Is "Marvel Now!" better than The New 52?

[FIFTY-TWO (52)]

Is the New 52 better than Marvel Now?

Yeah, I'd say it is, and I have feeling many retailers would say the same. Did the New 52 save the industry? Probably not in the long run, but it sure as hell gave the industry a kick in the pants. It brought new and lapsed readers into the shops and did something that Marvel Now probably can't do: it raised all ships. See the New 52 not only helped DC, it also helped Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, and a number of indy books, too. Marvel Now will only help Marvel. But thanks to DC and the New 52 Marvel (and the others) benefited from the extra traffic that came flooding into comic shops, and they're still riding that wave.

[tony ingram]

I don't think either one could actually be considered better than the other. Both were kind of bad. I think DC failed to capture many new fans while at the same time losing long time readers. They have a few good titles but overall the quality isn't there.

As far as Marvel NOW, I have no idea what they were going for except to renumber the issues at one. What's sad is we've seen this gimmick so many times already that I don't think it really is going to have that big of an effect on sales. But Marvel is so cluttered right now I wouldn't mind seeing a reboot of some kind.

I would. That would destroy Marvel, for me.

[USERNAME TAKEN]

I would. That would destroy Marvel, for me.

Same for me.

The Marvel NOW titles have big shiny number 1s on them and are clear jumping on points.

Reception to the titles has largely been positive and even some people that haven't been reading Marvel have commented on how much they enjoy the Marvel NOW stuff.

Why some readers feel that Marvel should go further and re-boot their universe thereby throwing away a rich history is really beyond me.

[tony ingram]

Yes, "comics" does not equal "DC." But, logically...DC and Marvel are called the Big Two for a reason.

Only by a comparative handful of readers who mostly don't read anything else.

Its not just because they have the most recognizable characters. When you have only two companies making up about 80% (probably more) of the entire American comic book market, anything that directly benefits either one of them can be seen as benefitting the comic book industry as a whole.

The American comic industry, perhaps; not the comic industry as a whole. And in fact, I don't see how something benefiting Marvel or DC necessarily benefits any of the multitude of independant publishers even in America.

[tony ingram]

Same for me.

The Marvel NOW titles have big shiny number 1s on them and are clear jumping on points.

Reception to the titles has largely been positive and even some people that haven't been reading Marvel have commented on how much they enjoy the Marvel NOW stuff.

Why some readers feel that Marvel should go further and re-boot their universe thereby throwing away a rich history is really beyond me.

I put it down to a few comparative newbies who have no understanding of or feel for the history.

[SpadesSlick]

Only by a comparative handful of readers who mostly don't read anything else. The American comic industry, perhaps; not the comic industry as a whole. And in fact, I don't see how something benefiting Marvel or DC necessarily benefits any of the multitude of independant publishers even in America.

It does. DC brings in new readers, those readers branch out and sample other wares. In the end it's a multiplier effect. Every new comic reader expands the potential pool for the other companies.

That's how it worked for me. I jumped on for the New 52 then started reading books from Image, Dark Horse and even a Marvel book or two. Once you get butts in the comic store you open up the chance to expose those people to other things they might like. Guy X walks in to buy his monthly batman issue or whatever, and as he leaves he spots an issue of Saga on the rack. "Oh this looks interesting and has a badass cover i'll try this out."

[carabas]

Same for me.

The Marvel NOW titles have big shiny number 1s on them and are clear jumping on points.

Well, they're big, shiny #1s allright, but Marvel does that a lot of times on a smaller scale. As far as I can tell nota whole lot of effort went into making them new-reader-friendly jumping-on points.

[Whip Whirlwind]

I'd say Thor, Avengers, and Cap are pretty new reader friendly. Too much other stuff relies on AvX for it's foundation though.

[USERNAME TAKEN]

Well, they're big, shiny #1s allright, but Marvel does that a lot of times on a smaller scale. As far as I can tell nota whole lot of effort went into making them new-reader-friendly jumping-on points.

Marvel does re-launch their titles all the time but not with this hype nor promotion.

Content wise, the titles couldn't be more new reader friendly without simply re-telling origin stories.

[MurderFace]

I prefer Marvel NOW! because I prefer Marvel comics, but I can't say I really support either initiative. They both remind me of that scene in INVINCIBLE when Mark comes back to the comic shop after years trapped in space and is stunned to see every series he read has relaunched. Peter David recently said he wished comics had no numbering system, and instead we'd just have the month and year on the cover. I think that's a pretty solid idea. Numbering suggests reading order, and I know I'm not original in saying this, but relaunching at #1 all the time just leads you to the same problem in a few years. That being said, both initiatives were clearly successful on some level, so my opinion's kind of moot.

[glennsim]

I put it down to a few comparative newbies who have no understanding of or feel for the history.

I've been reading for 35 years and I love a good reboot. Clears out the clutter.

[tunneler]

The Marvel characters have too much convoluted history which makes them inferior to the new 52 DC characters who have no history and thus are new-reader friendly.
The new 52 has brought a lot of new readers to dc comics and so the new 52 saved the comics industry.

[tony ingram]

I've been reading for 35 years and I love a good reboot. Clears out the clutter.

One man's clutter is another man's treasure.

[MichaelPaytonMZ]

I haven't followed Marvel all that closely since I was in High School, but so far the Marvel Now books are largely entertaining. Between the Now relaunch and the lethargic and scatterbrained work at DC these days, I'm already buying more Marvel than DC for the first time.

[Coyote2010]

I haven't followed Marvel all that closely since I was in High School, but so far the Marvel Now books are largely entertaining. Between the Now relaunch and the lethargic and scatterbrained work at DC these days, I'm already buying more Marvel than DC for the first time.

I haven't read any of the Marvel titles but I like the talent on Hickmans Avengers, I haved loved Waids Daredevil, Aarons Thor has good press, as well as Fractions Hawkeye. I may pick up trades of all of those books.

Still, When Nu 52 came out, there were lines outside the comic store before it opened. I didn't see that with Marvel now.

I think DCs last few events from Infinite Crisis to now have been more fun. Fear Itself and AvX were dreary, I think Flashpoint was more fun and successful storytelling wise. Marvel Now would have to be doing something drastically different to get my hopes up, and I don't see it yet. Maybe Allreds FF, but I doubt that is as out there or inventive as DCs Dial H?

What do I know, maybe today I will pick up some Marvel Now books...

What's good?