All New! Same Old!

We have been living in the age of Marvel Now! for almost two years now. On the whole, Marvel Now! has been pretty successful. There have been some great books come out under the Marvel Now! banner. Most notably those have been Thor: God of Thunder, Indestructible Hulk, and Iron Man. These titles have changed the status-quo for the characters, and have been very entertaining comic books.

Marvel Now All NewWe have been living in the age of Marvel Now! for almost two years now.  On the whole, Marvel Now! has been pretty successful.  There have been some great books come out under the Marvel Now! banner.  Most notably those have been Thor: God of Thunder, Indestructible Hulk, and Iron Man.  These titles have changed the status-quo for the characters, and have been very entertaining comic books.

Marvel Now

“Wave 1” of Marvel Now! led to “Wave 2″which included Superior Spider-Man Team Up, Superior Foes of Spider-Man and Mighty Avengers.  Which it is still too early to tell if these are successes or merely forgettable comic books.

But get ready for All New Marvel Now!  The third wave.  Some of the titles included are All New Captain America, All New Ghost Rider and All New X-Factor.  Also we are getting the Marvel Now! treatment to Punisher, Black Widow, Captain Marvel (which was already a pre-Marvel Now! title), Silver Surfer and Loki: Agent of Asgard.

This “All-New” treatment is going to get the “Same-Old” debate, why use gimmicks to sell comics?

Does slapping an “All New” tag on a title entice people to throw money at a title they weren’t buying before?

How long before “embossed hologram covers with lights and sounds”?

Why Marvel?  Why?

I really bought in to Marvel Now!  There were some great comics coming out during this new “re-imagining” of comics.  Marvel Now! wasn’t just a kitschy catchphrase.  It was a new philosophy (which should have been the core of producing comics).  Telling riveting stories with amazing artwork.  It’s not that hard to figure out, but it is easy to stray from that basic principle.

Now throwing a meaningless “All-New” label on the comic makes it cheap and degrading.  Essentially isn’t every comic book story “new”?

It’s not like we’re reading the same stuff week after week (even though some writers make it feel that way).  “All-New” is just a gimmick, and not a very innovative one at that.  I can understand why Marvel is doing it.  They have to increase sales some how, but I just wish it didn’t feel like they were using tactics from the “Used Car Salesman Handbook”.

All New X-Men issue 7 cover by Stuart Immonen
All New X-Men issue 7 cover by Stuart Immonen

Also… when does “All-New” become the “Same-Old”?

Eventually using the tagline gets old.  Will “All New Captain America” or “All New X-Factor” still be called “All New” a year from now?

“All New X-men” was clever for what the comic is.  The original X-Men come to the future/present Marvel Universe.  They haven’t developed their powers yet.  They haven’t experienced what the current X-Men have in their lifetimes, so essentially these X-Men are new.  All new, in fact.

But “All New” Captain America doesn’t make sense.  It’s the same old Steve Rogers.  The same good ol’ Captain America.  If Bucky or Falcon or… Punisher even – became Captain America, I can understand calling the title “All-New”.  But it doesn’t make sense.  It just seems like Marvel is grasping at straws when they didn’t have to.

What’s their next gimmick?

Villains month?

Ed Campbell
Ed Campbell

Ed Campbell is a collector of comics and action figures, primarily G.I. Joe. He is also a Cosplayer with Thor and Captain America as just a few of the characters in his arsenal. When not fulfilling his Comic Book Daily duties, he's "working for a living", volunteering his time for his local Fall Fair, and spending as much time with his family as possible. Use the links below to get in contact with him.

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John c
John c
10 years ago

Agreed. Gimmick. 100 % savage wolverine is starting again. Argh. Stick with a artist and writer , once u start to like it they change. They are riding on the idea that collectors still believe #1s are worth something even the variants plummet in pricing. Marvel is loosing me for reading soooooo close to dropping all marvel titles. All hail image comics

Jason Loo (@Rebel_Loo)
10 years ago

Sure, that tag is overused on titles like Captain America, but it kinda works with the “All-New” Ms. Marvel, repackaged X-Factor, and maybe even the Silver Surfer since we haven’t seen him for a while. I do think they should drop the “All-New” tagline roughly 6 months into the title.

Tom Berry
Tom Berry
10 years ago

You nailed it,Ed. Don’t need the “All New”…just need the “Same Old” done with good art and writing.