WHICH PRE-MARVEL NOW! RUN WILL YOU MISS THE MOST?

 Brian Michael Bendis’ Avengers titles

 Ed Brubaker’s “Captain America”

 Matt Fraction’s “Invincible Iron Man”

 Matt Fraction’s “Mighty Thor”

 Christos Gage’s “Avengers Academy”

 Christos Gage’s “X-Men Legacy”

 Kieron Gillen’s “Journey into Mystery”

 Kieron Gillen’s “Uncanny X-Men”

 Jonathan Hickman’s “Fantastic Four”/”FF”

 Jeff Parker’s “Thunderbolts/Dark Avengers”

 Rick Remender’s “Uncanny X-Force”

 Daniel Way’s “Deadpool”

Comic Corner: Embracing the Future of Marvel

So this week has been pretty chaotic with the announcement of Marvel’s plans for the future, and if you are a true fan, I’m sure you are a bit distraught at the moment; in fear of what Marvel’s plans mean for some of your favorite characters, titles, and writers. On one hand a fan can appreciate the thoughtfulness that goes into the creative process of a character’s wellbeing, but on the other hand it can be a little terrifying to not know what that process involves. Sort of like being a responsible driver who has built quite a record of avoiding accidents when driving, who is suddenly placed in the passengers seat while a lunatic takes the wheel. You have no idea what that said lunatic is going to do next. That’s kind of how most of us die-hard fans feel when a relaunch is in the works. Scary, right?

Now speaking from a more supportive and mature perspective; I agree with Marvel’s ideas to bring the Marvel U together, and to go back to the bronze and even silver age, when things were a little more sane. It was noticed that somewhere down the line one of Marvel’s biggest franchises if not the biggest, was torn from the rest of the Marvel U. Yes, we’re talking about the X-Men. But although that maybe true, it is understandable as to how that happen. The X-Men have always been popular, but it was during the 90s that they became famous, and with that recognition, a target was put on their heads both in story and publication.The X-Men were seen as the underdogs who where changing the game, and I bet my bottom comic that this provided a lot of untapped potential to expand on. The X-Men were to the comic book world like a bubble to the stock market. Now I was only a kid when all this was going on so excuse me if I seem to not make any sense in what I’m saying, but from that very same perspective I know for a fact that the X-Men were every where from the pages of Uncanny to the animated series to the big screen in 2000, not to fail to mention my backpack, and every wall in my room; and I was just one of millions of little boys who thought by the time they hit puberty their x-gene would activate and over night they’d become an X-Man.

Marvel says its time for change, and that they want this change to have a impact for decades to come, but what does that mean for all the stories we’ve lived through, all the bonds we formed with our favorite characters? Jean Grey, yes we want her back, but I think I speak for a lot of like-minded fans, when I say not like this. Jean Grey was taken from us two times too many. Our obsession with her return was not to simply have a super hot green-eyed redhead with a super powerful mind running around the Marvel U again. We wanted her back so she can take back control of her life. We wanted to see that argument with Emma Frost, or that painful divorce with Scott Summers as she approached new horizons, even if it was with Wolverine.  We wanted another chance to see her grow. I cant help but feel that Jean’s return to Marvel U (via time travel) is a bit cheap for Marvel’s creators, not to fail to mention it leaves a very loose end with Phoenix: Endsong and Warsong.

But like I said before, I support Marvel’s decision on where they are taking things. So long as they don’t assume that the Avengers are everybody’s favorite super hero group and continue to over use some characters, like Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow, and give the reins to more interesting characters than the future of the Marvel U should be very bright. 

First Look At Marvel: Avengers Alliance RPG

A closer look at the upcoming Facebook video game. Marvel and Playdom, both under the direction of Walt Disney Company, will team up to bring us a Facebook game that would combine the element of RPG, and would feature over one-hundred Marvel characters. The storyline of the actual video game will introduce the “the pulse”, in which most of the earth’s most dangerous villains gradually grow stronger and more powerful as the game progress. As the game player, you would come in as a SHIELD AGENT and as soon as you are finished training “The pulse hits” placing you smack dab in the middle.

Throughout the course of the game player(s) will have the ability to gather together a team of heroes. The company has, so far, included a total of 130 characters counting the henchmen, villains and heroes and the player will have the ability to build a team from the 28 available heroes. Not only will players have the ability to customize their SHIELD Agents, they will be able to customize their entire game. Characters will include: Black Widow, Captain America, Hawkeye, Hulk, Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, Thor, Wolverine, Human Torch, The Invisible Woman, Mr. Fantastic, The Thing, Colossus, Cyclops, Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler, Phoenix, Storm.