Post by Captain America on Jul 18, 2010 23:21:23 GMT -5
By Troy Brownfield, Newsarama Columnist
posted: 16 July 2010 04:00 pm ET
With a tweet here and a teaser image there, speculation raced into overdrive as to whether or not Marvel is going to roll out a FIFTH Avengers ongoing. The first note, from writer Fred Van Lente, indicated that he’d be writing an Avengers book. Yesterday, Marvel rolled out a teaser for The Thanos Imperative #3 that featured Quasar, Gladiator, Beta Ray Bill, Nova, Silver Surfer, Ronan the Accuser, and a strong suggestion that we might be looking at a new team of Avengers with the alteration of a classic tagline. While smartasses in the audience might observe that there are actually SEVEN Avengers books already running these days (the four core titles, plus the Avengers Prime, Avengers: The Children’s Crusade and Avengers: The Origin minis) in the mainstream Marvel universe, a fifth actual ongoing might indeed be something that could be considered a bit of a surprise move.
Frankly, as the guy that writes “Right to Assemble” around here, even I had to wonder if five Avengers ongoings was too many. I decided to start the discussion by conducting a poll of one. I asked my oldest son, noted five-year-old and Avengers freak Connor, if five Avengers comics a month was too much. He laughed, shook his head, and said, “No,” which was Connor for, “How absurd, Daddy.” Then again, this is the same kid that got up this morning, dumped out his storage cube of Super-Hero Squad figures and had Cap, Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Spider-Man and Tigra kicking the crap out of MODOK and Abomination before breakfast. Like he’s gonna believe that there’s enough Avengers anything in the world.
Actually, the cool element of the Avengers franchise these days is that the four monthlies have staked out particular ground. Each book has a look and feel that’s suited to that title. Avengers as an entity makes sense, as does New Avengers, primarily because some readers DID enjoy that slightly down-powered type of line-up. Secret Avengers, a new twist on a couple of familiar ideas, offers the most creative roster under a writer noted for his handling of characterization. And, with Avengers Academy, you have a fresh iteration of that original New Mutants spin-off philosophy. To me, whether certain fans like them all or not, those specifically distinct books make sense.
Now, would a cosmic book? Honestly . . . at this point . . . yeah, I think it would. Surprised? Here’s my take. While I’ve greatly enjoyed the Marvel Cosmic titles of the past few years, the fact remains that there is a level of disconnect from those books and events with what goes on back at Marvel Earth. That’s not a big problem; that’s really quite natural. However, a book that provided a link between Marvel’s Current Biggest Franchise and The Little Corner of the MU That Could would actually be a positive for the company. It could lure Avengers readers through that door to other books (like Guardians of the Galaxy) and it could take some of the cosmic fans that may have lost interest in the core Marvel Universe and make them take another look.
Glance at that teaser again. It would be the interesting base cast for a team line-up. Obviously, you’d need to add a couple of space-faring females to the team. Frankly, I wouldn’t mind seeing the six characters shown there joined by Ronan’s wife Crystal and the sort of homeless X-Men in space, Havok, Polaris, and Marvel Girl. Sure, it’s a larger line-up, but would lend itself fairly well to that cosmic feel (hell, Havok is more or less a freaking sun on legs powered by stars). A guy like FVL (if that were indeed what he was talking about) would be a solid fit for this type of approach.
Then again, there are probably some already established Avengers fans that would absolutely groan at the idea of another book. I can understand that. Twenty bucks a month before even buying a book that doesn’t say “Avengers” somewhere on it can feel pretty steep.
www.newsarama.com/comics/avengers-right-to-assemble-5th-team-100716.html
posted: 16 July 2010 04:00 pm ET
With a tweet here and a teaser image there, speculation raced into overdrive as to whether or not Marvel is going to roll out a FIFTH Avengers ongoing. The first note, from writer Fred Van Lente, indicated that he’d be writing an Avengers book. Yesterday, Marvel rolled out a teaser for The Thanos Imperative #3 that featured Quasar, Gladiator, Beta Ray Bill, Nova, Silver Surfer, Ronan the Accuser, and a strong suggestion that we might be looking at a new team of Avengers with the alteration of a classic tagline. While smartasses in the audience might observe that there are actually SEVEN Avengers books already running these days (the four core titles, plus the Avengers Prime, Avengers: The Children’s Crusade and Avengers: The Origin minis) in the mainstream Marvel universe, a fifth actual ongoing might indeed be something that could be considered a bit of a surprise move.
Frankly, as the guy that writes “Right to Assemble” around here, even I had to wonder if five Avengers ongoings was too many. I decided to start the discussion by conducting a poll of one. I asked my oldest son, noted five-year-old and Avengers freak Connor, if five Avengers comics a month was too much. He laughed, shook his head, and said, “No,” which was Connor for, “How absurd, Daddy.” Then again, this is the same kid that got up this morning, dumped out his storage cube of Super-Hero Squad figures and had Cap, Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Spider-Man and Tigra kicking the crap out of MODOK and Abomination before breakfast. Like he’s gonna believe that there’s enough Avengers anything in the world.
Actually, the cool element of the Avengers franchise these days is that the four monthlies have staked out particular ground. Each book has a look and feel that’s suited to that title. Avengers as an entity makes sense, as does New Avengers, primarily because some readers DID enjoy that slightly down-powered type of line-up. Secret Avengers, a new twist on a couple of familiar ideas, offers the most creative roster under a writer noted for his handling of characterization. And, with Avengers Academy, you have a fresh iteration of that original New Mutants spin-off philosophy. To me, whether certain fans like them all or not, those specifically distinct books make sense.
Now, would a cosmic book? Honestly . . . at this point . . . yeah, I think it would. Surprised? Here’s my take. While I’ve greatly enjoyed the Marvel Cosmic titles of the past few years, the fact remains that there is a level of disconnect from those books and events with what goes on back at Marvel Earth. That’s not a big problem; that’s really quite natural. However, a book that provided a link between Marvel’s Current Biggest Franchise and The Little Corner of the MU That Could would actually be a positive for the company. It could lure Avengers readers through that door to other books (like Guardians of the Galaxy) and it could take some of the cosmic fans that may have lost interest in the core Marvel Universe and make them take another look.
Glance at that teaser again. It would be the interesting base cast for a team line-up. Obviously, you’d need to add a couple of space-faring females to the team. Frankly, I wouldn’t mind seeing the six characters shown there joined by Ronan’s wife Crystal and the sort of homeless X-Men in space, Havok, Polaris, and Marvel Girl. Sure, it’s a larger line-up, but would lend itself fairly well to that cosmic feel (hell, Havok is more or less a freaking sun on legs powered by stars). A guy like FVL (if that were indeed what he was talking about) would be a solid fit for this type of approach.
Then again, there are probably some already established Avengers fans that would absolutely groan at the idea of another book. I can understand that. Twenty bucks a month before even buying a book that doesn’t say “Avengers” somewhere on it can feel pretty steep.
www.newsarama.com/comics/avengers-right-to-assemble-5th-team-100716.html
