This Is Excitement? – Some of Marvel’s Big SDCC Announcements

The announcements even before San Diego Comic Con have been coming out so fast and furious (one day I need to watch a couple of those movies). The one thing that struck me is that not a single announcement from DC Comics was made that I recall or at least cared about and Marvel’s announcements are borderline pathetic on the comic book side. The best thing coming from Marvel is the movies and maybe the SHEILD TV show.

One of Marvel’s big announcements on comics was another X-Men book and bringing back Nightcrawler. Yippee, wow what excitement Jason Aaron wasting his talent on yet another X book with drawing my Ed McGuiness, whose style I swear only 5-8 years can love. Less panel per page then almost any other artist. Makes writing easy. Page one – splash of Nightcrawler, page 2 two page spread as Nightcrawler teleports and other X-Men see him back. Page 3-4 two page spread of group all hugging him. Page 5 – two panel flashback as Nightcrawler remembers being trapped in a cave and wondering what happened.  That was a quick $1,000 to make for a writer. Anyway the idea that this should be exciting news just goes to show what little Marvel has left to offer.

But wait there is a new Longshot series. Wow, is that great or what. I mean with Dazzler back and Longshot in his own series we have firmly re-established the disco era is back. Put on the Donna Summer albums and let’s dance the night away. We can only hope that everyone is gay in the new series so to show how progressive and open minded we have become in the new millennium.

Listen I’m thrilled to death to see Matt Kindt and Brahm Revel doing work on Marvel characters under the revived Marvel Knights banner, but those are only mini-series. The true creativity coming from Marvel is a constant cycle or re-inventing the characters they have over and over and over and over again. Sue Storm becomes a doctor and genius because when she was invented the sensibilities were different and women played a more subservient role in society for the most part. When not let Valerie Richards grow up and run the Fantastic Four, it be more interesting then recycling the same characters over and over again. Peter Parker is now selling better then ever BECAUSE HE IS NOT LONGER PETER PARKER. Fans as so hungry for any change in the super hero books that anything looks cool, even making the hero have the mind of a mass murderer. If only Pol Pot could take over Iron Man and redeem himself.

I know it is hard to let go of the Marvel and DC stuff because I have not done it completely, but it is getting easier and easier to move on, especially when too many writers are producing epics. My main examples are Hickman with Avengers and New Avengers have over 20 plus issues and we are just moving into the “event” and Bendis with similar numbers on All New and Uncanny X-Men that has yet to hit its crescendo. What happened to telling a story and getting out and using sub-plots to build characterization or hit at the next story?

Personally I’m more excited that Jason Aaron, Matt Fraction and many many others have new series coming out from Image and other places.