The dust has settled and the heroes of the Marvel Universe have taken a breather from fighting each other. Spider-Man is still living in an altered reality where he never married the love of his life. Cyclops is a power crazed lunatic who killed Professor X for no reason. Oh... and what the hell happened to all the villains? Yes true believers the Marvel Universe is fucked. The majority of the books have been stale for years and the upcoming relaunch, Marvel NOW! does not look that promising.
What is a loyal fan to do? The real answer is to stop buying these books but that isn't a very sexy solution. Complaining is fun but I'm a firm believer in the power of constructive criticism. There won't be any cries of how bad the Uncanny Avengers lineup sucks or what a stupid idea it is to time warp the 1960's X-Men lineup to current day. I'll only be offering up my suggestions as a life long fan and maybe, just maybe I can catch an ear or two at The House of Ideas.
5. Bring back the villains
Starting with The House of M and going through to the current AVX there has been one constant in each major crossover. Hero on hero violence. It was fun for the Civil War where it actually made some sense. However this idea has gotten more played out with each take.
The solution is a pretty easy one. Start writing stories featuring bad guys in the role of... the bad guys. It's not like there is a lack of quality villains. Lets see Doctor Doom take on these new Uncanny Avengers. Maybe Kang can drop in from the future with some of that dystopian stuff I like. Is the Red Skull available for some mischief? These dudes have been sitting on the sidelines for a few years so I'm sure they are eager to get into some gangsta shit!
4. Shake up the creative teams
I've already been beaten to the punch on this one. The biggest shake up from Marvel NOW! is the changing of creative teams. While I loved what Brian Michael Bendis did in elevating the Avengers over the past decade it was time for a change. Fresh voices in new places will do the overall Marvel Universe a world of good. Rick Remender finally getting a shot on a flagship title is long overdue. His work on Uncanny X-Force was solid and Uncanny Avengers will feature household names. He did wonders with the likes of Psylocke and Fantomex. Hell, I even liked how he wrote Deadpool! I'm sure he'll do just fine with Captain America and Thor.
I even would take this idea one step further by pulling unknown creators from the indie ranks. A completely different perspective would be a welcome change up.
3. Less is more
Summer crossover break story telling momentum. I'm not saying get rid of them completely. A streamlined approach would be welcome. I'd take a page from what DC is currently doing with its Batman titles or how the X-titles of the 90's handled it. Keep it organic and contained to 3 or 4 books. To read the entire story of the current Avengers vs X-Men you would have had to buy over 40 books. That's entirely to many.
Don't act so innocent DC, it wasn't that long ago that you had us buying one shitty book per week for an entire year.
2. Stop jerking around Peter Parker
Why cancel an iconic title like The Amazing Spider-Man? So you can roll out some new title like the Superior Spider-Man or The Uncanny Spider-Man. Stop it Marvel, you are being silly now.
Let's get Spider-Man back to where he was before Brand New Day. In my humble opinion Peter Parker was never in a better hands then when J. Michael Straczynski was at the controls. He advanced the story of Spider-Man in a bold and different direction while introducing new villains to his rouges gallery. All the while never losing sight of the core of what makes this character tick. My first order of business would be undoing that deal Pete made with Mephisto and get him back to teaching science at his old high school.
Putting top talent on the top books is also a solid policy. I'd get the wonderfully talented Sara Pichelli to provide pencils. Her work on Ultimate Spider-Man and Spider-Men showcases that she is fluent in web-slinging. Zeb Wells has proved over the past year that he knows Spidey as well as anyone working in comics. Yes , even as well as Bendis. He is the clear choice to author my version of The Amazing Spider-Man.
1. More diverse titles
A man can't live only on a steady diet of capes and tights. As much as I love my super heroes the books that I find the most enjoyment in are the strange offerings from DC's Vertigo imprint. It pains me that Marvel never truly attempted to expand it's horizons and offer it's fans stories that simply won't fit in the 616.
It would take a stable of young and unproven creators but I think it is something that is necessary for Marvel to compete creatively with The Distinguished Competition. Unfortunately for me until said Competition starts winning the battle on the sales chart all unsatisfied fans like myself can do is hope that the promise for change happens NOW! -Soss
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