The Come Down : Marvel Now

It's a sad sign when it has taken me weeks to get motivated to finish this blog entry because I have been so bored with Marvel's output lately, as you will read this was started waaaay back before issue 700. I will catch up and give my thoughts on Indestructible Hulk. But the the bottom line , is Marvel Now has lost all momentum and it feels like we are back to the status quo before it's finished. As Dr Horrible would say
" the status isnt quo anymore."

We are only in the very beginning of this Marvel Now and starting to see the come down as the hype once again wears thin, Marvel though will see this as a success however since it caused a spike in sales.Yet Dan Slott's plotting of the Amazing Spiderman run which will lead into the new Superior Spider man is so bad he has begun to get death threats. Spider man issue 700 leaked and the big spoiler of Dr. octopus and Peter Parker doing a freak Friday body switch pretty much outraged message boards,I don't think I read anyone thinking t was a good idea this continuing marvels legacy of disrespect towards their tent pole character in line with One More Day and the Clone Saga debacle.

Speaking of disrespecting Spider-Man Jaime Foxx, who\os being mis cast as Electro, claims Electro is now going to start off wanting to be Spider-man's side kick then the accident turns him bad sort of thing. The suit will not be green and yellow but black, this should not be surprising as this movie seems intent on getting its colors wrong.

The spider man thing is a symptom of a bigger problem. Look at all New X- men which is one of the better books and still falls into a muddled mess with only it's art to save it. I mean has a punch really been thrown in that book? I little in fighting maybe. The Avengers book, this Garden thing is silly, the new Villians don't feel like they even belong in the Marvelverse. The New Avengers illuminati concept is a waste of Dr. strange. The Ff book is like Mad magazine level of dumb and the main Fantastic four book doesn't seem to have much going on either though I like the art.

Sure the art in Thor is great, the story is plodding along and S.H.E.I.L.D is already weighing the Indestructable Hulk down. I do like the fact he is being seen as a weapon of mass destruction and the scope of his power is realized. The red she- hulk's book is decent but looks to be veering off course, while Captain Marvel is just unreadable. Captain America is a mixed bag, it feels like a Superman story line. Iron-man is a mess. So that leaves what book I'm enjoying? Thunderbolts? Is horrible. The number ones of this week don't look too exciting . so that leaves Uncanny Avengers.

The age of Ultron is beginning to get some hype, but there is nothing appealing to it. Already Hank Pym and Vision are said to not have major roles. I like the fact Wasp and Scarlet Witch are back but will they be used to good effect in this. It looks like Black Widow, Black Panther and Red Hulk will have major roles, as will the Superior Spider-man. I guess we will see what they can do leading up to this, but when it's too boring and sad to get a life long reader to talk about it we have a problem.

Superior Spider man # 1

I'm hoping for an arc with Tiger-shark as they have certainly been jumping him with Spidey for some time now. The long and short of it is this is better than recent issues of Amazing Spider- man , but the novelty is going to wear thin in rice issues tops.

The art is a big improvement over Amazing and factors into this book being an easier read. I will admittedly have to give it another glance over as I read it while standing in the store, since I'm boycotting the bastardaAtions of the canon and not buying anymore Spider-man or even my Hulk and Thor books until this is resolved. But I'm not going to just not read them so it's in the store or torrents.

Becuase let's face it when you have been collecting the books for over thirty years it feels like some one , and this some one is marvel has come in on taken a dump right on your collection. Sure they are bagged and I can wash the bags and get the smell out but the books will be soiled in my mind.

So let's get to the story where the meat of matter is Otto vs a knock off version of the Sinister six. he handles them with the Parker's power with a more methodical touch it almost feels like an episode of Fringe I saw where the bad guy of the week had his intelligence enhanced so he could figure out the probility of what could occur and set those events into motion. I think if this story is well written it should be more thunderbolts in tone, as Otto has worked with most of Spider man's rogue gallery at one time.

The Parker ghost in the ether , is well setting up another hoop for the shark .
The avenging spider man book where he teams up with the Xmen will. Eintresting to see how this is handled as any telepath should be able to figure out what's up, file dr. Strange under this category as well. I liked the Avenging Spider-man's man take of this mix up and like it when Otto Spider-man schooled Wolverine, which shows he won't hold back like Peter does. Now does this sell me on the character? No, I think it would have made more sense to besiege Parker with even greater problems that would jade him, maybe even resent the fact with great power comes great responsibility thus making him lash out more. After he is still human and after a while being the friendly neighbor hood spider-man would Snap after years of doing it and give the book a more human touch.

The Otto & M.j thing is slightly creepy, though in the context Mary Jane is none the wiser and I would make Otto more voyeuristic about it. It is being handled as a very awkward plot device, like they knew it would be addressed but hadn't fleshed out which way to go with it. Will be interested to see him vs Kaine, the Scarlet Spider and Venom, who have unique relationships with Parker , I think Norman Osborne would sense something was up as well , not too mention the more intimate character of his Rogues Gallery, the Lizard and Black Cat would both suspect something. We know from soloists he's quitting the Avengers which is a much needed direction to take the character but in the context it's happening...well not sure if it balances out. It's worth checking out for sure but see the novel nature of this wearing off after six issues.