MERGE: What If Marvel Relaunched/Rebooted Speculation

[tony ingram]

30 years ago, the story started and finished in a single issue.

No. Not true, for the most part. Forty years ago, maybe. Not thirty.

[MarvelMaster616]

I've recently become intrigued by the debate about Marvel rebooting their continuity in the same mold as DC's New 52. This is one issue where I'm on the fences though. I really don't have any strong feelings either way. I would be okay if Marvel maintained 616 as it currently stands, but I would also welcome a fresh start. Recently, I did an entire blog post about it on my blog, X-men Supreme.


Marvel Reboot: Should They or Shouldn't They?

I think that now is not a good time for Marvel or the fans to entertain such a notion. Avengers vs. X-men has been a success by so many measures. Rebooting now would somewhat disrupt that. 616 has been pretty strong for the past several years, but then again it can all go bad pretty quickly. It may lead to some changing their mind about a reboot or it may cause a shakeup in the leadership at Marvel. It depends, but I think next year will be a big year for Marvel in terms of showing how they follow up an event like Avengers vs. X-men and how they keep 616 relatively coherent.

[This]

I can only hope the San Diego Comic Con will have the news that will take me back
to Marvel.

[Tupiaz]

No. Not true, for the most part. Forty years ago, maybe. Not thirty.

Not even then, Gwen Stacy almost 40 years old was a story over two issues and made a huge change for the comic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Gwen_Stacy_Died

You can even go back 45 years to the reveal that Norman Osborn was revealed to be the Green Goblin. http://www.samruby.com/AmazingSpider...derman_039.htm

It really depends on what you see as as story ending. Also remember early issues having cliffhangers where the fight first ended in the issue after it started. Has it become more complex by time for sure, but that is just natural since there is so many more stories today than back then.

[tony ingram]

Not even then, Gwen Stacy almost 40 years old was a story over two issues and made a huge change for the comic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Gwen_Stacy_Died

You can even go back 45 years to the reveal that Norman Osborn was revealed to be the Green Goblin. http://www.samruby.com/AmazingSpider...derman_039.htm

It really depends on what you see as as story ending. Also remember early issues having cliffhangers where the fight first ended in the issue after it started. Has it become more complex by time for sure, but that is just natural since there is so many more stories today than back then.

Sure, accepted. I was just making the case that forty years ago there were still a lot of standalone stories being published (though they were by no means still the norm) but by 1982 we were firmly entrenched in continuing storylines in the majority of titles, from Marvel at least.

[CyberHubbs]

I believe that a lot of people may want to read comics but don't want to do all this research, which is understandable.

Considering how easy it is to research something these days, that's absolutely sad.

I got into X-Men a little after the Mutant Massacre. There was no internet for me to look stuff up. Sometimes, you gotta be willing to do the legwork.

[Tupiaz]

Considering how easy it is to research something these days, that's absolutely sad.

I got into X-Men a little after the Mutant Massacre. There was no internet for me to look stuff up. Sometimes, you gotta be willing to do the legwork.

Not really if the product is not good enough and people can get into it is not the people that are wrong but the product. It is the product that needs to sell not the buyer that needs to be that or that way. When that is sad you should not if you want to make good stories lower your stories to the most simple shared interest. But that dosen't mean you can make it easier for people to jump aboard for new readers. I tried as a kid to get into to comics but gave up because of the clone saga. A kid is never going to get into that story because tv, movies ect. has told another story. I also think it is a huge mistake to make a Spider-man movie where Gwen Stacy is in it. Sure I will enjoy on Thursday but I doubt it will get that many new readers into comic because the comic is far far from that setting. What story you use for movies should be a done with lot more care.

Sure, accepted. I was just making the case that forty years ago there were still a lot of standalone stories being published (though they were by no means still the norm) but by 1982 we were firmly entrenched in continuing storylines in the majority of titles, from Marvel at least.

If that was the point we agree.

[CyberHubbs]

Not really if the product is not good enough and people can get into it is not the people that are wrong but the product. It is the product that needs to sell not the buyer that needs to be that or that way. When that is sad you should not if you want to make good stories lower your stories to the most simple shared interest. But that dosen't mean you can make it easier for people to jump aboard for new readers. I tried as a kid to get into to comics but gave up because of the clone saga. A kid is never going to get into that story because tv, movies ect. has told another story. I also think it is a huge mistake to make a Spider-man movie where Gwen Stacy is in it. Sure I will enjoy on Thursday but I doubt it will get that many new readers into comic because the comic is far far from that setting. What story you use for movies should be a done with lot more care.

Up to the reader to decide if the product is good enough or not. But as with anything that you don't get in on the ground floor for, sometimes you need to research, be it internet or picking up the previous storyline. We've all had to do it at some point or another.

[Tupiaz]

Up to the reader to decide if the product is good enough or not. But as with anything that you don't get in on the ground floor for, sometimes you need to research, be it internet or picking up the previous storyline. We've all had to do it at some point or another.

For sure yeah and TPBs is a good way to do this. But sometimes comics could be better to introduce the storyact and characters to new readers. If you want new readers and kids, they should be able to do so. Stan Lee has addressed this problem before. You can't expect a reader to go down and by pure unlock start mid arc. Luckily the companies has become better at making clear how far you are in a given storyact outside the cover.

[carloshll726]

If Marvel were relaunched I'd want to see a change for the First Line from Marvel's Lost Generation. More Black Fox! They could say that he was one of the few First Line members that was not abducted by the Skrulls. I'd definitely want more Black Fox in the Marvel Universe! Maybe in the modern era BF's son or grandson could take up the mantle!

[theXfactor]

I don't think Marvel will reboot, at least not now, but if they do, I hope they start from scratch, the way DC did it causes more problems than it solves. Some things are more confusing now than before because we have no idea what's supposed to count or not. Teen Titans is the biggest example. The team's history is a complete mess, with many books referencing past versions of the team and the TT book itself denying their existence.
If DC's reboot showed anything is that a major reboot needs A LOT of planning, so Marvels would need to take their time if they want a reboot to be as succesful (and lasting) as possible.
Another thing that I think is important is to give the previous continuity a real send-off. Creating a sense of closure is something that fans would enjoy and could make them more accepting of a reboot.
Have Peter marry and have a child with MJ, the X-men finally achieving their dream, Val and Franklin as leaders of the future's F4... Real conclusions to the stories of Earth 616's heroes.
Having a whole year of stories to wrap up more important loose ends would also give time for better planning of the reboot.

[timeismoney]

I don't think Marvel will reboot, at least not now, but if they do, I hope they start from scratch, the way DC did it causes more problems than it solves. Some things are more confusing now than before because we have no idea what's supposed to count or not. Teen Titans is the biggest example. The team's history is a complete mess, with many books referencing past versions of the team and the TT book itself denying their existence.
If DC's reboot showed anything is that a major reboot needs A LOT of planning, so Marvels would need to take their time if they want a reboot to be as succesful (and lasting) as possible.
Another thing that I think is important is to give the previous continuity a real send-off. Creating a sense of closure is something that fans would enjoy and could make them more accepting of a reboot.
Have Peter marry and have a child with MJ, the X-men finally achieving their dream, Val and Franklin as leaders of the future's F4... Real conclusions to the stories of Earth 616's heroes.
Having a whole year of stories to wrap up more important loose ends would also give time for better planning of the reboot.

Now this is a way you do a reboot i 100 percent agree. DC just toss their reboot at fans to the point even they don't know what count and what don't. And books like GL and Batman didn't really reboot.

[Tupiaz]

What i would like was a reboot that killed all characters that has come back from live. This should be done in such a way that the current continuity still exist but gives you can start pretty much all over. This will provably kill off a big number of characters and x-men would be more or less not existing. It should not be done in a way that kills of the history as it is know, but it for sure gives the opportunity to start from scratch. And from then on dead is fucking dead unless it is clear for the reader that it is a some kind of scam or placed/traped/stocked in an alternative universe/timeline/whatever. Only by killing of characters that has been killed before you can get some kind of trustworthy storytelling. Reliving the dead is what is killing the comic industry it kills new ideas, don't create opportunity for new characters and thereby development.

Another problem is all the movies and tv shows which has its own continuity an´d world. This makes the viewer believes that the think the know where a character is in his or her life but in comic book reality they are in a completely different place in his or her life.

[Pandastrike]

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/06/...-relaunch-now/

Avengers with Hickman and Ribic? Please please please be true

[dbcb314]

Do you guys want a full, 100% new re-imagining of the MU where everything is different (say... no X-Men O5, Xavier didn't start a school, Pym didn't start the Avengers, ect)?

-or-

Do you want a soft reboot ala DC's new 52 where you are not sure which stories are canon and which are not but the core principles, teams, and characters of the MU are the same?


Or somewhere in between?