Marvel is stuck in the mid-90s again


As a child, I feared for my livelihood. Marvel Comics, the only thing I had to live for as a lad of 10, was going bankrupt. There was talks DC might buy them. There were talks that they’d go under. There were talks talks talks.

Then they just axed a bunch of titles and resorted themselves and came back.

The problem was too many titles, too many gimmicks, too many crossovers and not enough new series that actually sustained themselves with an audience.

Well, with the seeming barrage of all of these things, it shows Marvel never learns. The April solicits just confirm that. Read on …

FANTASTIC FORCE #1
Written by JOE AHEARNE
Pencils by STEVE KURTH
Cover by BRYAN HITCH

FROM THE PAGES OF FANTASTIC FOUR: The Hooded Man! Lightwave! Banner! Natalie X! Psionics! Alex Ultron! They’re the last six superhumans from a devastated future! They’ve rescued the remnants of a devastated humanity by relocating them to an artificial planet in the present day! Now they face their greatest challenge-to create a better utopian society! But there are vast forces from across the Marvel Universe who will move against them-plus a threat from their own era they thought they’d left behind! Plus, 8 pages of Director’s Cut Extras!

Wow. The failed series featuring a grown up Franklin Richards is back and shittier than ever! Awesome! Oh, and there’s a Wolverinething called “Hooded Man.”

I consulted Doom Fritter on this. Among comments about Wolverine’s hodded jacket, he begged the important question: “The first series only lasted 18 issues. Was there really a demand for this?”

The answer is a resounding no. If I read that Force Works is coming back next, I quit.