Audiences are rewarding “The Amazing Spider-Man” for being a very, very good film.
The fourth film in the Sony franchise faced high skepticism as the producers resorted to rebooting Spider-Man for the second time in a decade — and as “The Avengers” and “The Dark Knight Rises” have loomed large as the summer’s superhero tentpoles.
Turns out, Peter Parker’s origin story, in the right hands, is as resilient as a wrist-packed monofilament — even as the Marvel webslinger turns 50 this year.
“Amazing Spider-Man” continued to soar above studio projections by grossing $65-million domestically to win the weekend — doubling the take of last week’s champ, “Ted” — and lifting its six-day start to $140-million, according to studio estimates released Sunday. Final numbers are due Monday.
Buoyed significantly by the winning performances of Andrew Garfield (who has inherited the super-suit from Tobey Maguire for his own newly announced trilogy) and Emma Stone (as Gwen Stacy), “Amazing Spider-Man” has now grossed a strong $341.6-million worldwide.
As Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee told Comic Riffs: Whoever decided to cast the talented Garfield as the new teen “Everyguy” should get a medal.
“Amazing Spider-Man” performed well right out of the gate, grossing $7.5-million Tuesday from midnight screenings; and through the Fourth of July, “Amazing Spider-Man” had grossed $58.3-million domestically and $108-million overall, according to the site BoxOfficeMojo.
“What a spectacular relaunch,” Sony worldwide distribution President Rory Bruer told the Hollywood Reporter, citing “the chemistry between Andrew and Emma” and “the out-of-the-box direction of Marc Webb,” who until now was best known for directiong “(500) Days of Summer.”
“Amazing Spider-Man” also benefited from its popularity with “family” demographics (25-percent of the film’s audience); its generally positive critical reviews and filmgoer scores; and its haul at IMAX theaters ($14.3-million).
”Spider-Man’s” performance dwarfed the domestic debuts of “Savages” (fourth at $16.2-million) and “Katy Perry: Part of Me” (eighth; $7.15-million).
Seth MacFarlane’s CGI/live-action “Ted” strengthened its claim as the R-rated comedy hit of the summer, grossing $32.6-million to raise its domestic total to $120.2-million. And Pixar’s animated “Brave” also remained strong, grossing $20.1-million to boost its domestic take to $174-million.
FUN WITH NUMBERS
Sony’s four Spider-Man films have now grossed $1.25-billion domestically and $2.83-billion worldwide.
“Amazing Spider-Man” had the fourth-best Independence Day weekend ever (not adjusted for inflation) — behind only two “Transformers” film (“Dark of the Moon” tops the list with $97.8-million) and “Spider-Man 2” ($88-million).
“Amazing Spider-Man” had the 12th-best weekend opening ever for Marvel character film — barely trailing last year’s “Thor” ($65.7-million) and “Captain America: The First Avenger”($68.05-million), though those two films didn’t open on a Tuesday.
And “Amazing Spider-Man” just beat the average opening for a Marvel character film: $65.57-million.
Beginning in October 2012, Marvel starts a bold new chapter in its history, with Marvel NOW!, a publishing initiative extending into 2013 that will touch every major Marvel character from the Avengers to the X-Men to Spider-Man to the Fantastic Four and beyond.
Marvel.com spoke with Marvel Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada, Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso and Senior VP – Executive Editor Tom Brevoort to get all the details on what to expect from Marvel NOW!
Marvel.com: In your words, what is Marvel NOW!?
Axel Alonso: Marvel NOW! is the next chapter in the ongoing saga of the Marvel Universe. From October through February, we’ll provide at least one great reason for readers—old, lapsed or new—to go into a comic store each week: a new issue #1, featuring an exciting new creative team and driving concept, that’s an easy entry-point into the Marvel Universe. Each and every one of these launches is built to last.
Tom Brevoort: Marvel NOW! is a coordinated creative refresh across our entire publishing line, a unique moment in which the creative reins on virtually all of our quintessential series are being passed from one person to another. As a result, there’ll be both the excitement and uncertainty of seeing a new creative partnership handle characters and series that have been in other hands consistently for many years. And at the same time, this is the perfect instance for readers both new and lapsed to dip their toes back into the Marvel pool, in that all of these creators are going to be beginning their story-cycles during this time, so it’s about a clean a point of entry as there’s ever likely to be.
Joe Quesada: Marvel NOW! is the next step in Marvel story evolution and character evolution. It’s not a reboot. It is a universe-shifting catch-all, which really just tells fans that if you enjoyed Avengers vs. X-Men, get ready for what the outcome is because there’s some major, major changes coming to the Marvel Universe. A lot of changes to the character status quos, alter egos, costumes, creator shifts, design shifts, the way that we do our covers, digital shifts and the way we start delivering our books. We’re continuing with our evolution push as we start to embrace more and more of the digital world and its technology; the sky’s the limit with Infinite Comics, AR, and all sorts of things. As the technology changes we’re going to change with it and our fans are going to eventually tell us what it is that they really love out of all those things that we’re playing with. But it’s a big shift because it’s not just story and character. There’s also the way we tell our stories and the way we deliver our stories that are starting to change as well.
Marvel.com: What is the scope of this initiative?
Axel Alonso: It’s a sweeping initiative. Most of our core titles will be a part of it.
Joe Quesada: The scope is pretty huge. It’s pretty huge, but we’re also taking a very conservative tactic in the sense that we’re not just going to say “Hey, we’re just going to dump it all on you in one particular shot.” This is going to be a significant release that’s going to take place over several months so that we can do it properly, do it in a way that our readers can appreciate, and tell our stories in the right way. Because we do have a lot of moving parts here and I think it’s the fairest and best way to do this.
Marvel.com: What makes Marvel NOW! a good launch point for new readers or people who haven’t tried certain properties?
Axel Alonso: Marvel NOW! hearkens back to 11 years ago, when Marvel found great success employing a simple formula: great artist plus great writer plus great character plus great story. All of these creators are inspired and motivated to do their best stuff. At last week’s editorial summit, each writer shared his plans for their titles, and there isn’t a weak link in the chain. The only difference is that we are mindful that these stories are linked by the common backdrop.
Joe Quesada: A lot of characters and a lot of their stories are starting story arcs and different status quos right around this time. I know there are a lot of people out there who are lapsed readers, or future readers who don’t necessarily know exactly how to jump into comics because the idea of decades and decades of continuity is daunting to them. Now mind you, they should never have that fear regardless, but for us we’re putting a flag in the sand and saying “Listen, if you’ve had that problem before, just take a flier on us. Try Marvel NOW!, because we are not wiping the slate clean—we’re just trying to tell these stories from a clean point of view and allowing a good jumping-off point for new readers.”
Marvel.com: Is this a reboot of the existing Marvel Universe?
Axel Alonso: It is not a reboot. We don’t travel back in time, into the future, or to an alternate universe. Marvel NOW! respects the investment—emotional and financial—that long-term fans have made in the Marvel Universe, and this story takes place in a Marvel Universe they can recognize, one that grows out of Avengers Vs. X-Men. That said, these stories will be accessible to lapsed readers—the guy who likes, say, Captain America, but doesn’t know where to start—and anyone who saw a Marvel movie or heard the buzz about Marvel NOW!
Marvel.com: What role is digital technology going to play in Marvel NOW!?
Joe Quesada: There [are] really two answers to this, and I think both of them are right. It’s going to play a tremendously huge role, and I don’t know. And the reason I don’t know is because technology is changing every single—oh wait, it just changed again. It changes every second. There’s so much new stuff coming out that I can’t tell you what’s going to be the rage 12 months from now with technology. What I can tell you is that if it’s something that is applicable to things that we do for a living, we’re going to try it. And we’re going to see if it works for us. So it is the great unknown, it is really exciting, but it’s also something that we’re not going to be left behind wondering why we didn’t get involved in the world of digital much earlier. You know, we‘ve been involved in the digital world for a long, long time—longer than most publishers—so we are already ahead of the curve and we’re already getting a sense of what the readership is really thinking, what they’re not thinking, because ultimately it’s about the readers. It’s about making their experience a better one, a more convenient one, and really much more entertaining.
Marvel.com: What can you say anything else about the way the exterior appearance and the packaging of the books are going to change?
Joe Quesada: We [are] taking a hard look at the way we design our covers. I’ll tell you the history behind this. Tom Brevoort runs these workshops for the junior editorial staff. Several months ago, he asked me to come in and do a talk on covers, cover design, what I feel makes strong covers, yadda yadda. So in preparation for that meeting, what I decided to do was, I wasn’t going to come in with a slide presentation or a keynote presentation of comic book covers that were successful. I wanted to look outside of comics and to the industry that I think is the most successful when it comes to poster work or cover work, which would be the movie industry throughout the ages. So I started going through all my huge library of movie poster reference, everything from the earliest days of filmmaking to today, the modern era, and I started pulling images from different eras of things that I think, images that I think work. Certain designs that I thought worked, whether they were abstract or literal, and presented this to the group. And as I was going through each one of the images, it really sort of dawned on me as I looked at the movie posters that we have a standard rule in the world of comic books which is the comic book logo should appear on the top third of the cover. Now, we’ll deviate from that every once in a while, but the norm you have got to say that 90 percent to 95 percent of comic books have the logo at the top third of the cover. And that is something that has historically been done in comics because historically comics were sold in a newsstand, and the way that books and magazines are racked on the newsstand, the only thing that you really get to see for the most part is the logo of the magazine or the book. And that’s what people look for, and they pull it out, and if the image grabs them they buy it or they don’t. So, looking at the world that we live in today where we really don’t have much of a newsstand presence anymore and looking at how our readership, even when they buy stuff at their local comic shop, very few comic shops actually rack their comics the way that a newsstand did. You can actually see the entire comic cover standing alone next to other comic covers, but the top third isn’t really all that important. Then I think about the readership that orders their books from their local comic shop in advance. What they do is they go through the Marvel catalogue and they see the covers, sometimes they’ll see a thumbnail of a cover, and that’s really what they’re basing it on—and obviously the synopsis of the story or whether this comic is their favorite book or no, And then, thinking about all the fans that are going to start picking up their books digitally, and the imagery that they will see in say their tablet, for example, it became very, very evident to me that there was absolutely no reason anymore to continue having our logos on the top third of the cover.
That’s not to say that we won’t, but I thought about maybe we should give our cover artists the opportunity to design their covers in a way—because now they can do a whole image like a movie poster—so that your reader’s eye is captivated by and they want to buy that book while at the same time letting us know what that book is so that the logo doesn’t have to appear there. So now we’re going to start looking at our covers as design work as a whole, and placing the images in places that are most attractive and that catch the eye in the best way. So if that means that if it’s an Iron Man cover and Iron Man’s head is on the top left side of that cover and the logo is on the bottom right, if that’s the thing that’s going to grab the readership, then that’s what we’re going to do. So it’s a challenge to our cover artists to think more in terms of design. We’re leaving the canvas open to them to work with as much as we possibly can. Because our covers carry a lot of information. They have ratings, they have UPS, they have all these things. So we’re designing our covers so that all these things aren’t locked in a specific area of the cover so that for the most part the canvas is empty for the artist to do their thing. So we’re just going to look at different methodologies by which to attract readers to our books, because more than anything that top third thing—that’s thinking from the 1930’s. So it’s time for us to move on.
Marvel.com: What does the preview piece you worked on tell us as far as what kind of characters are going to be coming to the forefront of Marvel NOW! and what changes are in store for them?
Joe Quesada: Well I think you can certainly glom several things from that piece. Number one, costume changes. Number two, you’ll see characters there that you wouldn’t necessarily think would be in a piece like that. I think readers can assume that we’re going to make a big push with certain books and create certain books that involve a lot of these new characters. And also just changes to certain status quos based upon costume design and what happened. Even Cyclops. He’s very prominent in that piece, He looks very different, but definitely prominent. And who knows if that’s even Scott in that costume? But the goal was to sort of give a quick, encapsulating view of a piece that says “Well, it’s going to be different.”
Marvel.com: Who are some of the creators prominently involved with Marvel NOW! that you can reveal at this time?
Tom Brevoort: Rick Remender and John Cassaday on UNCANNY AVENGERS, Brian Bendis and Stuart Immonen on ALL-NEW X-MEN, and Jonathan Hickman and Jerome Opena on AVENGERS, with Adam Kubert, Dustin Weaver and Mike Deodato also contributing to that twice-a-month series, plus Jonathan and Steve Epting on NEW AVENGERS. But this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Joe Quesada: We’ve got a lot of great changes coming up with our creators. I think two creators that have me very excited right now are, first, Jonathan Hickman and what he’s going to be bringing to the Avengers; if you really want a very clear road map of where the Marvel Universe is going to be taking you in the next four to five years, then you cannot not read AVENGERS. You have to.
And then the other creator that has me really excited is old time favorite Brian Bendis. Brian is working on two very significant projects for us. One of them is ALL-NEW X-MEN. I have not seen Brian this excited about writing comics in quite a long time. Between ALL-NEW X-MEN and his other secret project that he’s working on, which I think many people are going to find surprising, he is operating on all cylinders. I mean he is just a shot out of a cannon. This is like Brian Bendis circa 2002, where he’s salivating to get all the stuff that he’s doing.
The first series to fall under the Marvel NOW! banner will be UNCANNY AVENGERS, a new ongoing title launching in October, written by Rick Remender with art by John Cassaday and featuring members of the Avengers and the X-Men on one team for the first time facing a returned Red Skull out to exterminate the mutant race.
Marvel.com: Why was UNCANNY AVENGERS chosen as the first title for the Marvel NOW! initiative?
Axel Alonso: UNCANNY AVENGERS is the first book that delivers a snapshot of the Marvel Universe in the aftermath of AvX. This is a team composed of Avengers and X-Men that’s put together to deal with a specific threat, but that eventually becomes something much more than that.
Marvel.com: How does UNCANNY AVENGERS represent the post-Avengers Vs. X-Men Marvel Universe?
Tom Brevoort: Back in AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #1, Captain America and Cyclops had a pointed conversation before fists started flying about how, whenever a threat to mutants has arisen, the Avengers have seemed pretty remote; Cap articulated his position, but in the fallout from AvX, Cap and the Avengers, having gone through a bunch of stuff and having walked a mile in the X-Men’s shoes, are feeling like there’s some truth in what Cyclops had to say. So the Uncanny Avengers squad is being put together as a direct response to that, as a proactive attempt to provide support of the civil rights of the world’s mutant citizens, and to provide physical and superhuman aid in those circumstances where either mutants are threatened by non-mutants, regular humans are threatened by mutants, and every other iteration in-between. In essence, as we attempt to bridge the divide between the Avengers and the X-Men as entities within our publishing world, UNCANNY X-MEN will be the primary bridging book, a place where the team is as likely to battle Apocalypse as The Red Skull, and where long-established X-characters will stand side-by-side with long-established Avengers characters, in a very public manner.
Axel Alonso: Several years ago, we wondered why the roster of “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” didn’t include Spider-Man and Wolverine, and the Avengers became our flagship franchise. A team composed of X-Men and Avengers is an equally seismic event—a must-read title for Avengers fans and X-Men fans, and they aren’t always the same audience.
Marvel.com: How was the creative team of Rick Remender and John Cassaday selected?
Tom Brevoort: Rick pitched the book right before one of our recent Marvel editorial retreats, as something that could naturally grow out of AvX. And we’re always looking for interesting projects to entice John into doing more work for Marvel.
Marvel.com: What characters can you tell us will be part of Uncanny Avengers?
Tom Brevoort: Among the characters that will make up the team are Captain America, Wolverine, Thor, The Scarlet Witch, Rogue and Havok, with a few other surprises waiting in the wings. There’ll also be a funeral in the first issue.
Marvel.com: What type of threat does the returned Red Skull pose to this team and to the Marvel Universe?
Tom Brevoort: The reborn Red Skull will have a strong anti-mutant agenda that will put him in direct opposition to the Uncanny Avengers and their mandate of attempting to inspire greater human-mutant cooperation. The new Skull will also possess a new set of powers obtained in a very creepy way, as well as his own team of foot soldiers, people whose lives were shattered by mutants who’ve been rebuilt at a genetic level to turn them into what we’ve jokingly been calling the Skull’s “S-Men.”
In November, writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Stuart Immonen will premiere ALL-NEW X-MEN, with the modern day Children of the Atom facing the original team—Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast and Jean Grey—brought forward in time to a Marvel Universe unfamiliar and shocking to them.
Marvel.com: Almost a decade ago, Brian Michael Bendis reinvented the Avengers franchise; how do his plans for the X-Men compare?
Axel Alonso Brian is bringing the original X-Men—the [Stan] Lee and [Jack] Kirby X-Men—into the present, and they’re here for the long haul. They’re going to see what the world has become, the hard road that got them here and, indeed, who made it this far. That’s going to make for years of fascinating stories.
Marvel.com: What characters can we expect to be featured in ALL-NEW X-MEN?
Axel Alonso: The current X-Men cast—or those who made it out of AvX alive—the Lee and Kirby X-Men, and a few surprises.
Marvel.com: What makes having the original X-Men in the present day Marvel Universe an intriguing proposition?
Axel Alonso: These characters grew up aspiring to live the dream of Charles Xavier. They’re going to come into a world that’s very different from that dream. And they’re going to come face to face with what they’ve become—future versions of their very selves—or, weirder still, come to terms with the fact that they didn’t make it this far. Imagine you’re young Jean Grey and you just crash landed in 2012. Get my point?
Marvel.com: How was Stuart Immonen selected as the artist for All-New X-Men?
Axel Alonso: The stars were just aligned to make it so. He’s the perfect fit for this title.
Writer Jonathan Hickman and artists Jerome Opena and Steve Epting will reinvent Earth’s Mightiest Heroes this December in the bi-weekly AVENGERS as well as a revamped NEW AVENGERS, featuring an expanded roster, ambitious mission statement, and broad imperative that pushes forward into the 21st century.
Marvel.com: How is Jonathan Hickman changing the mandate of the Avengers franchise?
Tom Brevoort: First off, it’s important for you to know that, while we’re not ready to tell you any more about it, Jonathan will also be writing NEW AVENGERS as well as AVENGERS.
I mention that because the second thing you need to know is that, like AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, AVENGERS is going to be shipping twice a month. So there’ll be three Hickman-written Avengers comics coming out every 30 days—two issues of AVENGERS and one issue of NEW AVENGERS.
I can tell you that NEW AVENGERS will be an absolutely essential sister title to AVENGERS, intrinsically linked to what’s going on in that book. Together, the two will function as Black and White, Day and Night, Life and Death.
The main imperative for the Avengers coming out of AvX is a need to think bigger. Had the Avengers been better prepared, better manned, better equipped, the events of AvX might have been able to have been dealt with in a much shorter order. So we’ll be fielding a very large core team comprised of 18 or so characters—spanning the key players in the “Marvel’s The Avengers” film, mainstays of the current team such as Captain Marvel—Carol Danvers—and Spider-Woman, classic Avengers of the past such as The Falcon, some established Marvel characters of note that have never been Avengers before, and a number of completely new, though familiar, characters as well. And we’ll be keeping things in motion—not every hero will be featured in every issue and there’ll be smaller groups tasked to deal with rising situations as they crop up.
In typical fashion, Jonathan has laid out plans for literally years of stories—at our recent Editorial Retreat, I worked out that he’d broadly plotted through issue #63 at this point. And like his work on FANTASTIC FOUR and SECRET WARRIORS, the scale just gets bigger and bigger and bigger as you go, with payoff leading to payoff leading to payoff.
AVENGERS is the crown jewel of the Marvel publishing line, especially after the juggernaut success of the movie, so we’re going to be treating it as such, with the best characters, drawn by the best artists, coming out on a frequency that will help to propel story velocity and that will reward readers month after month after month in a big way.
For all the latest on Marvel NOW!, stay tuned to Marvel.com!
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Official Press Release
The most popular characters. The most acclaimed creators. The most ambitious stories. This is Marvel NOW!.
This Fall, the Marvel Universe heads in an exciting all-new direction, as the industry’s top creators join the top super heroes, including Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Spider-Man, Wolverine and more, to deliver all-new ongoing series, each beginning with issue #1! Marvel NOW! is the culmination of Marvel ReEvolution, the groundbreaking new initiative to evolve the comic book experience through innovation.
It kicks off in October’s UNCANNY AVENGERS #1, from the team of Rick Remender and John Cassaday and continues with jaw-dropping new Marvel NOW! series nearly every week through February.
“There’s never been a better time to check out comics than Marvel NOW!” said Axel Alonso, Editor in Chief, Marvel Entertainment. “This isn’t a reboot or a reimagining—Marvel NOW! is all about looking forward, building on our rich history of great stories and delivering new ideas.”
In UNCANNY AVENGERS #1, the Avengers and X-Men must join forces to overcome the greatest challenge either team has ever faced, one so devastating that neither can afford to do it alone! Can Captain America’s newly assembled team find a way to peacefully co-exist while also dealing with the game-changing repercussions of Avengers Vs. X-Men?
Then in November, Marvel NOW! expands to all corners of the universe with launches including ALL-NEW X-MEN #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen, AVENGERS #1 by Jonathan Hickman and Jerome Opena, on-sale in December, and NEW AVENGERS #1, by Hickman and Steve Epting =, on-sale in January 2013.
“We brought fans the biggest comic book event imaginable in Avengers Vs. X-Men and now we’re taking the Marvel Universe to an exciting new place, beginning with Uncanny Avengers #1,” said Tom Brevoort, SVP, Executive Editor, Marvel Entertainment. “If you’re a long-time fan, all the stories you’ve read will give you even more enjoyment of what’s happening now—we’re not abandoning our past. But if you’re a new reader, this is where you’re going to learn just why Marvel comics are unlike anything else you’ve ever read. And no character is left unaffected by Marvel NOW!.”
Every comic book bearing the Marvel NOW! branding includes a code for a free digital copy of that same comic on the Marvel Comics app for iOS and Android devices. Additionally, each issue #1 of Marvel NOW! series features special augmented reality content available exclusive through the Marvel AR app, including cover recaps, behind the scenes features and more that add value to your reading experience at no additional cost.
“This is the natural next step of the Marvel ReEvolution, as we evolve every facet of Marvel publishing,” explained Joe Quesada, Chief Creative Officer, Marvel Entertainment. “You’ve seen us craft new digital storytelling formats like Marvel Infinite Comics and bring added value to our comics with Marvel AR. Now our print comics leap into the future with a cinematic new look for our covers, exciting new designs for our biggest characters and stories that will send you on the kind of journey you can only get at Marvel.”
This October, Join The ReEvolution as Marvel NOW! kicks off with UNCANNY AVENGERS #1, ushering in a new era for comics and the perfect jumping on point for new readers. The biggest creators bring you the biggest characters in the biggest stories…and it’s happening NOW!
To commemorate the historic release of UNCANNY AVENGERS #1 on Wednesday, October 10, participating retailers can host special advance release parties the night before! That’s right, you can experience the biggest new series launch of the year on Tuesday, October 9 at select retailers, who’ll also have limited edition giveaways exclusive to these events.
I’m not the world’s biggest Jason Bourne fan. Not by a long shot. I’ve seen and enjoyed the movies but I haven’t read any of the books. But two days ago, as I was sitting in the theater awaiting The Amazing Spider-Man (for the ComicMix Mixed Review), I saw a trailer for the latest chapter, The BourneLegacy. It’s a continuation of the series… but without Jason. As I was watching the trailer, I was thinking in the terms of my trade.
“Reboot! Reboot!”
We can argue if this is a genuine reboot or not, but let’s ride with the concept for a bit. My next thought was “why do the teevee and movie people do successful reboots of major properties, while in comics we butcher it every chance we get?” Which, by the way, is way too frequently.
Recent media reboots have included James Bond, Doctor Who, and Sherlock Holmes – the latter, twice. Other reboots have included Superman, Batman and the aforementioned Spider-Man. Only the former lacked enduring success. The Batboot was stellar, and we’ll have to wait and see about Spidey. So, of the five major characters, only one was a bust.
Allow me some jealous feelings here. To paraphrase Paul Simon (the singer, not the dead politician), after reboot upon reboot, the comics biz is more or less the same. Yes, there’s usually a solid sales bump and maybe it lasts long enough to make a difference, but that’s almost always short-lived. Is the Spider-Man marriage thing resolved? Is Jean Gray forever dead? What about Uncle Ben? Are you sure? Go ask Captain America and Bucky.
Over at DC, they’ve pressed the reboot button more often in the past 37 years than a lab monkey on an crystal meth test. How long should a reboot last before it’s deemed successful? I don’t know; we’ve never had one that lasted more than a couple years. Is the New 52 successful? Well, yes, in the sense that Dan DiDio still has his job. But they’ve only got sales figures in for the first year, and over a third of the titles have either been cancelled or have endured new creative teams. That doesn’t make it a failure, but if simply cancelling some titles and changing the crew on others is all it takes to make a character work for a contemporary audience, then we don’t need reboots.
In fact, this is the error message we get over each reboot. There’s no system upgrade here. We could have provided stability and growth by simply cancelling some titles and incubating those characters within their universes, and by changing creative teams on others – creators who will not restart history, but simply put it on an exciting path out of the woods. This may be the real “success” of the New 52. We’ll see in maybe five years or so.
The fact is, the media people haven’t pissed all over the trust of their audience. Despite public perception, most all of the pre-reboot movies and television shows featuring James Bond, Doctor Who, Superman, and Batman made money (I really can’t say about Sherlock Holmes; he seems to have made PBS a lot of money in the form of enhanced underwriting and public support). Maybe not enough to support the highest-ups’ eight figure salaries, maybe not as great a return on investment to make the stockholders happy, but in an industry where they put tens of millions of dollars on the line with each project – more than enough in each case to support a front-of-the-catalog comic book publisher – a five million dollar profit might not be a desired return on investment, but it’s still five million dollars.
Comics executives and, more important, their corporate masters need to give the four-color medium the same degree of patience and, quite frankly, they need to give their consumers the same amount of respect.
We need a comic book industry with an attention span.
One of the brilliant moves that Stan Lee made in the early issues of The Avengers was to bring Captain America from the 40s into what was then the modern day. He had Cap frozen in ice from the end of WWII until he was thawed out. Cap hadn’t aged, Stan didn’t bring a new guy into the costume, this was the same Steve Rogers and he became a man out of time. A hero of one era moved to a time when just about everyone he knew was dead. And the world as he knew it was gone.
They repeated that idea in the Captain America movie and picked up on it in this year’s Avengers movie blockbuster. I think that it’s Nick Fury who notes that, for Cap, World War II was not decades ago – it was just a few weeks. The society, for good and bad, is not the same, the values aren’t the same, so where does Steve Rogers, Captain America, fit in? Does he fit in?
Most of America is celebrating the Fourth of July this weekend, even though the real Fourth isn’t for a few days. We celebrate the birth of our nation that was, as Abraham Lincoln said, “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men were created equal.” That was the United States I believed in when I was young. Now? These days I find myself identifying more and more with that Steve Rogers who came out of hibernation to a whole new nation.
Maybe it’s just creeping old cootism; I’m 63, I grew up in the Fifties and came of age in the 60s. Maybe it’s just this election cycle with its hideous negativism and polarization. Maybe it’s the rise of this new era of Robber Barons. Maybe it’s this continuing recession (depression?) that drags on and on. Maybe it’s just me, where I am and how I feel right now, as I write this.
I remember a country where different political parties and even groups within those parties could argue and disagree, perhaps vehemently, but still could come together and do things for the good of the country and its citizens. The political game wasn’t the be-all and end-all of the process. When the concept of compromise wasn’t “do it my way.” When political dogma wasn’t the rule; when ideology wasn’t engraved on tablets of stone. No one person had the answers; by working together, by compromise, a better answer could be reached.
I remember when corporations were corporate citizens and not multinational conglomerates that were landless nations in their own right. When the CEOs and CFOs operated these companies to the benefit of the stockholders and those who were employed there instead of making sure their executive bonuses increased whether the company prospered or not.
I remember when there wasn’t such a great divide between the wealthy and the poor or even the wealthy and the middle class. Hell, I remember a strong and prosperous middle class. I remember a time when a parent could expect that their children could rise and do better than they did, to graduate from college without the crushing student debt with which these young men and women are now saddled.
I remember when teachers, policemen, and firemen were all respected and not among the first to have their jobs, wages, and pensions cut or their unions attacked and even accused of being among the principle causes of this recession.
I’m a student of history; an imperfect one, I’ll grant, but I’ve read about the robber barons of a century ago. I know how many of those who wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were slaveholders. I know how every minority group has had to fight for basic civil rights, be they the right to vote or the right to marry or the right to be treated as full citizens in this country. I know how we pushed and robbed and committed genocide against Native Americans. I’m not naïve and I don’t simply look backwards with rose-colored glasses.
But I used to have more hope.
Woody Guthrie sang:
“This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.”
He also sang in a later verse that is not always performed with the rest of the song:
“In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;
By the relief office, I’d seen my people.
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,
Is this land made for you and me?”
I don’t know. I used to think this was my land but now I don’t know.
Marvel Studios is expected to announce the highly anticipated Guardians of the Galaxy movie at Comic-Con International. The film, according to Latino Review, will be their second 2014 release, completing a roster of films now dubbed Phase Two.
The time- and star-spanning team was first created by Arnold Drake and Gene Colan, appearing in the try-out title Marvel Super-Heroes #18 (January 1969). While never earning a title of their own, they went on to be recurring guest stars in a variety of titles all through the 1970s.
Under writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, a new incarnation of the Guardians have been a focal point of their cosmic stories, beginning in the Annihilation: Conquest stories. That particular cycle of stories ended a year or so back, paving the way for a new cycle, expected to be written by Brian Michael Bendis.
The new cycle of stories was teased with the arrival on Earth of Nova in the pages of Avengers vs. X-Men #1 followed by his digital exclusive story.
Meantime, Marvel has been registering domain names and laying claim to Guardian trademarks in a wide variety of merchandise, tipping their hands that such a feature was in development. It was even mentioned as one of several second tier properties being considered for later this decade but clearly it was a feint.
Marvel Comics has mastered the slow news leak, providing tips and nods in a certain direction, leading up to the not-so-surprising news announcement. You can trace this back to Joe Quesada badmouthing Peter Parker’s marriage to Mary Jane Watson at least a year before the eventual One More Day storyline that altered the Marvel reality.
Over the last few months, Marvel has been teasing that things are about to take a dramatic turn as one creative team after another have announced wrapping up storylines and paving the way for a freshening of the Marvel Universe. Several Thanos titles were announced for this September including two by Jim Starlin the character’s creator.
With The Avengers completing Phase One, the second cycle of films begins in 2013 with Iron Man 3 to be followed in November by Thor 2. For 2014, Captain America 2 was previously announced for April 4with a TBA on the books. (Sony, meantime, has Amazing Spider-Man 2 pencilled in for May 2 and Fox has saved July 18 for another X-Men First Class Sequel). IMDB already has a placeholder page awaiting confirmation.
While there’s no word on which members of either version of the team will be used, we’re looking forward to Groot and Rocket Raccoon being a part of the cast. Apparently, Thanos will be the Big Bad to tie things together with his arrival hinted at with a sighting of his Infinity Gauntlet in Thor and his cameo at the end of The Avengers. Latino’s piece speculates Thanos will appear in Guardians which will be the final film prior to 2015’s The Avengers 2.
Meantime, Marvel’s corporate masters, Walt Disney, just revealed this afternoon that they are working on their first Marvel animated property: Big Hero 6. The timing is interesting in that the Previews catalog out yesterday contains a new Big Hero 6 project from writer Chris Claremont.The team was introduced in 1998’s Sunfire and Big Hero 6 from Steven T. Seagle and Duncan Rouleau.
Planned for 2014, the blog says in part, “I promised my Bothans that I wouldn’t reveal much about the Marvel project that Walt Disney Animation Studios was working on, that I would only allude to it until something else broke about it. Well, now a website has let the cat out of the bag. Remember that I mentioned that the property would be unlike anything the Mouse had done before? I also mentioned to some that inquired about it, that Marvel owns 4000+ characters and everyone was thinking it was an animated Iron Man or X-Men or even “Power Pack.” Well, it’s not. It’s not one of the top 100 or 200 characters even. The actual title is much more obscure than most people know. In fact, most comic book fans will not even know the title, or most of the characters. So, what is the title/characters that Disney is adapting into an animated film?”
The Marvel Movie Universe has been an amazing success story and Disney is taking things to the next level with this fall’s release of Avengers on DVD. First, you can have the film in a variety of formats.
Or, you can buy the mega box set called Phase One containing:
Marvel’s The Avengers (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray)
Captain America: The First Avenger (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray)
Thor (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray)
Iron Man 2 (Blu-ray)
The Incredible Hulk (Blu-ray)
Iron Man (Blu-ray)
Bonus Disc – “The Phase One Archives” (Blu-ray)
Collectible packaging with exclusive memorabilia from the Marvel Cinematic Universe
I suspect most of us own some or all of these, but the memorabilia may make us think twice. It is certainly a nice collection for late-comers or for that special someone’s holiday list.
This is the first ever documented Spider-Man fan film, and the first (unofficial) live action appearance of Spider-Man from way back in 1969. This was produced by Donald F. Glut, who at the time was writing for Warren Magazines (Creepy and Eerie) and would later go on to write Captain America, The Invaders, Conan, and Kull for Marvel, and what he may still best be known for, writing the novelization for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
This was Don’s last amateur film (he had produced many other fan films before this) before moving on to write for classic cartoons like Transformers and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.
At a convention I was at some years past I was having dinner with, among others, Howard Chaykin and Joe Rubinstein. Howard is always an interesting dinner companion; whether you agree with him or not on a subject, the conversation is going to be interesting. I didn’t know Joe Rubinstein much before that – except by his talent – but he raised a serious point with me. Joe knew about my late wife, Kim Yale, and her death and what he was interested in seeing coming from me was a story or stories about how you cope with the grief and the mourning that comes with the death of a loved one. It’s an interesting challenge and, while I’ve had some ideas about how to do it, I have yet to answer it.
I don’t think that comics, as a medium, deals well with death. It’s become a plot device, a sales gimmick, since we all know the character who has died is going to be back. I was staggered at the time of the Death of Superman storyline and by the number of people I knew who contacted me and breathlessly asked, “Is he really dead?” I pointed out that DC had too much money to lose from Underoos alone to let Kal-El stay dead.
Sure enough, Superman got better.
I will say that DC dealt well with the aftermath of Superman’s apparent demise in the World Without Superman follow-up storyline. There was real feeling, real emotion, by individuals and by the general population. And life went on without Superman.
That’s what happens. Your world ends; life goes on. The one you loved doesn’t come back. You cope however well or badly. You recover or you don’t.
I’m not saying that killing off a character can’t be effective or shouldn’t be done. When I was doing Suicide Squad over at DC, I was something of a literary mass murderer. I killed off lots of characters – mostly villains. I even killed off my own GrimJack character and brought him back albeit in a different, cloned body. I then reincarnated him somewhere further down his own timeline and, eventually, killed off that incarnation as well. So, how is that different, you ask.
Reincarnation doesn’t give you back the same body; it gives you a different one. The resiliency of the Doctor Who series rests on the title character’s ability to regenerate or reincarnate. Completely different actor, very different personality traits. There is change. That’s the difference and a key one.
Over at Marvel, the Pearly Gates is a revolving door. Captain America dies; oops, he got better. (Okay, it was really a “time bullet” but it was sold as the death of Captain America.) His teen sidekick in WWII, Bucky, dies in action. Oops, no, he gets better decades later. Both “deaths” generated interesting stories but is there anyone who really thought that the original Captain America wasn’t coming back?
Actions have consequences and death does as well. Grief should be shown; tears should flow. One of the major flaws, for me, of the first Star Wars film is that Luke barely sheds a tear at the death of the only parents he’s really ever known but then gets mopey about a mentor he’s known only a few days. Whereas, in the Harry Potter films, especially the later ones, when a character dies we see real grief and sorrow. It matters to the characters and therefore matters to us. And, yes, Harry dies and comes back to life but that doesn’t change my argument. His death grew out of the story and was, in fact, demanded by it; it was the way to resolve the story. That includes his resurrection. My gripe is with deaths that simply are “events” and meant to push sales.
Death in comics is too easy because resurrection is too easy. It doesn’t mean anything most of the time. It’s a cheat. Life – and death – doesn’t work that way. If death doesn’t mean anything, does life?
Marvel Studios sent out a formal press release today announcing the commencement of production on Iron Man 3, despite filming actually beginning May 23, 2012 at EUE/Screen Gems Studios in North Carolina. The film, written by Shane Black and Drew Pearce appears to have been heavily influenced by Warren Ellis Extremis storyline which ran in the Iron Man comic beginning in 2005. Elements of the story were also used in the Iron Man: Armored Adventures episode “Extremis”.
The release did say, “The production schedule will also include locations in Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina, Miami, Florida and China.
“Based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series, first published in 1963, Iron Man 3 returns Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man, Marvel’s The Avengers) as the iconic Super Hero character Tony Stark/Iron Man along with Gwyneth Paltrow (Iron Man, Iron Man 2) as Pepper Potts, Don Cheadle (Iron Man 2) as James “Rhodey” Rhodes and Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Iron Man 2) as Happy Hogan. Set for release in the U.S. on May 3, 2013, Marvel’s Iron Man 3 marks the second feature to be fully owned, marketed and distributed by Disney, which acquired Marvel in 2009.”
The press release did not mention the following cast members although they had been previously confirmed in other reports: Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin, Guy Pearce as Aldrich Killian, creator of The Extremis Virus, Andy Lau as “an old friend of Tony’s from China, Rebecca Hall as Dr. Maya Hansen, Ashley Hamilton as Jack Taggert, and James Badge Dale as Eric Savin /Iron Patriot. The latter, an armored figure worn by Norman Osborn in the Civil War comics saga, was a surprise addition.
At present neither Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) or Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) have been confirmed for the film, although one or both are expected considering SHIELD has been the glue to hold the Marvel Movie Universe together.
“Iron Man 3 continues the epic, big-screen adventures of the world’s favorite billionaire inventor/Super Hero, Tony Stark aka Iron Man. Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige is producing the film. Executive producers on the project include Jon Favreau, Louis D’Esposito, Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Charles Newirth, Victoria Alonso, Stephen Broussard and Dan Mintz.
“The creative production team on the film includes two-time Oscar®-winning director of photography John Toll, ASC (Braveheart, Legends of the Fall), production designer Bill Brzeski (The Hangover, DueDate), editors Jeffrey Ford, A.C.E. (Marvel’s The Avengers, Captain America: The First Avenger) and Peter S. Elliot (Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer), and costume designer Louise Frogley (Quantum of Solace, Contagion).
“Marvel Studios most recently produced the critically acclaimed Marvel’s The Avengers, which set the all-time, domestic 3-day weekend box office record at $207.4 million. The film, which is currently in release, continues to shatter box office records and is The Walt Disney Studios’ highest-grossing global and domestic release of all time and marks the studios’ fifth film to gross more than $1 billion worldwide.
“In the summer of 2011, Marvel successfully launched two new franchises with Thor, starring Chris Hemsworth, and Captain America: The First Avenger, starring Chris Evans. Both films opened #1 at the box office and have grossed over $800 million worldwide combined. In 2010 Iron Man 2, starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson and Mickey Rourke, took the #1 spot in its first weekend with a domestic box office gross of $128.1 million.
“In the summer of 2008, Marvel produced the summer blockbuster movies Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. Iron Man, in which Robert Downey Jr. originally dons the Super Hero’s powerful armor and stars alongside co-stars Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow, was released May 2, 2008, and was an immediate box office success. Garnering the number one position for two weeks in a row, the film brought in over $100 million in its opening weekend. On June 13, 2008, Marvel released The Incredible Hulk, marking its second number one opener of that summer.”
Captain America, Abbie Hoffman and the sexy statue in the women’s department? What the heck do they have in common?
Hey, everyone, it’s Memorial Day here in the beautiful lower Hudson Valley and if we venture out into the sunshiny pre-summer day, we’ll be seeing some flags. Flags flapping from flagstaffs, flags draped on the front of houses, flags on cars and maybe shop windows and if we drive west, toward New City, we’ll see flags – a lot of flags – displayed along the road that passes over the reservoir because somebody – I have no idea who – hangs them from roadside poles there.
Maybe I’ll even throw them a salute or two, those flags, for old times sake. (At one point, my life was full of salutes. Not so much anymore.)
The other day, en route to a department store escalator, I passed a curvy mannequin clad in a bikini that seemed to be fashioned from, yes, a flag. I didn’t salute – hell, I didn’t even leer – but it’s just possible that I thought of Abbie Hoffman and Captain America.
Abbie, most of you may not know (because his moment happened before most of you were born) led protests of the Viet Nam war. (He was smart, charismatic and energetic and articulate and, come to think of it, a friend of ComicMix’s own Mike Gold.) In 1968, in Washington, Abbie was arrested for wearing a shirt that looked like a flag. This is not as draconian as it might seem (though it’s still plenty draconian): in those days, most states had anti-flag desecration laws. So, technically, Abbie was breaking the law.
His conviction was appealed, and overturned. Sometimes the universe is just.
I wonder: would the law have pounced on, say, a lady wearing a stars-and-stripes bathing suit? The flag code, which is promoted by patriotic organizations, specifies “no part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform.” Surely, a swimming suit, however minimal, qualifies as an “athletic uniform.”
And what if our swimmer lies down for a snooze on the beach? Again, the code: “The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.” Wouldn’t sand be as insulting as water? (And what kind of “merchandise” are we talking about, anyway?)
If our hypothetical bathing beauty is in trouble, Captain America had really better watch his p’s and q’s. Remember: “No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume…” And doesn’t Cap roll around in the dirt dodging bullets and the like?
I guess, at the end of the day, it all depends on who’s wearing the symbol, and why, and on who presumes to sit in judgment. That’s what the flag is, a symbol. Or a rectangle of colored cloth. But I won’t be entirely facetious if I salute it, later today, though what I’ll be saluting is probably different from what a tea partier salutes, or what is honored by the old men who send young men to war.
