Avengers NOW! and Changes to Big 3
So Marvel Comics has been in the news lately. First came an announcement on The View of a woman replacing Thor, after he’s deemed unworthy to wield Mjolnir. Next was CCO Joe Quesada appearing on The Colbert Report to announce that The Falcon would be replacing Steve Rogers as Captain America. Finally, shortly after that we learned that Iron Man will be getting a new look and attitude.
This is all leading up to a new initiative called Avengers NOW! with more new #1’s and roster/creative changes likely to be announced at next week’s San Diego Comic-Con. Marvel seems to be making these moves to garner media attention, while also showing diversity amongst more of their high-profile projects. Whether you are for or against the moves, we all know that the original characters will return at some point. Thor has been replaced before by Thunderstrike, and Captain America has had numerous replacements, from his former sidekick Bucky Barnes (Winter Soldier) to the very first African-American to hold the shield, Isaiah Bradley.
Iconic heroes that have been around for over 50 years will never PERMANENTLY change. Tweaks and additions will be made to their history as different creators take over. But each generation of new readers will have one thing in common: the OG heroes will encompass over 95% of their reading lives. No matter how much us older readers may want changes to be permanent, the publisher will always revert back to the originals. I guess I have learned to embrace non-permanent changes in my books. At least this way we get new stories instead of recycled ones (even if they are recycling the ‘replacement’ gimmick).
My rule of thumb is to judge each story for what it is individually and make a decision off of that. I’ve learned its dangerous to make an assumption off of a press release or an image.
Some changes can bring about exciting new stories. For example, Superior Spider-Man was like a breath of fresh air to the Spider-Man franchise. I knew that Peter Parker would return some day. But in the meantime, I enjoyed the crazy Doc Ock stories.
With San Diego Comic-Con on the horizon, we should find out more news regarding Thor, All-New Captain America, and Superior Iron Man. Make sure to let us know what your initial reactions are in the Comment section below, and tune into tonight’s #ComicBookChronicles where we’ll discuss all this breaking news.
Timdogg
#ComicBookChronicles @CBChron founder. Editor-in-Chief of @thekliqnation. Comic book reviewer, podcaster #RABBLERABBLE
