Will there be a Marvel reboot or relaunch this year?

[Cyberstrike]

What Marvel needs to do is not reboot, but take that next step and evolve to the next phase - transition the old and bring in the new - younger/newer characters and start retiring some of the old stand-bys - it can be done. Marvel made its name originally by taking an old concept and taking it to the next level - now it needs to do it once again.

I agree, a new start point is cool, but they need to maintain what came before and grow it.

Agree - that's why I call for a transition instead of a reboot - there are so many potential storylines that they can go with - just pick one and go with it - a period where the past and future are intermingled and then move the story forward.

I mean could you imagine if instead of story progression - The Lord of the Rings just rewrote the same story, but from a different angle. Same adventures - same plot twists - same characters ------ boring.

The problem is Marvel has already tried this and most of the time it failed for them. Remember The Clone Saga, Teenage Tony Stark, Multiple Punishers, the Hulk's kids, Danny Ketch as Ghost Rider, the current female Ghost Rider, Bucky Barns as Captian America (these 3 were the best attempts at legacy characters), MC-2, 2099, and Heroes Reborn?

Marvel has never really been able to create "legacy" characters that work for them in the long term, while DC can when they have creators and editors who know what the hell they're doing.

[kevinbastos]

Johnny Storm is already back

I know. That's the problem. OH MY GOD! He's DEAD! FOR REAL! It's... Uh....

Never mind.

See Captain America.

See Professor X
See also Jean Grey
See also Colossus
See also Angel (twice?)

I am sick of this. Kill the person. Forever. For good. Then, you can bring back the character later. In someone else.

[BruceReville]

Johnny Storm is already back

I know. That's the problem. OH MY GOD! He's DEAD! FOR REAL! It's... Uh....

Never mind.

See Captain America.

See Professor X
See also Jean Grey
See also Colossus
See also Angel (twice?)

I am sick of this. Kill the person. Forever. For good. Then, you can bring back the character later. In someone else.

The entire Fantastic Four has died - Spider-Man - Wonderman - Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) - Ms Marvel (Carol Danvers) - Thanos - and all the Avengers if you count the death during the Onslaught Crossover. Don't get me started on the ressurected villains.

[leonmallett]

The problem is that in serial fiction killing off the basis of your serial fiction is pretty stupid. But hey, that is just one view point.

Marvel have no way now to really tell a truly poignant 'death' storyline, since as a plot point they have devalued it so much.

As to the topic at hand, I think Draco is right - we will see a relaunch, maybe a streamlining, but not a reboot.

It is possible to tell 'clean' stories not weighed down by continuity? How? Foucs on the story and not the continuity - simple really.

[Draco]

The problem is that in serial fiction killing off the basis of your serial fiction is pretty stupid. But hey, that is just one view point.

Marvel have no way now to really tell a truly poignant 'death' storyline, since as a plot point they have devalued it so much.

As to the topic at hand, I think Draco is right - we will see a relaunch, maybe a streamlining, but not a reboot.

It is possible to tell 'clean' stories not weighed down by continuity? How? Foucs on the story and not the continuity - simple really.

I wrote about this not long ago in relation to a question asked of Bill Jemas on continuity, or lack of.
When Marvel were kicking butt on sales early 2000's, the continuity was still an issue for many people, but Jemas answer made sense and didnt bother me as much as It would have ten years or five before. He said 'we aren't as much concerned with the continuity as we are telling great stories'

If you go back to that period across the board most titles were solid, but with little interaction between what we now have as individual franchises, i'e, ff, spidey, x-men, avengers, all with many many titles. At that time they were pretty much ignoring the previous creative team altogether ( not changed still ) Though they did well and can do so again, with either solid continuity or simply each franchise with it's own mini continuity, that when needed, can all sit together in each years blockbuster x-over.

[leonmallett]

The problem is that in serial fiction killing off the basis of your serial fiction is pretty stupid. But hey, that is just one view point.

Marvel have no way now to really tell a truly poignant 'death' storyline, since as a plot point they have devalued it so much.

As to the topic at hand, I think Draco is right - we will see a relaunch, maybe a streamlining, but not a reboot.

It is possible to tell 'clean' stories not weighed down by continuity? How? Foucs on the story and not the continuity - simple really.

I wrote about this not long ago in relation to a question asked of Bill Jemas on continuity, or lack of.
When Marvel were kicking butt on sales early 2000's, the continuity was still an issue for many people, but Jemas answer made sense and didnt bother me as much as It would have ten years or five before. He said 'we aren't as much concerned with the continuity as we are telling great stories'

If you go back to that period across the board most titles were solid, but with little interaction between what we now have as individual franchises, i'e, ff, spidey, x-men, avengers, all with many many titles. At that time they were pretty much ignoring the previous creative team altogether ( not changed still ) Though they did well and can do so again, with either solid continuity or simply each franchise with it's own mini continuity, that when needed, can all sit together in each years blockbuster x-over.

I would even go a step further and say on an internal basis within a title/set of closely connected titles that the focus should not be so heavily focused on the past, but again on the story at hand.

I would also add a further caveat that contemporary writers need to mix things up a little more and write less rinse-repeat 4-6 issue arcs, and maybe throw out more occasional well-crafted done-in-ones, which by virtue of their structure should not need to rely too much on referencing of past events.

[StarBrand]

One vote for there will.

[etos45]

Eliminate a few of the people. Forever. Kill Human Torch, and make the guy STAY dead. Forever. Period.

If they couldn't keep Norman Osborne dead after being gone for however long he was dead for, then Marvel is incapable of "forever". That's the problem, if you just try to relaunch, that just allows Marvel to further screw up and already impossible timeline. Not to mention that in 2-3 years (at most) they'll do something to try to reincorporate things that have no business being there. In a way, Brand New Day was a relaunch, and look what a continuity nightmare that has turned out to be. I don't know what happened and what didn't happen anymore.

A reboot is the only way to fix the mess they have now. Either that, or just ignore it and let it continue to spiral.

[BruceReville]

Eliminate a few of the people. Forever. Kill Human Torch, and make the guy STAY dead. Forever. Period.

If they couldn't keep Norman Osborne dead after being gone for however long he was dead for, then Marvel is incapable of "forever". That's the problem, if you just try to relaunch, that just allows Marvel to further screw up and already impossible timeline. Not to mention that in 2-3 years (at most) they'll do something to try to reincorporate things that have no business being there. In a way, Brand New Day was a relaunch, and look what a continuity nightmare that has turned out to be. I don't know what happened and what didn't happen anymore.

A reboot is the only way to fix the mess they have now. Either that, or just ignore it and let it continue to spiral.

Uncle Ben is still dead

[etos45]

Eliminate a few of the people. Forever. Kill Human Torch, and make the guy STAY dead. Forever. Period.

If they couldn't keep Norman Osborne dead after being gone for however long he was dead for, then Marvel is incapable of "forever". That's the problem, if you just try to relaunch, that just allows Marvel to further screw up and already impossible timeline. Not to mention that in 2-3 years (at most) they'll do something to try to reincorporate things that have no business being there. In a way, Brand New Day was a relaunch, and look what a continuity nightmare that has turned out to be. I don't know what happened and what didn't happen anymore.

A reboot is the only way to fix the mess they have now. Either that, or just ignore it and let it continue to spiral.

Uncle Ben is still dead

And they attempted to bring him back for awhile too. He and Gwen are the only ones who managed to stay dead, and with Uncle Ben there is no reason for Marvel to want to bring him back. Uncle PlotDevice served his purpose.

[Draco]

Eliminate a few of the people. Forever. Kill Human Torch, and make the guy STAY dead. Forever. Period.

If they couldn't keep Norman Osborne dead after being gone for however long he was dead for, then Marvel is incapable of "forever". That's the problem, if you just try to relaunch, that just allows Marvel to further screw up and already impossible timeline. Not to mention that in 2-3 years (at most) they'll do something to try to reincorporate things that have no business being there. In a way, Brand New Day was a relaunch, and look what a continuity nightmare that has turned out to be. I don't know what happened and what didn't happen anymore.

A reboot is the only way to fix the mess they have now. Either that, or just ignore it and let it continue to spiral.

20 years later and some people still are

[BruceReville]

Eliminate a few of the people. Forever. Kill Human Torch, and make the guy STAY dead. Forever. Period.

If they couldn't keep Norman Osborne dead after being gone for however long he was dead for, then Marvel is incapable of "forever". That's the problem, if you just try to relaunch, that just allows Marvel to further screw up and already impossible timeline. Not to mention that in 2-3 years (at most) they'll do something to try to reincorporate things that have no business being there. In a way, Brand New Day was a relaunch, and look what a continuity nightmare that has turned out to be. I don't know what happened and what didn't happen anymore.

A reboot is the only way to fix the mess they have now. Either that, or just ignore it and let it continue to spiral.

Uncle Ben is still dead

And they attempted to bring him back for awhile too. He and Gwen are the only ones who managed to stay dead, and with Uncle Ben there is no reason for Marvel to want to bring him back. Uncle PlotDevice served his purpose.

They brought Gwen back as a clone - same as they did Captain Marvel - if you don't count clones then Captain Marvel is still dead as well.

[etos45]

They brought Gwen back as a clone - same as they did Captain Marvel - if you don't count clones then Captain Marvel is still dead as well.

If you do count clones, then they brought Uncle Ben back as well. Wasn't he a cloned homeless guy or something?

Point being that nobody important will ever die forever at Marvel. If they're still dead now, it's just because Marvel hasn't gotten around to them yet.

[Chiclo]

Johnny Storm is already back

I know. That's the problem. OH MY GOD! He's DEAD! FOR REAL! It's... Uh....

Never mind.

See Captain America.

See Professor X
See also Jean Grey
See also Colossus
See also Angel (twice?)

I am sick of this. Kill the person. Forever. For good. Then, you can bring back the character later. In someone else.

The entire Fantastic Four has died - Spider-Man - Wonderman - Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) - Ms Marvel (Carol Danvers) - Thanos - and all the Avengers if you count the death during the Onslaught Crossover. Don't get me started on the ressurected villains.

Thanos doesn't count. Dying for him is just like drunk dialing an ex for one of us.

Gotta toot it and boot it.

[Lightning Strike]

I think Marvel was waiting to see how DC's relaunch panned out. If it's successful, then I could see them doing it. However, since 6 of their books have already been cancelled and more are rumored to be as well, I think you may see Marvel shying away from a relaunch. I think what DC did will end up being a terrible move.
Anything Jim Lee has editorial input in will ultimately fail. I'm on record as saying last year that this relaunch will be a failure and DC will announce that this "new" relaunch was just another DC Earth universe like Earth 3 or something and they will go back to the line prior to the relaunch and say it's the Earth "Prime".

[Lightning Strike]

A relaunch would be a start point with #1's that come after a monster event, where anyeon can jump on board, but previous continuity is still in tact, but the re boot is all new, no connections to the past. Though of course all the supposed rules are broken almost immediately anyway, lol.

That's what I thought. I don't see the point of a relaunch then, they've tried that in the past and eventually just went right back to the old numbering. It created quite a mess for me when it came to trying to figure out things with Amazing Spider-man.

As much as I hate reboots, I think it's the only cure for the cluster- that is Marvel continuity right now. It's my understanding that it's working out pretty well for DC.

At first it was, which was expected. Anytime you do a reboot or a relaunch, people get excited and try out the new books, resulting in higher sales. But eventually the titles have to have substance and actually be good or the sales go down to where they were before. DC has already cancelled 6 books and more are rumored to be getting cut too. I'm sure books like the JLA, Superman and Batman will continue to have good sales, but the fringe books will falter.

[xodacia81]

I think Marvel was waiting to see how DC's relaunch panned out. If it's successful, then I could see them doing it. However, since 6 of their books have already been cancelled and more are rumored to be as well, I think you may see Marvel shying away from a relaunch. I think what DC did will end up being a terrible move.
Anything Jim Lee has editorial input in will ultimately fail. I'm on record as saying last year that this relaunch will be a failure and DC will announce that this "new" relaunch was just another DC Earth universe like Earth 3 or something and they will go back to the line prior to the relaunch and say it's the Earth "Prime".

There've always been hints that something bigger is happening. As for the books being given the axe...DC planned it that way. They want to keep "52" books on the market and they had the "second wave" ready to go at the time the first "dead" titles were finished. As far as the Jim Lee comment...JLA has been a huge success and pretty much every store has said that DC's sales are "similar" to what was going on during the 90s bubble. That's not a good thing, if it's a bubble, but imagine a current market version of that, and you've got DC right now.

Either way, it doesn't matter to me much as the books I'm the most interested in-the GL family of books-all take place in what appears to be "original" continuity. (barring one little potential glitch)

Aquaman, Flash, JLA? All excellent titles right now. I don't think Ivan Reis has ever done work like he's doing with Arthur Curry and company, and Manapul is either going to become THE Flash creator of this era or a bane to the lives of Flash fans everywhere. Johns continues to weave an epic with GL and JLA. Sorry, but I'm enjoying it.

Again, though...I called Flashpoint before it happened and I've said since it was wrapping up...I don't for a minute think that all these titles are in a single universe. This is DC, the king of the Multiverse. The ORIGINAL multiverse. The good thing is that there are no huge "every title is affected" crossovers currently slated for this year.

Let Marvel have their movies. Let them kill off and bring back The Human Torch a dozen times. I don't think what DC did was terrible, at all. I think it was brilliant from a business end of things, and I believe that creatively it has worked more than not. Of course, I'm somebody that was looking for a fresh start for some characters.

That's the big thing, though. Characters, and the current DC universe, is about the characters. Aquaman is about Arthur, Mera and those around them. The Flash, for the first time since Waid was working on the stories of Wally West, has the Flash as the central character, and for once, Barry isn't a total wet blanket. JLA is fun with just the right sinister shadowy edges, and the GL books continue to expand the characters. Sinestro has never gotten this deep a look before.

Make mine DC...(until Valiant demands all my cash )

[Draco]

The New DC has been a complete success across the board for everyone, nothing has 100% success rate sure, but this is close as it gets.

Still can't believe that people think the re launch is not working? Where are people getting this information from? What isn't working and what do they see going wrong.
I guess as im being pro active and have a new store, i'm creating new customers each week and watching the numbers grow on the New DC, not shrink after 3 to 6 issues, plus we are about to get Tpbs which will help even more. How are they going to suddenly make this all turn to crap?

DC's new output as mentioned above was intended to have 52 titles on the go, so it was a no brainer that some wouldn't make the cut, but i was impressed that they tried quite a few titles, some of which hadn't been seen for twenty plus years.

Marvel have seen what they did and learned from the process, which means they can take that blue print and improve on it, though how, when or if they do is probably still to be fully decided at a higher level, but I still say there is no way they wont do something similar

[xodacia81]

The New DC has been a complete success across the board for everyone, nothing has 100% success rate sure, but this is close as it gets.

Still can't believe that people think the re launch is not working? Where are people getting this information from? What isn't working and what do they see going wrong.
I guess as im being pro active and have a new store, i'm creating new customers each week and watching the numbers grow on the New DC, not shrink after 3 to 6 issues, plus we are about to get Tpbs which will help even more. How are they going to suddenly make this all turn to crap?

DC's new output as mentioned above was intended to have 52 titles on the go, so it was a no brainer that some wouldn't make the cut, but i was impressed that they tried quite a few titles, some of which hadn't been seen for twenty plus years.

Marvel have seen what they did and learned from the process, which means they can take that blue print and improve on it, though how, when or if they do is probably still to be fully decided at a higher level, but I still say there is no way they wont do something similar

I think they get it from Fox News. Ok, ok. Not the place for politics. So...

I think they get it from the same place that: tells people Valiant and Image combined to kill the market in the 90's, that VEI "stole" the properties and is already shipping late (true story! the guy handling the gaming side of a LCS said that!) and because people are looking are a very very very very small percentage of the readership, seeing a few books getting waxed and assuming it's another "Implosion" instead of the giant success it is. I haven't seen books sell out like this and go up in price this quickly since the 90's. A complete run of any of the current books is going to cost you between 15-40% above cover.

I'd say DC is very pleased and Marvel could be very worried. Mostly, I think people want to complain. If you say something long enough, eventually if it comes true, you look like a prophet. If you have an axe to grind or want to join what you think is popular resistance, then you find claims like this. But, I'll say this: I've been to half a dozen stores and spoken to owners and readers not just here but around the country and they all think pretty highly of the reboot. Except for Hawk & Dove. Nobody enjoys THAT, apparently.

[Lightning Strike]

The New DC has been a complete success across the board for everyone, nothing has 100% success rate sure, but this is close as it gets.

Still can't believe that people think the re launch is not working? Where are people getting this information from? What isn't working and what do they see going wrong.

All the books I liked prior to the relaunch stink now, except for Nightwing. So in my eyes, it's a failure. To each his own. If you guys are enjoying the new books, I'm happy for you. But DC won't get anymore of my money. The Flash with Wally and Johns writing it was fantastic. Now with Barry and Manapul's awful art, it stinks. What Johns did for GL prior was awesome, then he goes and tears it all down. Hal's now Sinestro's little lap dog? Really? No thanks.

[Lightning Strike]

The New DC has been a complete success across the board for everyone, nothing has 100% success rate sure, but this is close as it gets.

Still can't believe that people think the re launch is not working? Where are people getting this information from? What isn't working and what do they see going wrong.
I guess as im being pro active and have a new store, i'm creating new customers each week and watching the numbers grow on the New DC, not shrink after 3 to 6 issues, plus we are about to get Tpbs which will help even more. How are they going to suddenly make this all turn to crap?

DC's new output as mentioned above was intended to have 52 titles on the go, so it was a no brainer that some wouldn't make the cut, but i was impressed that they tried quite a few titles, some of which hadn't been seen for twenty plus years.

Marvel have seen what they did and learned from the process, which means they can take that blue print and improve on it, though how, when or if they do is probably still to be fully decided at a higher level, but I still say there is no way they wont do something similar

If they do, I'll try it out, like I did the DC books, but if it stinks, like DC does now, they won't get any of my money either. I guess I'll just stick to the Indy books I like, like TWD, Invincible, Hellboy, BPRD, Fables, Valiant (hopefully), etc.

[superman-prime]

ya GL went to H@LL

[Draco]

The New DC has been a complete success across the board for everyone, nothing has 100% success rate sure, but this is close as it gets.

Still can't believe that people think the re launch is not working? Where are people getting this information from? What isn't working and what do they see going wrong.
I guess as im being pro active and have a new store, i'm creating new customers each week and watching the numbers grow on the New DC, not shrink after 3 to 6 issues, plus we are about to get Tpbs which will help even more. How are they going to suddenly make this all turn to crap?

DC's new output as mentioned above was intended to have 52 titles on the go, so it was a no brainer that some wouldn't make the cut, but i was impressed that they tried quite a few titles, some of which hadn't been seen for twenty plus years.

Marvel have seen what they did and learned from the process, which means they can take that blue print and improve on it, though how, when or if they do is probably still to be fully decided at a higher level, but I still say there is no way they wont do something similar

I think they get it from Fox News. Ok, ok. Not the place for politics. So...

I think they get it from the same place that: tells people Valiant and Image combined to kill the market in the 90's, that VEI "stole" the properties and is already shipping late (true story! the guy handling the gaming side of a LCS said that!) and because people are looking are a very very very very small percentage of the readership, seeing a few books getting waxed and assuming it's another "Implosion" instead of the giant success it is. I haven't seen books sell out like this and go up in price this quickly since the 90's. A complete run of any of the current books is going to cost you between 15-40% above cover.

I'd say DC is very pleased and Marvel could be very worried. Mostly, I think people want to complain. If you say something long enough, eventually if it comes true, you look like a prophet. If you have an axe to grind or want to join what you think is popular resistance, then you find claims like this. But, I'll say this: I've been to half a dozen stores and spoken to owners and readers not just here but around the country and they all think pretty highly of the reboot. Except for Hawk & Dove. Nobody enjoys THAT, apparently.

Same here, also with the new printings on books coming quite fast, it keeps the speculator market under control, but ones who want 1st prints can still do that without paying $20+ across the board.

I here good all over, from quality to sales up, up, up and still climbing.
Nothing better from a retail point of view than new customers coming in and being able to offer them 50 new titles that you can get almost all of at the drop of a hat

I understand that some folks are turned off, for all manner of reasons, but that's the revolving door that is new comic product, so from any individual stance that simply isn't into the direction and scripts etc fair enough, but im talking overall success, which it is in every sense of the word.

[xodacia81]

ya GL went to H@LL

The movie was bad but the books have been pretty damn good. What's your real complaint? I admit it got a little slow for an issue there just before War of the GL's, but starting with that...wow.

[superman-prime]

war of the gl was great then reboot ugg