A general holiday tradition here at Multiversity is for a few of us to look at the past year and ask ourselves, “Gee, what things do we want from Marvel or DC in the next year?” We as fans are a rather entitled bunch, after all, and we certainly are never too ashamed to throw hissy fits regularly when we don’t get our way (that is, after all, what the internet is for!). We usuallyonly do this for Marvel and DC, though; somehow it is just not as effective when we admonish a creator-owned book for – well, doing what it wants.
Last year, a few of us put together lists of things that we wanted to see from Marvel and DC in 2012. Some of our prayers were answered, some weren’t, and absolutely none of us asked for DC to cancel all of their books and relaunch their entire line. That would’ve been awesome if one of us had, but we’ll have to chalk it up for a missed opportunity. Either way, read on to see our reflections from last year, and stay tuned for our 2013 Wishlists – coming soon!
Matthew Meylikhov
Marvel:
1. No more polybags
This one actually happened. Then again, I don’t think anyone really expected there to be lots and lots of polybags anyway. Aside from me, that is. 1/5!
2. Cut it out with the spoilers already!
This depends on who you ask. For example, as I write this “Amazing Spider-Man” #700 is available to read online, despite not actually being available in stores yet. This one isn’t inherently Marvel’s fault, though. They didn’t put the ending online, it just wound up there and their form of damage control is, “Come on, guys, maybe don’t read it? Please?”
But Marvel still spoils their own events in ‘news’ articles with Real News Sites (such as the end of “AvX,” and I’m sure telling people who weren’t reading it anyway what happens really boosted sales for the event), and it’s still pretty hard to get on some comic websites without seeing “THIS HAPPENED!” as a headline – again, with Marvel just shrugging and saying, “Well, don’t read websites then.”
Spoilers are mean. I do not like them. The literal definition of the word spoil is to “diminish or destroy the value or quality of.” Hey, kid! I’m a computer! Stop all the spoiling!!
3. Death is a serious subject. Let’s try to remember that.
I think its too early to tell on this one. Characters died over the year, sure, and a quick think in my brainspace doesn’t bring up any immediate turn arounds to say that they were never really dead. Well, besides the Wasp, but that at least had a few years to it.
I would’t say this wish came true, but I also wouldn’t say that it didn’t. I guess it really depends on how long Peter Parker stays dead now, huh?
4. Give your non A-List characters a fighting chance
Well, they’re still trying. Titles get longer than three issues before cancellation (usually twelve now!), and a lot of popular books star Little Characters That Could, like Captain (formerly Ms.) Marvel. We could do with more books like this that aren’t just team books like “Fearless Defenders” or “Avengers Arena,” but it’s definitely a start.
That said, its like the start of the race where everyone runs off and Marvel just casually walks on. Is Vibe really getting an ongoing before Doctor Strange? Really? Oh well.
5. A Greg Pak Hulk Omnibus
Hold on, let me look at my shelf.
Nope. Not there.
DC:
1. Own up to your mistakes and accept legitimate dialogue with your readership
Well, Gail Simone got fired off “Batgirl” and then re-hired after the fan out-roar. DC still won’t talk to anyone about it, but … I guess it’s a start? At least to the owning up to mistakes part.
2. This DCnU reboot better last forever
It hasn’t been forever yet, but there hasn’t been any resets in 2012! Lets call it a win, even if I dropped the majority of books I checked out at the initial relaunch!
Continued below3. Maybe you can do without 52 books?
Ha. Nope.
4. Whenever you inevitably bring them back, don’t “modernize” the New Gods just to be cool
This is debatable, I suppose. Orion just showed up in “Wonder Woman,” but he doesn’t appear to be modernized in any particular way. He seems relatively similar to how Orion always was, actually, if a bit less eloquent. Since we’ve only seen the two, I guess I can’t say that DC has modernized anything.
5. Finish collecting John Ostrander’s Suicide Squad
Well, the reprint line was cancelled, so no to this one. This is what I get for running my mouth off, I suppose.
Brian Salvatore
Marvel:
1. Make your Ultimate line live up to the title
Somehow, things have gotten even less ultimate for the “Ultimate” line. Miles Morales has been a great addition to the line, but the rest of the titles have been floundering under personnel changes and general apathy. With Marvel NOW! and the revelation that there is a Miles Morales in the 616, the Ultimate line appears to be only slightly healthier than Vertigo over at DC, and both should give all intelligent comics readers concern for the future. 0 for 1.
2. Diversify Your Publishing Line
A Morbius book? Good step! Having no less than 8 monthly Avengers titles (not counting “A+X,” “Avenging Spider-Man,” or the all ages “Marvel Universe Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”) is not such a good one. Sadly, Marvel seems to be intent on publishing less books more frequently, and the line is getting even more Avengers and X heavy by the minute. While the appearance of “Red She-Hulk,” Sif as the lead in “Journey into Mystery” and only two monthly books featuring Deadpool is a start, but Marvel is still relying on a small batch of characters and their proxies to account for most of what they publish. 0 for 2 so far.
3. Don’t try and do a “New 52″
While I will be the first to admit that Marvel NOW! is looking far more successful and well planned than the New 52, from a storytelling perspective, it is still a gimmicky excuse to get me to buy more books, launch “jumping on points” for the mythical new reader, and is a response to the New 52, despite claims otherwise. 0 for 3.
4. Cool it on the events
Hahahaha. Boy was I naive. 0 for 4.
5. Let your architects build something
What they built was “AvX,” a mess of an event that suffered from too many cooks in the kitchen. Brubaker is gone, but the other 4 are now responsible, more or less, for the core Marvel comics, sans Spider-Man (Hickman overseeing the Avengers franchise, Fraction the Fantastic Four, Bendis and Aaron the X-family, with some cosmic/Asgardian goodness thrown in there). While in theory it is nice to have these people in place as the Architects in name, letting them build up these corners of the 616 from the ground up, via Marvel NOW! is a good first step to them actually being the ones building stories for the future. Let’s call this a win. 1 for 5 on the Marvel side.
DC:
1. Make Earth-2 something special
So far, so good. “Earth 2” has been an oasis in the desert of New 52-ness, and James Robinson has been able to craft a story at his pace (which, admittedly, is a little slow for me right now) with some fantastic art from Nicola Scott. Its sister book, “Worlds’ Finest,” only occasionally flashes back to Power Girl and Huntress on Earth 2, but when it does, the tone is consistent with what Robinson has been doing so far. I fear that one day these books will become muddled with the stink of DiDio, but as of now, they are rock solid. 1 for 1.
2. Don’t be afraid to trash some of the New 52
Again, I am surprised how quick DC has been to cancel some of their books (some erroneously, but still). Of the original 52, “Static Shock,” “Men of War,” “O.M.A.C.,” “Blackhawks,” “Hawk and Dove,” “Mister Terrific,” “Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” “Voodoo,” “Grifter,” “Blue Beetle,” “Justice League International,” “Captain Atom,” “Legion Lost” and “Resurrection Man” have all either been given the heave ho or are about to be cancelled with #16. Even a Second Wave book, “G.I. Combat” is gone as of this week. DC is ok with admitting their mistakes, as long as those mistakes don’t sell. 2 for 2.
Continued below3. Keep looking to your past for inspiration
Besides “Earth 2” and “Worlds’ Finest,” this hasn’t really been the case. The upcoming “Threshold” brings back some classic cosmic characters, so is a step in the right direction, but there really hasn’t been too much mining the past for future glory. At least not yet – and no, Shazam back ups in “Justice League” don’t count. 2 for 3.
4. Multiversity needs to happen
“Next year” isn’t this year. 2 for 4.
5. Don’t hit the re-set button on the New 52 at the first sign of a slump
For better or for worse, the New 52 appears to be here to stay, and that is (somewhat of) a good thing. I’d rather DC attempt to fix what is wrong with the New 52 than abandon it completely. 3 for 5.
Brandon Burpee
Marvel
1. X-Statix Back in The Public Eye
While we never got a full blown “X-Statix” book, we did get Mike Allred and Jason Aaron giving Doop a solid outing in the pages of “Wolverine and the X-Men.” It was a nice one-off that could easily ignite an interest in a newer generation of fans that may not have been lucky enough to read “X-Force”/”X-Statix” while it made it rain once a month on a golden Wednesday. So while I may not have gotten my exact wish I feel like I was given a decent glimmer of hope. Allred returning to Marvel is a great step in the right direction. If only Milligan wasn’t tied up at DC doing “Hellblazer”…
2. Please Do Call it a Comeback: Maggott’s 616 Return
Shit, this wish came true about as much as my wish to sleep with Jenny McCarthy did when I was in junior high. That’s to say it didn’t. I know some of you are shocked Maggot and McCarthy never came through for me. Buggers.
Despite my attempts to persuade both Brian Wood, Keiron Gillen and Nick Spencer at NYCC (I shit you not, this happened) Maggot more than anything disappeared. Not only did the references to him in “Wolvie and the X-Men” disappear but Wood straight up didn’t even know Maggott was in “Ultimate X-Men” when I spoke with him. Not his fault mind you, I am pretty sure I was the only one that cared. Thanks though, Nick, for letting him shine for a bit during your “Ultimate X-Men” run. I owe you pints for life. Call me on this next year. I gotcha.
3. The Return of Bishop and his Jheri Curl
First and foremost, you must notice that Bishop’s Jheri Curl gets capitalized. That mass of man hair gets respect around these parts. That, sirs and ladies, was one fun doo. See what I kind of did there? Anyway, Bishop is back, or will be in 2013….Shit, I guess my wish didn’t come true, but it is happening. The Jheri Curl with a capital J and C on the other hand is still waiting to rise like the other J.C. did on Easter. You guys called the easter bunny Jumpy Cuddles too, right?
4. Jean Grey Rising from the ashes…Again!
Ok, so not in the way that I had hoped she might rise during “AvX” as a fiery Phoneix incarnate. Instead we get a sweet fresh faced O.G.J.G.. Bendis’ has brought us in a new direction with a rehashed concept of Jean rising from the dead by completely circumventing the whole messy death and rebirth process. Instead we get a Jean who isn’t a mess of retcons and should never haves. Bendis instead of killing off a beloved character has brought one back with a clear continuity. I’m digging it and I am very interested to see what becomes of the Original X-Men’s foray into the future. Hooray for Jean Grey!
5. New X-Men Reunion Tour
Flat out did not happen. We saw some of the squad but otherwise this was a dud wish.
DC:
1. Booster Gold Ongoing
Not only did this not happen but the title he starred in, “Justice League International,” was cancelled and Booster Gold has disappeared like Alex Smith’s QB job with the 49ers.
Continued below2. Tiny Titans: Awwwwww Yeah Titans!
Alright, so admittedly I knew this would not come back but it still stung at the time. Luckily, “Superman Family Adventures” has been fun and my son Dex has enjoyed it just as much. It’ll never replace “Tiny Titans” but it carries on the all ages sensibilities in a good way, proving that sometimes change is indeed good. Having said that, can we get a Tiny Titans cartoon direct to Blu-Ray movie? Awwwwww Direct to Blu-Ray DC Animation!
3. Miss Martian: Missing Martian Found
WHERE THE FUCK IS MISS MARTIAN?! WHY IS NO ONE ASKING THIS QUESTION?! WHY, GOD?! WHY?!
4. JSA Ongoing
I will always love the JSA that we had all grown to love but I must admit that I have enjoyed the hell out of “Earth-2.” That is one fine read, fanpeeps. So I’d like to think this was a wish that came true but better to be honest. The slow roll out of the universe has been great and I am happily planning to follow it to wherever it leads.
5. Power-Up Power Girl
Sometimes over the course of a year opinions can change. Mine sure did as I don’t even remember writing this one up and I don’t want her to be anything other than Power Girl. I just love the name despite all the pitfalls of a name referencing a woman as a girl. I also miss the boob window. So there. Bring the pain angry folks.
Mike Romeo
Marvel:
1. Stop Double shipping everything
Marvel seems to be double shipping more books than ever. This practice frustrates me because of its blatant shortsightedness. It seems that short term numbers boosts and quarterly gains are far outweighing creative output quality control.
2. Stop making everything an event
HA! We’re not even eight weeks away from AvX and the solicits are already dropping for Ultron War and it’s tie-ins. Hilarious.
3. Leave X-Factor alone
Huge thank you for this one. I almost feel like Peter David must have put some Dr. Strange hex on Marvel editorial that makes them unaware this title exists. Whatever the cause is, let’s keep it up.
4. Bendis off Avengers
This was announced last year as I was writing this up. I also asked for Remender to take the reigns of a higher profile Avengers book, namely New Avengers. I was so close on that one!
5. Give Wolverine the Jonah Hex treatment
Since I was so right about Bendis/Remender, I of course had to be so wrong about this. I still think that this’d be a great, return to basics thing to do with the character
DC:
1. Captain Marvel ongoing
Be careful what you wish for, you might just get a brooding, angsty version of it.
2. Fun Aquaman
Geoff Johns, you have not made a single runway out of whales and it is breaking my heart. Get Arthur out of that lighthouse, stick him in an underwater cave with a preadolescent, and let’s get down to business.
3. Never ever have an event
I’m sure the temptation has been great, but I think we’re doing ok on this front. DC’s new take on events is more title focused and not as wide spread. It also seems that a real effort has been made to keep individual titles from relying on others to finish out their stories. Court of Owls read just fine in just the main Batman book, and I didn’t need anything else. I think that’s pretty neat.
4. Justice league Detroit
I ONLY WANTED THIS IF IT WAS GOING TO BE FUN! I don’t know if that Vibe book looks like tons of fun.
5. Gotham Central
This’ll never happen. I was so young and naive this time last year!
