Snarky Comments About DC and Marvel June Previews

Yes, I know I'm a month late. (At least delays in this activity don't result in spawning.) I had some thoughts on flipping through the June Previews catalog while stuck in the car driving down to Heroes Con. Marvel first.

Avengers Assemble #6

I have just figured it out ' Avengers Academy is this generation's Legion of Super-Heroes. Whole bunch of teen characters, all involved in each other's business, weird powers, watching them grow up, not always enough explanation for new readers of who all these people are' No wonder I like it!

I can't figure out why the Guardians of the Galaxy are getting a big push from Bendis and Marvel, as seen in Avengers Assemble #6. I know there are film rumors, but if I was in charge of green-lighting big-budget superhero movies, I think I might learn SOMEthing from Green Lantern in terms of cosmic = not successful. KC says that the Guardians have a devout fan-following. I guess those are people who like one or more of Bug, the green chick with not enough clothing, or a raccoon with a gun.

So I'm looking at this '50 Years of Spider-Man' page (shown right) with the four variant covers for Amazing Spider-Man, and they're striking graphic images, illustrating some of the best-known stories for the character. I get the origin, Gwen Stacy's death, the Venom possession, but then I hit the last one ' and my only thought is 'Does Spidey being overtaken by all these other characters and versions of himself symbolize Marvel's over-commercialization of the brand and the fracturing of the story into too many titles to follow?'

What is going on with Captain Marvel's hair? (See cover below.) It's got short sides and a bump on the crown of her head ' is it a reworked mullet? Is it meant to evoke some kind of finned helmet?

I will be checking out Hawkeye #1, because they are including Kate Bishop, and I like her, plus Matt Fraction's a good writer. I hope it has a sense of humor and isn't all grim avenging.

Captain Marvel #2 cover

I wonder how the guys at Marvel feel about creating and soliciting Disney Fairies Magazine. I can just see corporate telling them to get in line on the parent company product.

Back-to-back solicits for X-Factor and New Mutants both promise major changes. I would think that most of the Previews audience is old enough to know that there is never real change in superhero comics, and even the illusion of change is looking pretty threadbare these days. Unfortunately, 'another consistent story' isn't anything that can be pushed or plugged in the current environment.

The solicit for Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe seems to radiate a certain contempt for his fans, but I also wonder just what makes him so popular. It is a little disturbing at times.

Shouldn't Dr. Strange be more popular than he is? It seems like a good concept, intriguing personality, nifty powers' I'm curious to see what Greg Pak and Emma Rios do with his Season One volume.

The body language on that Uncanny X-Men collection cover is messed up. They're supposed to be racing into battle, but they're all leaning back, as though they're in an old Memorex commercial.

As for DC, it's awfully difficult to make fun of their listings when I A) no longer read or care about the New 52 and B) they're running descriptions like this one:

Set in a Blade Runner-esque version of Brooklyn' this hip-hop retelling of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet' is a mix of urban drama, samurai action, and classic Shakespearean theater' all written in iambic pentameter!

I do note that as a company battling over creator rights when it comes to their most famous character, they were careful to appropriately attribute Shakespeare's authorship not once, but twice. As though there were some other Romeo and Juliet we might confuse this with.

Also, Vertigo appears to be existing mostly on Fables and continually reselling Sandman, with a new Annotated volume, a new Death hardcover, and a complete series slipcase all new products this month. I was disappointed with the first Annotated volume, given the lack of substantial insight, mislabeled notes, and a general difficulty in reading the black pages, so I won't be continuing, but the other books make sense, since there are always people new to Sandman who want to read it. I hope DC appreciates just how much Neil Gaiman did for them. He created this work over 20 years ago, and they're still finding new ways to make money off of it.