Posted: 04 August 2016 at 4:09pm | IP Logged | 1
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First off, let me say I like Jim Shooter's writing. His last go-round on LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES a few years ago was very well-written but somewhat buried over by flashy modern art. I've liked various stories of his through the years and I can't help but note that Marvel reached new heights under his watch.
However, as I've learned here and elsewhere (as JB would put it) he fixed Marvel...but then he KEPT "fixing" things that were no longer broken.
So, there are three things that Shooter tried to do during his "Stop fixing things!" stage that stand out in my mind:
1. He started the New Universe, giving Marvel "two universes" to deal with.. 2. He decided some stories were over and canceled books like GHOST RIDER. 3. He wanted to replace all the secret identities of the heroes.
Looking at the last few years of Marvel, it seems that his questionable dreams have been fulfilled by others.
1. The Ultimate line tried really hard to supplant the main SPIDER-MAN, AVENGERS, FANTASTIC FOUR, and X-MEN books for over ten years there (and apparently is still going somewhat even after Marvel inexplicably did their own universe-merging "Crisis"). With so many people complaining through the years about how "confusing" Earth-2 was over at DC, nobody seemed to blink an eye when Marvel started its OWN Earth-2! And the Ultimate variations have now been immortalized with the movies (which seem to be half-Ultimate and half-Classic Marvel).
2. Like cancelling GHOST RIDER (which I think has been proven through the years to have had more legs than a mere 81 issues), this is ALL Marvel seems to be doing now. Books are started and cancelled all the time based on specific storylines. Everything Marvel is doing now is SITUATIONAL. Do you want to read an iconic HULK comic? Sorry, what you get is RED HULK, then HULK AGENT OF SHIELD, now it's TEEN KOREAN HULK! Are you looking for iconic THOR, IRON MAN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, AVENGERS, or X-MEN comics? Sorry, all you can find are weird, temporary variations that will be cancelled and restarted within a year or two. EVERYTHING is a mini-series now. (Is this just to keep the readers off-balance. Is that the strategy now?)
3. Shooter's replacement idea is coming to full fruition right now! Bucky was and Sam Wilson is CAPTAIN AMERICA. (Don't get me started on the Steve Rogers series.) Jane Foster is THOR. Doc Ock was and Miles Morales is SPIDER-MAN. Dr. Doom and some teenage girl are both going to be IRON MAN. Gen. Ross was and Amadeus Cho is THE HULK. Carol Danvers is CAPTAIN MARVEL (the fourth iteration for both her and the name). Some teen girl is MS. MARVEL (because all the teen girls love the title "Ms." these days?). SPIDER-WOMAN was replaced, SHE-HULK was replaced, DR. STRANGE was replaced, POWER MAN was replaced, BLACK PANTHER was replaced, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot. All the teams are unrecognizable mixes. This was one of Shooter's worst ideas, but it has taken over the company.
Did Shooter plant these ideas and they just took 30 years to flower?
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