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It's been almost a year since DC kicked off their "New 52". Love it or hate it, it appears that it's sticking around for the foreseeable future. Since that time I've not only heard and read comments from people about DC, but also about Marvel. A few months into the New 52 I started noticing the comments from folks that were focused mostly (or completely) on Marvel when it came to their superhero titles. There seemed to be a level of pride that Marvel was staying with their "original" continuity and not attempting a similar gimmick. Marvel even got into the boasting a bit with their 'Marvel Previews' order book in July of 2011. A number of their titles had a small "Still #(whatever)" splash on its preview page. Well, things have changed.
In this year's 'Marvel Previews' order book for August, a number of titles are being cancelled. Now, that's nothing new for any comic company. The thing is, the "why" of it happening is significant. You see, after all the talk from Marvel readers and Marvel themselves it seems that Marvel is following in DC's footsteps of shaking things up. Now, Marvel has been quick to explain that they are NOT rebooting their titles. What they are saying they are doing is bringing their titles (and universe) into the next era. Plus, as opposed to what DC did, Marvel is starting their new era over a period of months with new titles starting out at #1, and not all at once. Welcome to "Marvel NOW!"
In my mind this has been in the works for a while. Plus, Marvel isn't being completely honest with their statement that what is happening isn't a reboot. I had a suspicion something was going on when Marvel started putting out their "Season One" graphic novels. Now, I've never read one of them, but my understanding has been that what those graphic novels have done is take the original origins of characters and put them into a modern era. Apparently it's up to the readers to decide if they want to go with the original origins of the characters that are getting the "Season One" treatment, or if they want to go with the new updated origin. Well, I think it's fair to say that as things move forward the "Season One" origins will probably become the standard or canon origin. Marvel has characters that have been around for decades, but have barely aged over a single decade. This is where DC's reboots have allowed DC to stay more "modern". Of course the quality of those reboots is a different story. Back to Marvel's new gimmick though.
As I said earlier, I thought this change for Marvel has been on the way for some time. Beyond the "Season One" graphic novels there was the fact that some titles were also putting out two issues a month. This wasn't due to an event. It was something that just seemed to keep happening. I was talking with the guy that runs the local comic store a number of months back and I told him I had the feeling Marvel was putting out two issues a month to wrap up stories as quickly as possible before something major happened. Well, that something major finally has a name, and that name is "Marvel NOW!"
I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing in regards to the "Marvel NOW!" era. I only read a handful of Marvel titles now, and I'm either quitting or preparing to quit some already. Daredevil is a good read, but it's going nowhere and has already had two major crossovers since it re-launched. I've already decided I'm done with that title. I got into Uncanny X-Force late and unfortunately that title has gone the way of Excalibur back when it became too unbearable for me to read. I'm finishing out the current story then probably dropping that title too. I'll be done with Captain America after Ed Brubaker leaves, and I would have been dropping that no matter what. I just decided I wanted Brubaker's entire current run once I heard he was leaving. I would have done the same thing with Fantastic Four and FF when Jonathan Hickman left, but Marvel is saving me the trouble by ending both titles.
I'm not completely negative on Marvel though, even if it seems so. The thing is I think Marvel has needed to draw a line in the sand like they're doing now for quite some time. For me, it started back when Grant Morrison started mucking up the X-corner of the Marvel Universe by making mutants incredibly common. Marvel tried to clean that up via the Scarlet Witch in the "House of M" event, but I think they went overboard. Now it seems another tweak is going to happen with the "Avengers vs. X-Men" event via the Phoenix Force (I'm guessing you noticed I'm reading nothing related to it in the titles I mentioned). Hopefully this current event (and Marvel's new era) works well for them. A hard line in the sand would be more significant, but if they believe a slow rollout is what will work best, then that's what they need to go with. We saw the shakeup from DC's New 52 change being done all at once, so it the contrast alone should prove interesting.
While DC seems to be leading the charge (regardless of success) in bringing established superheroes into a more modern era in print, Marvel has shown their ability to do it on the big screen. The next year should prove who can do both well though, if either of them can. Right now a modern DC is looking the most unstable when you look at their overall media presence, but if Marvel can pull off "Marvel NOW!" well, then the modern Marvel might just end up on top.
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