Just What Is Marvel NOW! really supposed to be?

[Dog]

Stunts are pretty much what marvel does these days.

Mark_S

Why just "Marvel?" "Zero Month" isn't a stunt?

[whiteshark]

Why just "Marvel?" "Zero Month" isn't a stunt?

Yep.
Any comic book company does stunts do improve sales.
Marvel besides doing stunts make quite a quantity of cool comic book as well.

[USERNAME TAKEN]

Well, if you like a certain writer it's normal to feel a bit bumped if he stops writing your favorite book. Especially if in exchange you get a dude you don't really appreciate as a writer.

But anyway, yeah, that's just Marvel trying a little stunt, no biggie.

Yes, it's a stunt and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it.

The only thing is that Marvel is promoting this.

[aNamored]

This, basically. It's really not that big a deal. More than any events from AvX, I think a lot of it is that several major runs happen to be concluding at roughly the same time (Hickman's Fantastic Four, Brubaker's Cap, Fraction's Iron Man, Gillen's JIM, Way's Deadpool, etc) so you were bound to see a bunch of new creative teams in late 2012/early 2013 even if there wasn't a major initiative. All this does is slap on a new number one to mark the fact that a new creative team is coming onboard. It doesn't change much.

I also think that this is just the final "handing over of the keys" from the Quesada era to the Alonso era.

So yeah, basically, all of this would be happening anyway even without Marvel NOW or AvX. Marvel's just pointing it out and promoting it.

Nicely said, Paladin King. And thanks for bringing up the E-i-C torch being passed as well. I hadn't thought of that.

[USERNAME TAKEN]

Why just "Marvel?" "Zero Month" isn't a stunt?

Because Marvel is the great beast that takes our women and eats our childrennnnnnnnnn!!!

At least that's the feelings some folk on the internet give off regarding Marvel. Some people have accused Marvel of "slapping them in the face" for renumbering their titles. Really?, Marvel has renumbered their titles a number of times, why is it so different this time? Some people's hate of Marvel and all things Marvel is so irrational that's it's comical.

A quick visit to Tom Brevoort's formspring page just shows this perfectly.

Heck, there was a guy saying that he's developed a similar mindset to the Colorado shooter like after reading Marvel comics.

It's pretty insane stuff.

[USERNAME TAKEN]

I for one, applaud Marvel's honesty in promoting this as basically more of the same rather than a bunch of supposedly new stuff that eventually turns out to be identical to what came before. I mean, it doesn't look like they're really overhyping this at all, everything they've shown has been pretty vanilla.

The question I have is at what point does overhyping come in?

I remember some people complaining that AVX was overhyped but the sales figures on the series will show that the hype has paid off perfectly.

[Expletive Deleted]

Well, if you like a certain writer it's normal to feel a bit bumped if he stops writing your favorite book. Especially if in exchange you get a dude you don't really appreciate as a writer.

Sure, but a bunch of these runs would be ending regardless. Hickman on FF, Brubaker on Cap, Fraction on Iron Man, and (to some extent) Bendis on Avengers have all been in the process of winding down for a while, now. Aaron on Hulk and Gillen on Uncanny were short-term propositions to begin with.

Even if Marvel wasn't doing this as a promotion, there'd have been new creative teams on a lot of books anyway.

[evanderv]

As a returning comic reader of Marvel, I have been on hiatus way too long, I am quite excited about the reboot. I just hope if this is meant to try to pull more readers in because of the movie success that story lines wont be too confusing without having to go back to previous issues to figure out what is going on.

[PwrdOff]

The question I have is at what point does overhyping come in?

I remember some people complaining that AVX was overhyped but the sales figures on the series will show that the hype has paid off perfectly.

Well, AvX was pretty overhyped even by event standards, during the leadup CBR was running features on it pretty much daily, as were almost all of the other websites. And then when it got here, eh I suppose it got in a lot of people's hands and really got them talking, but not a lot of the feedback was positive. Yeah, people will bitch about almost everything these days, but you also get some genuinely heartfelt praise for stuff that people really loved, and you don't see much of that with AvX. I can't imagine that too many of the new readers it did manage to bring in are going to stick with Marvel for the long haul.

Marvel Now actually does seem to be pretty lightly-promoted so far by comparison, though maybe they are just withholding the big marketing push until after AvX is over. I'm sure the initial sales on all the big titles will be great, but how long will people keep buying? Remember that Marvel people mocked DC relentlessly about the New 52 not having any legs, so it will be interesting to see how their big relaunch turns out.

[jackolover]

I originally dismissed Heroic Age and Shattered Heroes for being too soft, but there have been some arcs that you have to refer back too to follow some of the action. Secret Warriors for one, because it showed the reformation of SHIELD, and, Schism, that shows the opposite ends of the mutant spectrum.

I'm not sure what Marvel Now will offer, and as the other two above, I don't have any expectations beyond the Ultron arc in Avengers.

[Wolf_Leader]

People get tired of stunts when constantly interrupt things they are already enjoying. Sure there are times when something big needs to happen, and I do think Marvel needs a strong core of books, but with Marvel it isn't every 5-15 years, these happen all the time but usually on smaller scales (looking at the X-Men here, but also every post event 'era'). Again, I think this is looking like one of the better shakeups but then again I got suckered in with Heroic Age too.

[USERNAME TAKEN]

Well, AvX was pretty overhyped even by event standards, during the leadup CBR was running features on it pretty much daily, as were almost all of the other websites. And then when it got here, eh I suppose it got in a lot of people's hands and really got them talking, but not a lot of the feedback was positive. Yeah, people will bitch about almost everything these days, but you also get some genuinely heartfelt praise for stuff that people really loved, and you don't see much of that with AvX. I can't imagine that too many of the new readers it did manage to bring in are going to stick with Marvel for the long haul.

Marvel Now actually does seem to be pretty lightly-promoted so far by comparison, though maybe they are just withholding the big marketing push until after AvX is over. I'm sure the initial sales on all the big titles will be great, but how long will people keep buying? Remember that Marvel people mocked DC relentlessly about the New 52 not having any legs, so it will be interesting to see how their big relaunch turns out.

Yeah, their probably withholding the hype until after AVX.

That being said, I like the massive marketing push for comics and I hope that going forward the big two try and attract more mainstream attention to their titles and events. I think the mainstream attention is good for the industry.

Whether the final product is well liked or not (AVX is getting pretty positive reviews on most mainstream sites like CBR, Comicvine and Newsarama. Heck, even sites like IGN have changed their opinion after the first act ended) is another issue altogether. Personally, I've enjoyed AVX more than most events in a long, long time but heck our mileages vary.

While I wasn't particularly for or against the new 52, I do believe that it has re-invigorated the industry. For the first time in a long time, retailers are excited and companies are emboldened now to take greater risks (hence the Valiant re-launch and Marvel NOW stuff). However, some weaknesses have begun to show over there and their lesser titles are beginning to suffer. I wouldn't necessarily say its DCs fault as the industry can only support so many big sellers.

The long term success of Marvel NOW will depend on its quality though. So far, Marvel have announced some pretty solid creative teams, beyond that, they can only hope for the best.

[PwrdOff]

Yeah, their probably withholding the hype until after AVX.

That being said, I like the massive marketing push for comics and I hope that going forward the big two try and attract more mainstream attention to their titles and events. I think the mainstream attention is good for the industry.

Whether the final product is well liked or not (AVX is getting pretty positive reviews on most mainstream sites like CBR, Comicvine and Newsarama. Heck, even sites like IGN have changed their opinion after the first act ended) is another issue altogether. Personally, I've enjoyed AVX more than most events in a long, long time but heck our mileages vary.

While I wasn't particularly for or against the new 52, I do believe that it has re-invigorated the industry. For the first time in a long time, retailers are excited and companies are emboldened now to take greater risks (hence the Valiant re-launch and Marvel NOW stuff). However, some weaknesses have begun to show over there and their lesser titles are beginning to suffer. I wouldn't necessarily say its DCs fault as the industry can only support so many big sellers.

The long term success of Marvel NOW will depend on its quality though. So far, Marvel have announced some pretty solid creative teams, beyond that, they can only hope for the best.

Honestly, forget availability, pricing, accessibility of content, or any of that. The biggest problem with the comics industry is the general malaise that's poisoning the fanbase. I mean, some eager, wide-eyed young lad (or lass, but who are we kidding) could decide to get into comics, pop onto the BEST COMICS FORUM ON THE INTERWEBS, and immediately learn that every single comic Marvel and DC has, does, or will ever publish is complete and utter crap. The publishers perhaps didn't create this problem, but is their responsibility to fix it. Not sure how exactly, but some fresh new talent, new spins on tired concepts, and a wider range of material might help.

[BrotherUnitNo_4]

Not sure how exactly, but some fresh new talent, new spins on tired concepts, and a wider range of material might help.

Yes please.

[ChronoAdept]

Not sure how exactly, but some fresh new talent, new spins on tired concepts, and a wider range of material might help.

I did not think a lot of the talent is that old, really. Hickman and Remender have not been around for that long. New folks like Asmus and Hopeless are on the rise. The long-run folk seem to have mostly moved on with the exception of Bendis (and maybe that is one of the problems?).
Marvel also tried a wider range of content with Cross Gen, but it flopped. People only want to buy the hero books. Not to say that some super-duper awesome genre book may change things, but those seem to be few and far between.

Marvel NOW is not only the new way to try to bring in new readers, but I see it as the "DC has caught up and is beating us each month in sales, we need to do something!" That and the whole Alonso as EIC thing.