Support NeoGAF

[WanderingWind]

DC and Marvel both know the problem, but both are too afraid to tackle it.

They need to nuke everything - EVERYTHING - from orbit and start from scratch. Start an entirely new line of books, with original characters. For obvious reasons, it'll never happen, but they both know they've pretty much tapped out the characters they have. Which is why every few years there is some half-assed attempt to reboot everything or CHANGE EVERYTHING.

Meh.

 

[bathala]

looking forward to how they resurrect Jean

resets the relationship with Scott and Logan. Time to see Twilight on X-men... the real Team Scott vs Team Logan

 

[Moggelicious]

looking forward to how they resurrect Jean

resets the relationship with Scott and Logan. Time to see Twilight on X-men... the real Team Scott vs Team Logan

lol!

I think that Rachel will come back from space to be the phoenix a bit more. But Jean as a character would be nice to see again, how many years has it been since the last ressurection?

 

[WrenchNinja]

lol!

I think that Rachel will come back from space to be the phoenix a bit more. But Jean as a character would be nice to see again, how many years has it been since the last ressurection?

Endsong was back in 2005, so it's been 6 years.

 

[Patryn]

People keep saying that this is a reboot, but I really doubt it. I have little doubt that it's actually going to be Fantastic Four #600 in November. The whole "FF" thing was just a story, in the same way that Age of Apocalypse was a story for the X-Men that happened to have all the titles replaced for a short while.

 

[Escape Goat]

where is it said they are rebooting the main Marvel line? They're just renumbering them right?

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

People keep saying that this is a reboot, but I really doubt it. I have little doubt that it's actually going to be Fantastic Four #600 in November. The whole "FF" thing was just a story, in the same way that Age of Apocalypse was a story for the X-Men that happened to have all the titles replaced for a short while.

It's not even close to a reboot. But it's fun to watch.

 

[RSTEIN]

DC and Marvel both know the problem, but both are too afraid to tackle it.

They need to nuke everything - EVERYTHING - from orbit and start from scratch. Start an entirely new line of books, with original characters. For obvious reasons, it'll never happen, but they both know they've pretty much tapped out the characters they have. Which is why every few years there is some half-assed attempt to reboot everything or CHANGE EVERYTHING.

Meh.

Yes and no. The characters themselves HAVE to stay. They are iconic. Spider-Man? Wolverine? Avengers? Iron Man? Cap? You can't top these characters... they are priceless and woven into our cultural fabric.

There are problems, sure. Confusion and complexity is a big problem. Because they've been around for so long and have been handled by many editors and writers, the stories and histories of the various characters/teams are too complicated for all but the most hardcore fans. Time travel, deaths, reincarnations, the sliding time scale, etc., all create confusion. One literally needs a wiki or encyclopedia at their side to get up to speed. I'm not sure what should be done about this (if anything).

The other issue is the medium itself. If you want to grow the audience, comic books must go digital. I don't have stats but I cannot see a teenager or adult waking up and saying, "hey, I'm going to check out the comic book store for the first time in my life today and start reading these things!" Comic stores are intimidating to new readers. Collecting and buying physical books is a huge undertaking. They must go completely digital and be instantly accessible with reasonable pricing.

 

[Hot Coldman]

Eh, maybe they'll put She-Hulk back in the F4, and keep Johnny dead

Spoiler

for now.

Or the robot from the old Human Torch-less cartoon, haha

 

[ilMikhail]

Great ¡¡¡ hope Spiderman left Future Fundation ............

I always thought it was a pathetic idea just for sell the FF Comics

 

[Jamesfrom818]

Miles Morales is getting axed already?

 

[Hex]

Eh, maybe they'll put She-Hulk back in the F4, and keep Johnny dead

Spoiler

for now.

Or the robot from the old Human Torch-less cartoon, haha

The return of Toro

 

[Count Dookkake]

2's company.

3's a crowd.

4's kin.

 

[Nix]

Yes and no. The characters themselves HAVE to stay. They are iconic. Spider-Man? Wolverine? Avengers? Iron Man? Cap? You can't top these characters... they are priceless and woven into our cultural fabric.

Spider-Woman. Ah? Ah? Wait, they already...forget it.

I know about original characters, but what they really need to do is create a fucking tier chart, for what characters can and cannot do, and give them to all the writers. There has to be a fucking limit somewhere, and god damn, if now isn't a good time to set one.

Oh, and just for my satisfaction, put Hulk in Tier B. Smug bastard.

 

[Spacebar]

Yes and no. The characters themselves HAVE to stay. They are iconic. Spider-Man? Wolverine? Avengers? Iron Man? Cap? You can't top these characters... they are priceless and woven into our cultural fabric.

There are problems, sure. Confusion and complexity is a big problem. Because they've been around for so long and have been handled by many editors and writers, the stories and histories of the various characters/teams are too complicated for all but the most hardcore fans. Time travel, deaths, reincarnations, the sliding time scale, etc., all create confusion. One literally needs a wiki or encyclopedia at their side to get up to speed. I'm not sure what should be done about this (if anything).

The other issue is the medium itself. If you want to grow the audience, comic books must go digital. I don't have stats but I cannot see a teenager or adult waking up and saying, "hey, I'm going to check out the comic book store for the first time in my life today and start reading these things!" Comic stores are intimidating to new readers. Collecting and buying physical books is a huge undertaking. They must go completely digital and be instantly accessible with reasonable pricing.

I agree. I gave up last year trying to keep up with comics. Every so often I'll buy a trade. Shit just go too confusing to keep up with.

They need same day digital on ipad, computer, ps3, or whatever else you can put it on at a reasonable price. Allow costumers to preview the first 2-3 pages of comics. Give out a couple of old freebies once in a while. Do a big event exclusive to digital first and release on paper a month later.

It would be awesome to wake up Wednesday morning and see all my comics downloaded and get to read them at lunch during work.

You can also please the paper costumers by making alt covers for people who buy physical copies. I'm not going to go out of my way to go to the comic shop and I'm not going to pay shipping on a comic that should cost almost nothing to ship.

They can keep all the characters, but it would be nice if they tried to make new stuff. Doesn't need to be Marvel or DC universe either. Just something fresh and new would nice. The Oz series done with Scottie Young was pretty cool and I believe they need more stuff like that to reach out to new readers. Even older ones.

 

[Suairyu]

The other issue is the medium itself. If you want to grow the audience, comic books must go digital. I don't have stats but I cannot see a teenager or adult waking up and saying, "hey, I'm going to check out the comic book store for the first time in my life today and start reading these things!" Comic stores are intimidating to new readers. Collecting and buying physical books is a huge undertaking. They must go completely digital and be instantly accessible with reasonable pricing.

This and more focus on trade paperbacks. That's how I read comics, growing up. That's how most of the people I know read them, too.

That's what DC acknowledged as the current generation's largest source of reading comic books with their press release for DC Earth One, with plans to release a new one every six months (lol).

Paying £3 for a flimsy comic that is half ads rather than content is a joke.

Now, the Ultimate universe, on the other hand, could use a lot more consistency than it has. It's so much smaller, and billed as a more grounded alternative, so I can see expecting it there.

It was, until they started introducing everything from the main Marvel universe. Magic and vampires (as awesome as Blade is) should have stayed the fuck out. It was painful reading Ultimate Spider-man when either came up because it really didn't fit tonally. Phoenix being summoned by magic ritual so early on in Ultimate X-men also sucked a fat load.

 

[G-Fex]

And Hollywood's out of ideas? Nah Marvel too.

 

[akira28]

Team Evil Reed!

And Hollywood's out of ideas? Nah Marvel too.

Marvel has an excuse. Hollywood is a small city full of movie studios and fiction writers. No excuse.

 

[RSTEIN]

You can also please the paper costumers by making alt covers for people who buy physical copies. I'm not going to go out of my way to go to the comic shop and I'm not going to pay shipping on a comic that should cost almost nothing to ship.

Yes, exactly, and it's already going that way. In fact, the collector market is as strong as ever. Copies of key, 9+ rated CGC slabbed comics such as Amazing Spider-Man #129 (first Punisher), Incredible Hulk #181 (first Wolverine), X-Men #94 (relaunch), New Mutants #98 (first Deadpool), etc., are going for thousands of dollars. They are actively traded on ebay and through comic book stores. Comics still have great collectibility. As comics go digital and hopefully expand their audience, the physical copies of key issues will become even more highly desired.

 

[Tawney Bomb]

Man, it feels like they just ended that series last week, crazy. Wonder if Marvel is going day and date digital too, since they said they'd do it for titles with a good jumping on point.

 

[Zen]

Hm, I was actually planning to read the Future Foundation stuff, but if they go back to the status quo so quickly why bother.

 

[MisterHero]

Gotta build up the market for the upcoming reboot of the FF film franchise

 

[imoTEP12]

That image doesn't mean Johnny is coming back, doesn't even mean that Reed, Sue or Ben will be in this incarnation of the Fantastic Four. Just means that there will be a team called the fantastic four fighting crime once again.

 

[Slayven]

The return of Toro

Toro been back for like 3 years.

 

[Pie and Beans]

not even one full FF arc completed...

comics.

 

[Patryn]

not even one full FF arc completed...

comics.

This has been planned! Just watch: FF was not prematurely cancelled, it was just always designed to run one year, at which point they'd release Fantastic Four #600 and continue on from there.

 

[Slayven]

WHo says Johnny is coming back? They could be bringing back Layja the Laserfist, she was Johnny's wife.

 

[The Technomancer]

So this is all ultimate comics well that isnt that bad I guess. I still hate how shit always gets reset to number 1. Why do this it doesn't change anything and they are always quick to go back to the higher numbers again later on.

I far prefer they do it this way. If you're going to reboot your properties every ten years at least do them all at the same time so that the timelines maintain a semblance of internal consistency.

 

[Spike Spiegel]

Newly released image today...

 

[Blader]

Future Foundation will hit issue #11 in October, and Fantastic Four was canceled with issue 588.

Do the maths.

This.

Come on guys.

 

[Tom_Cody]

Newly released image today...

I haven't been keeping up with the issues, but I have loved the new FF costumes since they were first unveiled.

What a great cover.

 

[HammerOfThor]

Why are people calling this a reboot? Captain America JUST has a #1 a month ago, it surely wasnt a reboot. And the new X-men #1's arent reboots either....

Its just a way to name a new Vol to continue the story.....if anything, its a way to END the previous set of stories.

If it where a reboot, we'd surely know...

 

[Snaku]

Damn do I love the FF costumes. =/

 

[the chris]

I haven't been keeping up with the issues, but I have loved the new FF costumes since they were first unveiled.

What a great cover.

I love the FF costumes too, especially Spider-Man's . They look so sleek and futuristic which I guess is the point.

Why are people calling this a reboot? Captain America JUST has a #1 a month ago, it surely wasnt a reboot. And the new X-men #1's arent reboots either....

Its just a way to name a new Vol to continue the story.....if anything, its a way to END the previous set of stories.

If it where a reboot, we'd surely know...

I think the Captain America number one is just a way for people who saw the movie to potentially get into the comics without knowing where to start. Marvel launched "The Mighty Thor" number one when the Thor movie came out in May.

 

[Duress]

Is that new image supposed to be a teaser? I can't get anything out of it.

 

[Garryk]

Is that new image supposed to be a teaser? I can't get anything out of it.

Marvel released an image that had the Fantastic Four logo on it yesterday and they released this image today that has 4 characters on it. My guess is that they are saying this is the new Fantastic Four or that FF will continue with a new F4 launching in November alongside it.

 

[SpiderJerusalem]

FF has been awesome for a while.

 

[Spike Spiegel]

Marvel released an image that had the Fantastic Four logo on it yesterday and they released this image today that has 4 characters on it. My guess is that they are saying this is the new Fantastic Four or that FF will continue with a new F4 launching in November alongside it.

That would be my guess as well. We just got a new 'Captain America' #1, but they've also retitled the old series to 'Captain America & Bucky' and both are being written by Brubaker. I can see Hickman helming both 'FF' and 'Fantastic Four' with #600 going forward.

 

[Slayven]

It is obvious FF #1 is about Spiderman teaching the rest of the FF his Spiderfist fighting style he developed with Shang-Chi.

 

[kai3345]

Newly released image today...

Damn I need to read Fantastic Four. This looks sick.

 

[imoTEP12]

I'm definitely looking forward to what Hickman has in store for us.

 

[Jamesfrom818]

I'm definitely looking forward to what Hickman has in store for us.

Pete sleeps with Sue.

 

[Ezduo]

 

[the chris]

http://i51.tinypic.com/2cibij7.jpg

I want to give Hickman the benefit of the doubt, but I hope they aren't getting rid of the Future Foundation so fast. I really like the concept.

 

[bangai-o]

i havent read Fantastic Four since Jim Lee relaunched it back in 02-ish. If this book keeps the cool white costumes than i might be interested.

edit

that said, i never thought The Thing is all that great. I get that he is their "tank" and every team needs a tank, but compared to other tanks in the marvel universe he seems so weak.

 

[krypt0nian]

So Hickman writes a renumbered Fantastic Four and a new FF book is launched?

If true I'm all in! I would kill for a cerebral FF and a more superhero focused Fantastic Four!

Stupid. It figures that they would introduce something like the Future Foundation and then shit all over it to bring Johnny back. Bleh.

Who is shitting on it? Stop jumping to negative conclusions. God damn the internet has people so fucked.

 

[mjc]

Stupid. It figures that they would introduce something like the Future Foundation and then shit all over it to bring Johnny back. Bleh.

 

[The Take Out Bandit]

Stupid. It figures that they would introduce something like the Future Foundation and then shit all over it to bring Johnny back. Bleh.

Warner Bros./Disney comics bro!

It will never get better for you.

 

[LiveFromKyoto]

DC and Marvel both know the problem, but both are too afraid to tackle it.

They need to nuke everything - EVERYTHING - from orbit and start from scratch. Start an entirely new line of books, with original characters. For obvious reasons, it'll never happen, but they both know they've pretty much tapped out the characters they have. Which is why every few years there is some half-assed attempt to reboot everything or CHANGE EVERYTHING.

Meh.

Yeah hey, Batman is what's holding DC back.

I don't think you understand what an IP company is. You realize they're owned by Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse respectively, right?

 

[WanderingWind]

Yeah hey, Batman is what's holding DC back.

I don't think you understand what an IP company is. You realize they're owned by Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse respectively, right?

Good lord. You're the second person to claim that I "don't understand" how DC and Marvel works. Yes, I get that this is how they do things. That's generally supposed to be understood when you say "they ought to change everything."

I even carefully pointed out that it'll never happen for obvious reasons (money, entrenched brands, etc) but apparently this was ignored? Why?

It would be an interesting idea. That's all. I'm not saying it is likely, possible or even really feasible.

...and really, when talking about story ideas, who cares who owns who?