym), but I don't like the constant juxtuposition of "Smartest one there is". I also really like Fantastic Four. I do have a quibble in that there should seem like a rhyme and reason to the stops on their vacation and quest for a cure, but I'm not seeing it yet. I'm also enjoying Thor: God of Thunder, but it is a representative of a worrying trend -- arcs are moving to representing acts as opposed to stories. 8 issues, middle of the second arc, and Thor is still battling Gorr. With the unstuck in time angle, it doesn't seem really decompressed, but it could with a less skilled writer.
My pants file:
Avengers: Hickman is the wrong writer for this book. I feel like his big ideas are too overwrought for the Avengers. Or maybe his big ideas are two big for the story structure he's using. Everything I said about arc = act? Perfect example. 8 issues in and the Avengers haven't defeated a threat, haven't cleaned up any damage, they are just moving from set piece to set piece. I don't like my Avengers being ineffectual, especially with a team-up this theoretically powerful. It doesn't sell the antagonists, it makes your protagonists limp. I also don't care for integrating the New Universe to the 616. One big pile of meh.
FF: I don't know where/who/what the not-Johnny is. Medusa is extremely poorly characterized. Yes, she is a queen, but she is not a queen who has stuck her head out of her castle window for the first time. The best issue was Bentley trying to ruin She-Hulk's date and instead making it better. This book has only ever worked when focuses on the kids, not the adults A Future Foundation book about the FF and not the Future Foundation is less interesting, and this collection of adults and how they are handled by Fraction make it less so.
What is everyone else's Marvel Now Loves, Likes, and Hates?
My favorite of the new initiative is All-New X-Men/Uncanny X-Men. I list them as one, because even moreso than his days on the Avengers, Bendis is writing these as often two sides of the same tale. I love the original X-Men. I love Cyclops. I love the "kids" aren't naieve and taking things at face value. I love that teen Cyke is earnest, questioning, and villified for decisions he hasn't yet made. I like that Jean Grey is the martyr who was corrupted who is showing, she, not the Phoenix, may have always had a dark side.
My second favorite would have to be Superior Spider-Man. I groaned with the masses with the new direction was announced, but I find it to be well written. Spider-Otto is not showing hints of, if not a better man, than a more sympathetic one, and the tension keeps ratcheting in terms of who knows, who suspects, and who can do something about it.
Third favorite would have to be Avengers Arena. Much like Adam, its the series I should hate that I love. Anyone who thinks of Arcade as a lame, jokey villain should read the latest issue which focuses solely on him and his motivation.
Honorable mentions: Indestructible Hulk - I like the characterization and the threats. My one quibble is the on-going generalizations of all Marvel scientists. Tony is the smartest, no Reed, no Bruce, etc. I want the return to Tony is the smartest at Engineering. Bruce is the best in his field of radiation. Reed is the best theoretical physicist, etc. Sure Hank Pym and Hank McCoy can fight over who is the smartest/best biochemist (pssst its Hank Pym), but I don't like the constant juxtuposition of "Smartest one there is". I also really like Fantastic Four. I do have a quibble in that there should seem like a rhyme and reason to the stops on their vacation and quest for a cure, but I'm not seeing it yet. I'm also enjoying Thor: God of Thunder, but it is a representative of a worrying trend -- arcs are moving to representing acts as opposed to stories. 8 issues, middle of the second arc, and Thor is still battling Gorr. With the unstuck in time angle, it doesn't seem really decompressed, but it could with a less skilled writer.
My pants file:
Avengers: Hickman is the wrong writer for this book. I feel like his big ideas are too overwrought for the Avengers. Or maybe his big ideas are two big for the story structure he's using. Everything I said about arc = act? Perfect example. 8 issues in and the Avengers haven't defeated a threat, haven't cleaned up any damage, they are just moving from set piece to set piece. I don't like my Avengers being ineffectual, especially with a team-up this theoretically powerful. It doesn't sell the antagonists, it makes your protagonists limp. I also don't care for integrating the New Universe to the 616. One big pile of meh.
FF: I don't know where/who/what the not-Johnny is. Medusa is extremely poorly characterized. Yes, she is a queen, but she is not a queen who has stuck her head out of her castle window for the first time. The best issue was Bentley trying to ruin She-Hulk's date and instead making it better. This book has only ever worked when focuses on the kids, not the adults A Future Foundation book about the FF and not the Future Foundation is less interesting, and this collection of adults and how they are handled by Fraction make it less so.
What is everyone else's Marvel Now Loves, Likes, and Hates?
Comments
The only exception to that has been the All-New X-Men. Read the trade; loved it; will continue getting the trades. I wasn't aware that Bendis was also writing Uncanny, so I may have to look into that as well.
The one I regret not getting has been the Indestructible Hulk, and that's simply been because of money limits. Still, I'll keep a watch out for the trade and see if I can give that a shot.
I've been getting all of the Avengers titles, and I have no problem whatsoever with Hickman's writing on the books thus far -- in fact, I love his two titles (regular and New) most of all. I can't wait to see where he's taking each book.
Avengers Arena is the one that leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I hate the concept (Let's Kill A Kid In Each Issue!), don't care for the story, and I really don't like the new, really evil Arcade. Let's face it, his original goofiness and giddiness and seemingly untouchability were the things that made him palatable. This new version just makes him seem more like a bad Snidely Whiplash... or an unusually successful Wile E Coyote. For this we gave up Avengers Academy!?
I've no interest whatever in Superior Spider-Man, and I walked away (very quickly) from FF the minute Hickman left the book.
I have seen both All New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men and I think they are amazing stories with well crafted plot and gorgeous art. I borrow them from friends instead of buying them because I do draw the line at $2.99 and I doubt you'll ever see a Brian Michael Bendis book that would ever be sold for $2.99 because he is such a believer in the $3.99 book. They are great though. I am also going to try out the all female X-Men book when it comes out which I would imagine it would be in the Marvel NOW! line.
I do have a question though. When does Marvel NOW! become Marvel THEN!
Indestructible Hulk (especially now that Simonson's kicking all sorts of ass on the art)
[some adjective] Thor. (big, cool concept, gorgeous art, but the fill-in issue was really crappy)
HawkeyeHawk-guyCaptain Marvel - KSD has been doing a great job writing Carol and I've really been digging on the pencil and color combo of Andrade and Bellaire.
Fantastic Four
Fearless Defenders and Guardians of the Galaxy are still new and I've liked what I've read so far. Thinking about adding Nova.
I'm on the fence about Avengers. I like Hickman, I know he works in a specific way and that there will eventually be a big pay off, but we're are ten issues in and I'm getting bored. Good stories, but it's moving too slow for me. I loved his Fantastic Four/FF run, I'm just not entirely sure if that style works with the Avengers. Maybe I've gotten to used to these characters being written by Bendis.
Matthew
I have also been enjoying Superior Spider-Man, Hawkeye and Young Avengers.
My okay, I will read it but not obsess over it pile: Indestructible Hulk, Uncanny X-Force, and Captain Marvel.
Everything else just falls in my "I don't give a crud" pile.
Next, I have to give it to Uncanny Avengers. The opening arc left much to be desired, from awkward pacing to the worst interior art I've seen from John Cassaday ever (it was still DECENT). But Remender just puts a ton of substance and great character work into every issue. I'm not a big fan of Apocalypse-related stuff, and yet Remender managed to turn Uncanny X-Force into my favorite Marvel title, so there's no reason he can't repeat that feat here. The last three issues in particular have been outstanding. Acuna is doing GREAT stuff here, and if it keeps up at this level of quality it COULD equal if not surpass Bendis's X-Men.
Next, Thor is always a great read. I'm not even much of a Thor fan, and yet every time out Jason Aaron surpasses expectations, and month after month I'm left wanting more. As long as Ribic is on this book regularly, I'll be buying it. $4 a pop does add up, though, so if Ribic leaves I will probably switch to trades. I want to say that if Ribic leaves I might drop the book totally--but, again, Aaron keeps surpassing expectations here, and even though I don't care about Thor, this is just too good not to read.
I'm reading Avengers and New Avengers but I'm on the fence about them. More often than not, I like what Hickman's doing, but it all feels so overblown and dragged out. On the one hand, everything seems like a very static "set piece" in which not much of any definable substance happens. On the other hand, the ideas and situations still seem neat enough to continue. My main problem is that everything in the narrative just seems so ominously weird and "all knowing" in a way that is really starting to grate on me. You can only insist that "What's coming" is the most exciting and important thing EVER so many times before I'm left thinking, "Whatever 'this' is, it seems quite loud, hollow and empty." There was one issue where I swear five different voices intoned "The White Event" five times in five pages, and I almost chucked the comic across the room. Enough already. Get to actual SUBSTANCE. When things DO happen, though, they end up being pretty neat, as I said before. After the current arcs, I'll probably switch to discounted collected editions. $4 a pop, three times a month, for two Avengers titles that seem quite hollow and self-important half the time is just too much.
Lastly, for whatever reason they were only branded "Marvel NOW!" for one random issue each (I think?), but I'm enjoying the hell out of Daredevil and HawkGuy. Much like Thor, Daredevil's never really appealed to me. The "trouble" is, there are just so many damn good Daredevil runs that I probably own close to 200 comics of the title. Waid's run is no exception. It's fun quality storytelling every time out, and the art is amazingly solid and consistent. Hawkeye is just downright fun.
Oh, I also read Wolverine & The X-Men, which I think had "Marvel NOW!" branding for only one issue as well. It's seen better days. The first year of the title was GREAT, AvX tie-ins included, but this title has lost its way. There's a lot of potential here, and Jason Aaron is trying his best, but these random kid characters are just not that interesting, and with subpar art for the last six months or more (sorry, guys) I find myself wanting to drop this title. The upcoming "Hellfire Saga" sounds promising, though, so I'll stick around for the first few chapters of that, and pray that this title turns around.
All New X-Men & Uncanny X-Men are great super-hero comics.
(BTW: "Gaimanesque" has a really nice ring, dunnit?)
I was reading Indestructible Hulk, but even though I really liked it decided I didn't want to be reading two $4 Marvel books and figured I'd get Hulk in trades instead. Avengers Assemble, though an Avengers book, seemed like it needed my monthly support a little bit more (and now I'll be able to easily follow along with the upcoming Captain Marvel crossover).
I read the first issues each of Captain America and All New X-Men and liked them, but figured I'd trade-wait those, too.
Dropped Fantastic Four after the first 2 or 3 issues - it wasn't really setting my world on fire or anything, and I liked what Fraction was doing over in FF a lot more. Might check out the trade on that, too, though. I gave Young Avengers 3 issues to win me over, but although I liked the first one, #s 2 and 3 left me feeling kinda bored. Too bad, since I like all of the creators involved, but those characters (except for maybe Kate, given how she's being used in Hawkguy) just don't really do it for me, as I've yet to find a Young Avengers book that really wins me over.