As we reported last week, the comics press had begun to jangle its collective keys at the thought of a Marvel reboot.
Today, ahead of next week’s San Diego Comic-Con and as Amazing Spider-Man relaunches its biggest franchise in the cinema, the House of Ideas confirmed that it would be altering its superhero line from this October with an event dubbed Marvel NOW! Still no justification for Namor's foot wings though.
In an article, printed on paper and at a noticeable distance from the Internet, in the Comic-Con edition of Entertainment Weekly - seriously bro, it’s not like there’s a specialist online press or anything - Marvel spilled the beans and teased you all with the promo image from the pencil of Joe Quesada that's proudly posted above. Teased you they did, and the announcement seems to have cracked the Internet in half as per usual.
So, to ask the question everyone has been mulling ad infinitum: is this a New-52-esque revamp that shatters the Marvel universe that's persisted for decades? No, they’re not going there. While Entertainment Weekly commented that NOW! would “radically alter the Marvel universe as you know it”, Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso said - and you can hold him to this - “This ain’t no reboot, it’s a new beginning!” Yay! We don’t know what that means!
NOW! has been announced as a way of easing new readers into comics, because apparently kids would catch leprosy if they bought cheap back-issues. Beginning in October Marvel will start to publish at least one new series every week until February 2013. Of those series, just three new ongoings with rockstar-riding-on-top-of-a-cop-car creative teams have been confirmed so far:
Uncanny Avengers
Written by high-concept deity Rick Remender and begat by the hand of John ‘Joss and I collab’d before Avengers’ Cassaday, the first series out of the gate is an original-Odd-Couple scenario. Pushing the remaining members of the Avengers and X-Men teams together this October after AvX wraps up, expect fireworks - and maybe even a little romance.
All-New X-Men
All five original founding X-Men will be brought forward in time to the present day Marvel universe this November by the pairing of Brian Bendis and everyone’s third favourite Canadian, after Wolverine and bacon, Stuart Immonen. In Entertainment Weekly's interview Bendis went as far as to describe the new series as “like Pleasantville”. Oh yeah, and 616 Jean Grey is back once again like a renegade master. Cyke!
Avengers
Yet more Avengers, lest ye be struck sightless by lack of Vitamin A. Cosmic-level threats and standalone stories are the order of the day for Jolly Jonathan Hickman and Jazzy Jerome Opeňa in a biweekly series launching this December. Apparently there’ll be a cast of around 18 Avengers, for some arbitrary reason we’re not yet privy to. Roll call!
You probably have a lot of questions. For example: "Is that the new stealth armour or is Rhodey Iron Man again?", “Why is the Hulk wearing armour like a wuss and has a floating head for a keychain?” or “Why does Cyclops’ face look like an Xbox that died and went to lobster hell?” Rest assured that all of these will be answered in time, True Believer.
Oh well, at least it wasn’t Heroes Reborn! Let us know what you think in the comments, and don’t be afraid to unleash your primal scream therapy ramblings or deep intellectual musings, contemplated whilst wearing your smoking jacket and ensconced in the study.
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