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Marvel Again Betting on the Idea That We Want to See Beloved Characters Killed
Have you been a fan of any of the teen superhero comics at Marvel over the past few years?
Well good news! Some of your favorite characters are going to be brutally murdered!
Behold the upcoming Marvel NOW! series Avengers Arena, which apparently exists solely to pit young teen characters into a Hunger Games-like battle royale, where writer Dennis Hopeless actually seems to brag in this interview that characters are going to be killed.
Everybody come read about the killings!
Amongst those on the killing floor are the casts of Avengers Academy and Runaways, with random appearances by Darkhawk, X-23 and Cammie from Annihilation. The story is that the villain Arcade takes 16 kids to Murder World and then sets them about killing each other. The comic will be drawn by Kev Walker.
…
Fuck this comic.
Seriously, fuck you, Marvel Comics, you blood-thirsty, mindless drones of corporate marketing. I didn’t read The Hunger Games, but I’m pretty sure from watching the movie that one of the underlying themes was that having children kill each other as entertainment WAS A BAD THING! If you’re going to just steal the concept, isn’t it the height of irony to then completely miss the point!?
Who reads this vomit? What kind of budding sociopath reads a comic where the major draw is that fan favorite characters are going to be brutally killed?
Whoever they are, they should just go back to strangling cats and ripping the wings off flies.
Cannonball Steps Up Big Time!
This is kind of a minor thing, but apparently the superhero Cannonball is going to join the Avengers in the new Marvel NOW! relaunch!
That’s him in the upper left hand corner
That’s a set of three covers from the new series, by writer Jonathan Hickman. There are a few new characters – as well as every single Avenger from this summer’s big movie – but the important one, to me, is Cannonball. Not that I’m a huge Cannonball fan or anything, I just generally like the idea of minor characters like that stepping up to do something new and bigger than their usual fare.
Plus, I remember back in the 90s when Cannonball ‘graduated’ from X-Force onto the X-Men. That was treated like a really big deal at the time, and I enjoyed him on the team. I miss the days when being on a certain team meant something, as did shifting from one team to the other. Still, perhaps you’ll enjoy the look at the new Avengers lineup. I’m sure it’s going to last…4 months.
Congratulations Legion Fans
Are you a fan of Legion, the erstwhile son of Professor X who happens to be crazy? Then you’re in luck! Legion is going to get his own series as part of the Marvel NOW! relaunch, he’ll be taking over the X-Men: Legacy series from Rogue. For once, the title of this comic actually makes sense, seeing as how Legion is Professor X’s son.
You can read more about the series here.
Personally, I don’t care about the character in the slightest, so I won’t be picking up the title. However, considering one of my favorite X-Men is the Mimic, I can’t exactly blame anyone for loving Legion. I’m sure he has his fans somewhere…though I doubt he has enough to support his own ongoing series. I don’t think writer Si Spurrier is much of a draw either. Cool cover, at least.
To round out the rest of the Marvel NOW! titles, we have Rick Remender on the new Captain America, along with artist John Romita Jr. Both are very good, so I’m a little tempted to pick up this series…except that Cap continues to piss me off in Avengers vs. X-Men. So I dunno.
And lastly, we have Kelley Sue DeConnick writing Avengers Assemble. I’m a fan of DeConnick’s work on the new Captain Marvel series. And my friend Katie is a huge fan. Though I don’t know if it’s enough to get me to pick up Avengers Assemble. The title was put together to be as close to The Avengers movie as possible while still being part of the normal Marvel Universe. So basically writer Brian Michael Bendis is telling a story where the movie Avengers team up, but in the normal Marvel Universe, not the Movieverse. It’s a fine idea, having a comic similar to the movie for potential new fans, but according to the Internet, the series isn’t very good. So I haven’t bothered with it.
And based on the cover, it doesn’t even look like she’s going to be sticking to the Movieverse team roster. Does this mean it’ll just be another ordinary Avengers comic? Sadly, count me out on this way.
The Hulk looks kind of weird too
So what do you guys think of the various new Marvel NOW! comics announced this week? My favorite continues to be the new FF starring Ant-Man. But I may pick up Indestructible Hulk and Iron Man. How about you? Let me know in the comments!
Holy Cow, Marvel NOW! Just Got Awesome!
Behold, the new Fantastic Four!
I’m speechless at how awesome that picture is. Ant-Man!? She-Hulk? Medusa? Miss Thing!? Drawn in the amazing pop art style of Mike and Laural Allred? I am sold! Marvel NOW! finally has something really far out and fascinating to offer, instead of just the same old same old with Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and the bunch.
Don’t be too alarmed though. That’s actually the cover of FF#1, the Fantastic Four’s sister title. The actual comic Fantastic Four will still star the usual team of Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch and the Thing.
Both titles will be written by Matt Fraction, who gave an interview to USA Today that you can read here. Basically his plans for the normal Fantastic Four comic, drawn by Mark Bagley, are the usual family-based stuff. The two kids, Franklin and Val, will be with them. So that’s cool, I suppose. At least they’re keeping the white costumes. I love those. I don’t have much interest in Fraction’s take on the traditional Fantastic Four.
It’s his wacky take on the Future Foundation that I can’t wait to read!
Whereas the Fantastic Four is about the Richards family having all-new adventures, FFis about an all-new Fantastic Four getting to meet the team’s greatest hits, Fraction teases. “Suddenly, there are imposters to the throne and they come out of the woodwork for these guys.”
Ant-Man has an agenda of his own, too, in addition to protecting the world. He blames Doctor Doom for the death of his daughter and, with the power of the Fantastic Four and the Future Foundation, wonders what would happen if they declared war on Latveria and devoted all their time and resources to eliminating Doom once and for all.
“It’s a dark twist on what the Fantastic Four is about — it’s the other side of the coin,” Fraction says. “We have this Fantastic Four with a specific mission in FF and how can he direct and bring these people along with him?”
Basically the premise is that in the main title, Reed is going to take his family on this giant vacation through time and space, which will lead to some awesome adventures. They’ll be gone for exactly 4 minutes. And should something go wrong, Reed has everyone pick a replacement. Reed picks Scott Lang, Ant-Man, Sue picks Medusa, Ben picks She-Hulk, and Johnny…well Johnny forgot, and so he just randomly picks the babe he slept with the night before they leave. That’s Miss Thing, a brand new character who’s wearing Thing armor.
And I guess beyond that, something does go wrong during those 4 minutes, and this is the new Fantastic Four.
I’m very, very excited about this one, folks.
Comedian to Write Deadpool
This has to be the coolest news of Marvel NOW! so far: actual stand-up comedian Brian Posehn is going to write Deadpool.
Posehn will be joined by fellow funnyman Gerry Duggan, with art by Tony Moore. I think that’s just fantastic. I’m all for finding new, unique writers to tackle some of Marvel’s comics, and who better to write Deadpool than someone who is actually funny? And better yet, Posehn is a huge comic book geek. So much so that he played the priest in the Fantastic Four sequel who married Reed and Sue. The guy has geek cred coming out the wazzo.
Warlord of the chess club
Will he write a good Deadpool? I don’t know, but I’ve got my hopes up, and am definitely interested in the possibilities. I’ve never been as big a Deadpool fan as the rest of the Internet, but I’m tempted to now pick up issue #1 just to see what Posehn can offer. Will he be as funny on the page as he is on the stage?
My biggest problem with Deadpool is that I don’t like it when he stars in a wacky comedy book. Deadpool himself is already overly wacky and comedic, and it just isn’t all that funny when he’s on wacky and comedic adventures, when everything around him is just like him. Deadpool’s brand of humor works best when he’s the only wacky and comedic element in an otherwise serious story. That’s why I think he works so well in Uncanny X-Force. That way Deadpool’s attitude and personality stand out as something unique and special.
Because if everyone is wacky, then no one is.
Henchman-4-Hire 