I just read through the new Hawkeye series and I have to agree its just a ton of fun. I jumped in on Iron Man but I'm not totally sold on the new direction; particularly when it comes to the suit.
Tony Stark as Iron man has one of the most unpredictable jobs on the planet. Why would he sacrifice a "ready for everything" armor configuration for modular mission specific designs that can provide some tactical boosts in certain situations while leaving him with massive vulnerabilities to the unexpected. I can see how this can open up possibilities story wise; avoiding the superman dilemma where Iron Man is constantly unstoppable but it also serves to make Stark look like an idiot.
Originally posted by John OrquiolaSince I was a kid, I've always preferred the DC Universe to Marvel. I liked Marvel just fine, but it wasn't my Universe. The one where Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the Justice League was.
Having said that, comparing and contrasting The New 52's launch 15 months ago to the Marvel NOW output I've read, Marvel's stuff was overall way, way better.
Avengers, Uncanny Avengers, Indestructible Hulk, FF, Thor, Iron Man - I thought these were all by and large great books. Beautifully written and drawn overall. Approaching Marvel NOW with the mindset of a "new" reader, albeit one with decades of familiarity and who spent the summer reading Avengers vs. X-Men, their books felt accessible and exciting. Marvel was also very canny in making their core characters feel as much like the Avengers movie characters as possible. Their books feel visually innovative and cutting edge.
The books I've been checking out that aren't necessarily "Marvel NOW", like Captain Marvel and Hawkeye are awesome as well. I just got into Hawkeye and it's great. I'm also trying to get caught up on Rick Remender's Uncanny X-Force, which is awesome.
This is not to say the great books DC is putting out, like Batman, aren't still great. Plus Image is having an amazing resurgence with their books. I particularly love The Manhattan Projects and I like Saga too. I hear great things about Valiant as well, but there's only so much one can read. Overall, this is the best year for comics I can remember since the early 90's boom period.
(edited by John Orquiola on 8.12.12 1127)
I haven't exactly been in love with either publisher's new directions. DC is easily the loser as far as I'm concerned. I'm down to 4 DC books now (Birds of Prey, World's Finest, Demon Knights, and Batman Beyond), only two of which are really "New 52" books. The others could have easily been published without the reboot. The New 52 just isn't offering me what I want in my comics. The Marvel NOW stuff is honestly kind of a wash as far as I'm concerned. There are still creators I like writing books, but there are still creators I don't like putting stuff out, and the only thing that's changed is who's writing what. I'm out on X-Men thanks to Bendis, but now I'm reading Avengers because he's stepped away from it. So it's a push. Some of the stuff (Hawkeye) is phenomenal, but some of it (Deadpool) is going to have me dropping it sooner rather than later. There were more books on the shelf that were to my tastes just a few years ago.
Looking ahead to 2013, I'm making some decisions regarding comics buying and based on where I'm at with DC and what I've seen from Marvel NOW so far, I'm probably dropping 90% of The New 52 books I buy to make financial room for Marvel.
I would say I'm keeping:
Batman Batwoman World's Finest Supergirl Wonder Woman
Those are the books I really enjoy. (DC's chick books, upon further inspection). When Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire leave Swamp Thing and Animal Man, so will I. Everything else I can do without after 17-19 issues. It was a good two years but I can follow along with the trades down the line unless phenomenal stuff starts happening. I'll check out Jeff Lemire's Green Arrow when it launches, but I more than get my Oliver Queen fix from Arrow on TV every week.
Marvel NOW, I'm in for:
Avengers Hawkeye Uncanny Avengers (for now) Indestructible Hulk Thor God of Thunder All-New X-Men (for now) Superior Spider-Man, at least to see how it is at launch.
I'm not that into the new Iron Man and Captain America titles, and I can get my fix of both on Avengers.
Plus The Manhattan Projects from Image, which I'm addicted to.
She's saying it's silly to pass judgement on a storyline that's only been going for an issue. Especially in these "writing for the trade" times.
Newuniversal wasn't that great.
"Tattoos are the mullets of the aughts." - Mike Naimark
"Don't stop after beating the swords into ploughshares, don't stop! Go on beating and make musical instruments out of them. Whoever wants to make war again will have to turn them into ploughshares first" - Yehuda Amichai
Originally posted by CerebusAs for Marvel Now... worst relaunch project I've seen in a long time. Every single book is late. Terrible.
Are the books late? Uncanny Avengers and the all female X-Men are delayed, I know that. But I feel like books are cranking out faster than ever with the bi-weekly schedule many titles are on.
Well, you can't please everyone. All I know is this is the most Marvel I've read since the early 90s and I've never liked the Marvel Universe more than I do right now.
(edited by John Orquiola on 13.3.13 0627) "Cody, I mustache you a question." - The Miz
The only thing that I would complain about when it comes to the timing of the books is that they can't give me Hawkeye every single week. I would even settle for twice monthly...I just want more!