Does marvel now put to bed the idea that a reboot is necessary?

[Paladin King]

I don't think Marvel ever needed a reboot.

I think all that talk was just because fans were looking at the huge success, both in sales and quality, over at DC and were getting envious.

[DebkoX]

All I can say is that with NOW ice been able to get into comics so much easier.

[tony ingram]

After going through all the Marvel NOW books (so far) I must say that most of them are easily accessible to anybody (except X-men Legacy which is pretty dense). I gifted copies of Indestructible Hulk, Thor:God of Thunder and Captain America to a couple of my friends off comixology and they were hooked (although one of them hated that art on Captain America which is a shame becaue JRjr is one of my favorite artists). These guys aren't avid comic fans by any stretch of the imagination but I guess digital comics that could be read off their tablets made the proposition attractive to them.

The Marvel NOW books have not been continuity heavy and can easily be understood by a casual fan.

The reception to the books has been pretty positive (except with Iron Man) and most people have been pleased by its quality.

So with that in mind, does Marvel NOW put the necessity of a reboot to bed? And does a simple "re-energization" of the line serve the same purpose of a re-boot without the need for throwing out continuity? Or does Marvel still need to go all out and restart their characters from the scratch?

The question makes no sense. There was never any "necessity" for a reboot, and I doubt Marvel ever thought there was. People have been obsessed with this ridiculous notion ever since DC pulled their moronic stunt, and I just don't understand why.

[motherofpearl1]

For me personally, it's a mixed bag. I've enjoyed a lot of the stuff I've read and had no problems following it, except for anything with an X in the title. I still think the X franchise needs a major overhaul, but for now, I'm happy to just stay away from the entire line (except for AOA which is fantastic).

Edit: I voted no because of the X-Universe, but I'm okay with everything else...

I gave up on the X universe a long time ago; I thought Marvel NOW would breathe new life into it but instead it put the final nail in its coffin.

I enjoy Thor but Thor without Loki is like Batman without the Joker.At the moment I'm enjoying the Ultimate line (especially Brian Wood) but I honestly can't understand what they're doing with the Ultimates.

I wish they had done a reboot in full, because what we have is all over the place - everyone who is anyone is an Avenger these days. And there is a creepy right wing influence around - but maybe that's just Disney!

[Addams]

People have been obsessed with this ridiculous notion ever since DC pulled their moronic stunt, and I just don't understand why.

Are you serious with that? Thanks to this reboot the sells of this past year have been some of the best in DC history.

Well, if by moronic you mean making a shitload of money then yeah, how moronic indeed.

[Cryptid]

Are you serious with that? Thanks to this reboot the sells of this past year have been some of the best in DC history.

Well, if by moronic you mean making a shitload of money then yeah, how moronic indeed.

The sales for the New 52 have been fairly good relative to the current state of the comics industry but hardly the best in DC's history. The overall readership for comics has shrunken by a depressing amount since the medium hit its stride in the 30s and 40s. The reboot has recaptured some attention and brought some lapsed readers back into the fold, but when people describe the tactic as "moronic" they are probably responding to the drastic tactics that have become necessary to retain rather than expand the readership.

From a creative perspective, both the New 52 and Marvel Now seem creatively conservative to me. There are a few notable successes on each side, including books like Thor and Swamp Thing, but for every fresh idea there are several titles hunkering down in elaborate continuity-laden premises (Green Lantern, All New X-Men) or revisiting familiar ideas with more charm than invention (JLA, Iron Man).