What definitely doesn't help either is that as far as "Big Events" goes, this just really comes off as Cynical Cash Grab. Like, I'm interested in the titles that are spinning out of the event like Occupy Avengers, Champions, and the new She Hulk book. But the event itself it feels like even the creators don't even really give a shit about it.
I actually kind of disagree with this? That last page. He thinks he is doing something really deep and poignant and RELEVANT here (but it feels cheap and easy and boring). No, Marvel thinks they have something enduring here, or they would have just hired a fill-in artist.
But of course with this post you've reminded me that I will keep buying it no matter what because even when events are terrible the books that spin out of them often use them as context in interesting ways. Like a bitch.
It's probably a combination of both. They figured it's time for a big event in order to recapture lost mindshare, get new readers on board for characters like Carol, the Inhumans and the GotG, solidify Iron Man as one of the center characters to follow, and of course, rake in money.
But I don't think they deliberately set out to disappoint - they just do what they think works. This issue reads like a bingo box of (Bendis) story beats. Ultimately they played it safe, and the final product suffers more from it than they probably expected.
Also can we talk about how unbelievably awful and tone deaf the Mighty Captain Marvel #0 solicit is?
Behold the mightiest, fightiest super hero there is! Captain Marvel returns to her helm as Alpha Flight commander with the world cheering her on. Shes the biggest hero in the world but has Captain Marvel become someone Carol Danvers no longer recognizes? New York Times bestselling author Margaret Stohl (Beautiful Creatures, Black Widow: Forever Red) makes her comics series debut in a blockbuster Marvel story decades in the making.
I feel like MCU-only fans will love the character next year, because Feige knows what he's doing. But to comics reading fans she's going to be an unsalvageable heel.
This plus the tryhard "spunky girly asskicking" Hawkeye solicit and the tired IvX solicit that doesn't even attempt to hide what it obviously is, paints a really subpar next 4-6 months at Marvel for me.
As I said though, they still do have enjoyable books, I love Marvel generally and historically, but the overarching plot and Inhumans stuff is just bad.
