MARVEL OUTLINES 'MARVEL NEXT'

[MattBrady]

Press Release

WHAT’S NEXT FOR MARVEL? THE HOUSE OF IDEAS FOCUSES ON THE NEW GENERATION OF HEROES WITH ‘MARVEL NEXT’!

For Marvel Comics the next few chilly months will be heated up by eight hot new additions to the Marvel Universe.

Some of the first titles launching with the Marvel Next moniker will include YOUNG AVENGERS, X-23, ARANA, LIVEWIRES, RUNAWAYS, and SPELLBINDERS.

Marvel Next will be zeroing in on the heroes of the next generation. Not a new line or imprint, Marvel Next is a collection of titles that will spotlight young characters in fresh and exciting ways. “We recognized that the ideas that make up these characters are really wonderful,” says Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada. “We wanted to give them a unique and powerful focus, showing everyone that these characters and their stories are all about today’s youth and, of course, the future. This is a new breed of heroes.”

Marvel Publisher Dan Buckley is adamant in pointing out that with Marvel Next, fans will still find themselves in the good ol’ Marvel Universe. “Its not a separate universe,” he said. “Marvel Next is a way for us to promote these teen focused stories to their core readership. When you see the Next tag, you’ll know you’re getting some solid teenage hero adventures.”

The series that may well be considered the flagship Marvel Next book, as well as garnering a great deal of interest since it was announced, is YOUNG AVENGERS. “We believe the Young Avengers characters could each carry a book by themselves. They’re that cool!” Quesada remarks. “I think YOUNG AVENGERS is up for a long and heavy-hitting ride.” The book rises like a phoenix out of the ashes of AVENGERSISASSEMBLED and is populated by what seems to be teen versions of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, namely Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and the Hulk. YOUNG AVENGERS writer Allan Heinberg is quick to point out that looks may be deceiving and invites readers to come aboard and be formally introduced to these new heroes. YOUNG AVENGERS is penciled by Jim Cheung and debuts in February.

Besides YOUNG AVENGERS, February also brings us the return of RUNAWAYS (by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona) and the debut of LIVEWIRES (by Adam Warren and Rick Mays). The success of RUNAWAYS told us that this type of storytelling works and was the inspiration for MARVEL NEXT. In this all-new beginning for the popular teens heroes who claim a gaggle of super-villains as their parents, The Runaways are still on the run and their adventures are as unpredictable as they are thrilling. Marvel is proud to include RUNAWAYS under the Marvel Next tag as it is a sterling example of the youth characters we’re proud to spotlight. LIVEWIRES #1 introduces us to “nanobuilt humanform combat mecha” who just happen to look like teenagers! These robo-youths are programmed by a shadowy , quasi-governmental group to seek out others of their kind…and destroy them.

January brings us X-23 (by Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost, and Billy Tan) and ARANA: HEART OF THE SPIDER (by Fiona Avery and Roger Cruz). X-23 features a young girl who has the unique distinction of being a clone of the X-Men’s Wolverine! Created to be the ultimate weapon, X-23 is sent out into the world on dangerous and sometimes impossible missions. ARANA is likewise the story of a young girl, one who seems to emulate a certain web-headed wallcrawler. Arana gets herself in some pretty tight spots for her age, but her incredible powers and spunky attitude always pull her through.

In March readers will be spellbound by SPELLBINDERS (by Mike Carey and Mike Perkins). The new series puts you right in the middle of a struggle between warring cliques of witches in a Salem, MA high school! Our young heroine finds herself wanted by both sides and dangerous magic is the tool of persuasion.

Looking a bit ahead, April will unveil a new issue of AMAZING FANTASY featuring the Scorpion, the character who took Marvel.Com by storm receiving the most votes in an online poll to determine the next star of Amazing Fantasy.

For sneak peeks, updates, and all the news of Marvel Next and the entire Marvel Universe of titles, please visit Marvel.com, True Believers!

[Jason Galvin]

The success of RUNAWAYS told us that this type of storytelling works and was the inspiration for MARVEL NEXT.

The success of Runaways???? A books that was so successful that it had to be cancelled only 18 issues in, then re-launched as a monthly to get interest in to this supposively successful book, THEN changed to only a mini-series.

This is what Marvel calls successful? Runaways was probably Marvel's best new book in the past decade & then can't even get that right.

How about being honest & saying the success of Teen Titans is what caused Marvel to rip-off the concept & try their hand at a teen-oriented superhero comic.

I am so sick of Marvel focusing on cheezy marketing gimmicks rather than original ideas. While DC is kicking all kinds of creative ass, Marvel just wants catchy phrases so they feel they can market there comics better in their little preview book.

[Joe Henderson]

Originally posted by Jason Galvin


The success of Runaways???? A books that was so successful that it had to be cancelled only 18 issues in, then re-launched as a monthly to get interest in to this supposively successful book, THEN changed to only a mini-series.

This is what Marvel calls successful? Runaways was probably Marvel's best new book in the past decade & then can't even get that right.

How about being honest & saying the success of Teen Titans is what caused Marvel to rip-off the concept & try their hand at a teen-oriented superhero comic.

I am so sick of Marvel focusing on cheezy marketing gimmicks rather than original ideas. While DC is kicking all kinds of creative ass, Marvel just wants catchy phrases so they feel they can market there comics better in their little preview book. [/b]

Runaways was a success both critically and in trade paperback sales. And hopefully this jumpstart will make the monthlies a success as well. I hope so--it's my favorite book out there.

[Hannibal King]

I am so sick of Marvel focusing on cheezy marketing gimmicks rather than original ideas. While DC is kicking all kinds of creative ass, Marvel just wants catchy phrases so they feel they can market there comics better in their little preview book.

I have loved Marvel for decades but I am starting to agree with the quote above.

Marvel seems to have this problem of falling back on the tried and true and of rehashing stories that were done twenty years ago by better writers. Even Chris Claremont is redoing the stuff he did with Byrne. Do we really need another Savage Land story with the X-Men??? How come they are the only Marvel characters to ever go there?

I have been a Marvelite all my life, but I long for the days of only a couple of years ago when Jemas was the head honcho. At least they tried stuff, it may not have been the greatest but it was a step in the right direction.

It seems Marvel now depends on variant covers, taglines and endless reboots to get people interested nowadays.

I am picking up more and more DC books than I have ever done in my entire life. Why? Because they are reaching forward and expanding their horizons through all of their various imprints. There are great books coming out of DC now like Gotham Central, Ex Machinah, Y the Last Man, Fallen Angel, JSA and many others which may not sell as well as a Marvel title, but will hold my interest a lot longer than 5 Wolverine books, 8 Spider-Man and 10 X-Men books combined (these figures are pretend by the way).

I applaud Marvel and their Next program for all that it is worth, but the only good things that are coming out of them are Runaways, Livewires and Spellbinders. But after these series are over, will we ever see them or these characters again?

No, probably not.

That saddens me, not only as a reader but as a fan.

I wish Marvel the best and will continue to buy the books I do and hope for the best.

[Jason Galvin]

Originally posted by Hannibal King
I
That saddens me, not only as a reader but as a fan.

That is why my post sounded so disgusted & angry. I AM a Marvel fan, almost all of my favorite characters are Marvel, & growing up all I bought was Marvel.

But now that I'm older I realize just how awful & dumbed down Marvel has become, ESPECIALLY when you look at the diversisty of DC. Marvel cannot keep any direction going on any of their comics just about. They switch creative teams every story arc, announce new on-going montlies & then can them in just a few issues, put mini-series out & can't even get them finished, almost EVERYHTHING lately has been late.

And now this Marvel NEXT crap. Dissassembled, Young Guns, Marvel Max, Reloaded, it's all so lame. They just care about catch phrases they can slap on the top of their comics & letting Bendis & Millar write every single comic they published rather than hunt out diverse creators & finding good new ideas & then sticking with them.

Do they need examples of this? How about Ex Machina, Fables, The Losers, Y The Last Man, Fallen Angel, ALL DC BOOKS. Look at Teen Titans, comes out on team over 2 years old with the same creators on it. We all know that Young Avengers is a lame rip-off that will probably not come out on time & will probably have a new creative team after the first story arc.

[GodofMotion]

Originally posted by Jason Galvin


The success of Runaways???? A books that was so successful that it had to be cancelled only 18 issues in, then re-launched as a monthly to get interest in to this supposively successful book, THEN changed to only a mini-series.
[/b]

Runaways is an ongoing series. At least attempt to get your facts straight before you go on a rant.

[daredevil_666]

Yeah, I do agree with what some of you are taling about. I've been all-Marvel for an extremely long time, but after discovering the Distinguished Competition, I find, has more original and fresh ideas to offer.

With all their gimmicks, it seems like Marvel's getting desperate, shouting out to everyone "Hey, lookit me!!!!", and while I do read a lot of Marvel books (Astonishing, DD, Ultimates, Ultimate Spidey), I find that this is all getting slightly tiresome.

[immortalthor]

So is the new Thor idea going to fall under this? Here's the article from Wizard in case you haven't read it.....




Thunder strikes a second time for the gods of Asgard, thanks to the combined efforts of three of comics' top writers in May 2005.
That's when Ultimates writer Mark Millar and X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong artist Greg Land launch a brand new take on the mighty Thor, seven months after the Michael Avon Oeming-penned "Ragnarok," in which Asgard was destroyed and Thor prevailed before meeting his glorious end.
"The old Thor is dead and gone," confirms Millar. "We get a chance to start all over again and create a whole new batch of characters, and that's quite tantalizing."
It all started with a pitch by legendary scribe Neil Gaiman. While Gaiman's novel-writing schedule prevented him from actually writing the new series, he gave Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada permission to take his idea to an editorial summit attended by Marvel's top writers. Amazing Spider-Man scribe J. Michael Straczynski came up with a new spin that Mark Millar - who previously had zero interest in the character - fell in love with and jumped at the chance to write.
"Gaiman's idea was so nice, and JMS' spin on it was absolutely brilliant," raves Millar. "I went back to my hotel, and while I was in the bath, I became obsessed with the idea, and I was so excited that I actually phoned Joe naked from the bath and said, 'Don't let anyone else do that Thor idea, because I must do it!'"
In the aftermath of "Ragnarok," pieces of Asgard begin falling to Earth in the form of powerful artifacts. An evil corporation sets out to collect these artifacts, building a base around an immovable hammer - the legendary Mjolnir - in the middle of a field in Iowa. A group of teens gather the remaining artifacts at this site, which becomes ground zero for their transformation into Thor, Loki and the gods of Asgard.
"Thor never quite seemed to fit in with the rest of the Marvel Universe," explains the writer. "There was always something weird about this Asgardian god hanging around super-soldiers and billionaire industrialists. This idea is a bit more real, in the sense that it's a group of kids who inherit what's left of that world."

[Alfonso]

Originally posted by immortalthor
It all started with a pitch by legendary scribe Neil Gaiman.

I guess that's what Joe meant when he told readers they would "love his ass" for the Thor 2005 plans.

Too bad said plans fell through and we're stuck with Millar again.

[Nobody]

I'm not gonna say a word about these books. I know a few people that really dug Runaways, and Young Avengers has some gorgeous art. Mike Carey is writing a vastly underrated run of Hellblazer and (when I read it) Lucifer.

But.

Marvel has done this before, usually with the same results. Failure.

Years ago, M2. Spider-Girl being the only survivor of that line, albeit barely.

Not too long ago, Tsunami.

Currently, Marvel Age, which no one seems to ever discuss.

And now this.

Marvel seems intent on dividing their entire line of books, when sales have proven that no one seems to care. It's just become pathetic.

But good luck. I'm sure my friends who were reading Runaways will pick it back up.

[Alfonso]

How many times will Marvel make the same mistake until realizing their error? Every single time they launch eight titles consecutively, one or two make the cut, and the rest get cancelled within the year.

Examples:

March 2004 - Iron Fist, She-Hulk, Captain America/Falcon, Alpha Flight, Thor: Son of Asgard, Cable/Deadpool, etc. Remaining: Cap/Falcon and Cable/Deadpool . . . for now.

May/June 2003 - Emma Frost, Venom, Namor, Human Torch, Runaways, Mystique, The Crew, Kingpin, Quest, New Mutants, and more. Remaining: New Mutants (sort of), Runaways (sort of).

And heck, look at the titles Marvel released in succession (instead of all-at-once) later that year: Silver Surfer, Thanos, and Hawkeye, all cancelled.

Just . . . sigh . . . if they just focussed on promoting one or two key titles at a time instead of throwing everything to the wall at once, maybe some of their new series would survive past issue #25.

[Kerouac]

Originally posted by Jason Galvin


The success of Runaways???? A books that was so successful that it had to be cancelled only 18 issues in, then re-launched as a monthly to get interest in to this supposively successful book, THEN changed to only a mini-series.

This is what Marvel calls successful? Runaways was probably Marvel's best new book in the past decade & then can't even get that right.

Well, keep in mind, this is the same PR department that said "the red-hot Amazing Fantasy," so "success of Runaways" isn't really all that inaccurate in their world.

And being the best new Marvel book on the past decade is like being the fastest kid in the Special Olympics, man.

Matt

[Alfonso]

Originally posted by Kerouac
And being the best new Marvel book on the past decade is like being the fastest kid in the Special Olympics, man.

Matt

If only their best titles get cancelled, then they've certainly had a wealth of winners in the past two years!

[Joe Henderson]

Originally posted by Jason Galvin
We all know that Young Avengers is a lame rip-off that will probably not come out on time & will probably have a new creative team after the first story arc.

So you've read the book? And what has given you any idea that the book will be late? Man, people like you give newsarama a bad name.

[paulski]

Well, I'm tired of bitching about Marvel, and I'm sure a lot of you are tired of reading it, so I won't say too much in response in reply to this press release (which really didn't tell me anything I didn't already know).

I'll just say this - as I was reading through my new Previews last night and counting up the numbers of DC and Marvel books I'll be getting in March (15 DC, 9 Marvel), I just couldn't get excited about too much the House of M was bringing out for that month. Take out my regulars - Amazing Spider-Man, New Avengers, Astonishing X-Men, Incredible Hulk (I think), MK Spider-Man (my last issue?), Supreme Power, and Uncanny X-Men (if I can stomach Claremont's writing for much longer) - and the only other things I was looking at were OHOTMU:AOA (which looks pretty ordinary and might be the first Handbook I don't buy) and Young Avengers #2. And I'm already going off the idea of YA after only a month - it just looks pretty iffy. I think the poster who brought up the point about a new art team after issue #6 is probably right on the money. With the company's recent track record, it's actually more than likely.

When compared with their Distinguished Competition where I look like ADDING books instead of dropping them in the next few months (Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman) because DC's actually making them better (Rogue War, Pacheco, Morales) instead of just hyping them more, and I can sadly see a time when I get only a couple of Marvel titles each month. And that would suck. But I'm not paying good money for stuff I no longer enjoy.

[DrTzinTzin]

Originally posted by MattBrady
[B
” The book rises like a phoenix out of the ashes of AVENGERSISASSEMBLED and is populated by what seems to be teen versions of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, namely Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and the Hulk.
[/b]

So let me get this straight, Avengers Dissembled is just the Crossing but this time instead of a Teen Tony, there's going to be a teen Avengers come out it? My God, I'm glad I stopped reading Marvel back in 1990.

[Jason Galvin]

Originally posted by Joe Henderson
So you've read the book?

I'm sorry, have you read it? B/c Marvel has not had a title of teen characters based off of their core characters before, & with the tremendous success the Teen Titans re-launch has had, not to mention the cartoon & w/ Marvel's lame attempts at capatilizing off DC (see Identity Disk), I don't think it's too far fetched to think it's a Teen Titans rip-off, rather than reading the solicitation & think it's a tremendous & original new idea.

And what has given you any idea that the book will be late?

Gee, I don't know, let's look at some of Marvel's other recent high profile comics, that they feel the need to re-launch an entire series & then don't even care enough to get the second issues out on time.

Captain America #2 = LATE
New Avengers #2 = LATE
Iron Man = Originally solicited as a monthly, then changed to a bi-monthly.

Not enough for you, how about from the recent Diamond Dateline:

MARVEL COMICS

Kabuki #3 (MR) 12/22/04 - 12/29/04
Captain America #2 12/29/04 - 01/05/05
New Avengers #2 12/29/05 - 01/05/05
New Avengers #2 Hairsine Var. 01/05/05
Wha … Huh? 12/29/04 - 01/05/05
Marvel Age Fantastic Four #11 01/05/05 - 01/12/05
Marvel Team-Up #4 01/05/05 - 01/12/05
New X-Men #8 12/29/04 - 01/12/05
Spider-Man/Human Torch #1 01/05/05 - 01/12/05
Uncanny X-Men #454 01/05/05 - 01/12/05
Marvel M'wrks.: Uncanny X-Men V. 5 2nd Ed. HC/Var. Ed. 01/12/05 - 01/19/05
Combat Zone: True Tales of G.I.s in Iraq #1 01/05/05 - 01/26/05
New X-Men #9 01/19/05 - 01/26/05
Stoker's Dracula #3 01/19/05 - 01/26/05

That is pathetic, & the list keeps getting bigger every single week a new dateline comics out. So I think I have plenty of reason to fear Young Avengers not coming out on time.

Man, people like you give newsarama a bad name.

What? How on earth does stating my opinion giev newsarama a bad name? I would think insulting someone for no apparent reason whatsoever gives this place a bad name & makes you look even worse.

[Alfonso]

Originally posted by Jason Galvin
MARVEL COMICS

Kabuki #3 (MR) 12/22/04 - 12/29/04
Captain America #2 12/29/04 - 01/05/05
New Avengers #2 12/29/05 - 01/05/05
New Avengers #2 Hairsine Var. 01/05/05
Wha … Huh? 12/29/04 - 01/05/05
Marvel Age Fantastic Four #11 01/05/05 - 01/12/05
Marvel Team-Up #4 01/05/05 - 01/12/05
New X-Men #8 12/29/04 - 01/12/05
Spider-Man/Human Torch #1 01/05/05 - 01/12/05
Uncanny X-Men #454 01/05/05 - 01/12/05
Marvel M'wrks.: Uncanny X-Men V. 5 2nd Ed. HC/Var. Ed. 01/12/05 - 01/19/05
Combat Zone: True Tales of G.I.s in Iraq #1 01/05/05 - 01/26/05
New X-Men #9 01/19/05 - 01/26/05
Stoker's Dracula #3 01/19/05 - 01/26/05

That is pathetic, & the list keeps getting bigger every single week a new dateline comics out. So I think I have plenty of reason to fear Young Avengers not coming out on time.

What about Strange, NYX, Daredevil: Father, Daredevil: Target, Spider-man/Black Cat, Ultimate Mightmare, and the month-push-back of Astonishing X-Men? They belong on the list too.

[Jason Galvin]

Originally posted by Alfonso
What about Strange, NYX, Daredevil: Father, Daredevil: Target, Spider-man/Black Cat, Ultimate Mightmare, and the month-push-back of Astonishing X-Men? They belong on the list too.

No, the absurdity, of that guy wondering why I would think New Avengers will be late is b.c that ENORMOUS list I posted are just the books from ONE week. I'm not even going into the myriad other late Marvel books.

[jedifish]

I don't understand why they have to another Moniker. Why can't they just stick it under the Marvel banner?

[tridon]

There's too much whining going on in here. If a book is late, a book is late. There's still going to be another 500 or so coming out on time. Marvel's not the only company out there with late books you know... DC and Image constantly have late books. It happens. There's nothing you can do about it. Movies and video games get pushed back all the time too. Now, going back on topic, I for one am looking forward to this new imprint, no matter how long it'll last.

[Slayton]

This is a blanket post to all the complaints regarding Marvel marketing. What everyone here seems to miss is the fact that they are not marketing to you. You are not who they wish to attract.

We are comic fans. In most cases, discerning comic fans. They are not going to sway us with fancy marketing gimmicks. But there is a huge chunk of the fan market who will can be swayed. Take a look at many of the folks pushing through the doors at Comic Cons. That's who they want.

Is DC kicking ass creatively lately? Perhaps. A few weeks ago, gauging by the posts here, IC was possibly a masterwork of western literature. Look at the prevailing opinion now.

As it has been said many times, Marvel is a business, just like DC. Their job is to sell books, and hopefully provide good stories along the way. While DC's moves tend to be more thought out and careful, Marvel's tend to be to keep throwing stuff at the wall and see what sticks. From a marketing standpoint, neither is bad nor is either the sole solution.

[Royal Nonesuch]

I really dont' care what anyone here says, and I don't care about any labels/imprints whatever. All I care about is that these titles all look great and I'm going to give all of them a try!

[Alfonso]

Originally posted by tridon
There's too much whining going on in here. If a book is late, a book is late. There's still going to be another 500 or so coming out on time. Marvel's not the only company out there with late books you know... DC and Image constantly have late books. It happens. There's nothing you can do about it. Movies and video games get pushed back all the time too. Now, going back on topic, I for one am looking forward to this new imprint, no matter how long it'll last.

Okay then, how many DC books are 3 months late? How about 8 months late? How about over two years late?

[Alfonso]

Originally posted by Slayton
This is a blanket post to all the complaints regarding Marvel marketing. What everyone here seems to miss is the fact that they are not marketing to you. You are not who they wish to attract.

Do you really believe these kind of press releases are being read by non-comic readers? You do realize that only comic readers come to Newsarama.