Surprisingly, I'm enjoying Amazing Spider-Man's Legacy storyline

[SPOILERS for the current “Fall of Parker” storyline in Amazing Spider-Man, in particular the cliffhanger to the most recent issue and also various plot points from adjectiveless Spider-Man]

I was not expecting to. Okay, I do wish we'd had more chance to enjoy the Parker Industries status quo (especially as I only started to like that status quo with the launch of the current series) so much so I was very skeptical about taking Peter back to the Daily Bugle.

The thing is, though, that the specific angle offers something new and interesting. I was afraid of it being a pure nostalgia exercise given that Marvel has all but announced their intention to set the engines to maximum pander.

But Peter Parker as a science writer sounds like it could be fun. Given that this is the Marvel Universe this means he could end up in all sorts of situations that build on the scientist side of the character I so enjoyed seeing explored at Parker Industries. It means that we keep the mature aspect of the character (even if he is still a prat) that I think Marvel should retain so long as Miles Morales is swinging around as the teenage Spider-Man.

That having been said, I wonder where they're going with Miles in Spider-Man and this idea that maybe he might adopt a new superhero identity. Maybe this is down to Bendis leaving and wanting to throw one last curveball to the readership.

Personally? I'd rather he remain Spider-Man because it allows Marvel to have their teenage hero cake and eat it too so we don't end up having to have Peter reverting to a younger man again as in Brand New Day. On the other hand it would be nice to see Miles get his own identity even if only to show that a newer character can survive outside of being a legacy.

If they can, of course. 

The Big #1: Marvel Legacy

Yesterday's manic ranting about Klingon foreheads and anachronistic holograms was probably triggered by the fact this very issue was sitting in my read pile for the afternoon. Marvel Legacy is, by design, fan wank. Its the event born of that executive who stated to a retailers meeting that nostalgia, not diversity, was the major selling point of comics.

[Insert well-worn, frothing rant about how that's obviously true in a medium that makes no moves towards accessibility to new readers here, I'm too tired to go over that again.]

And the fact is I'm quite looking forward to this. I fear it, as well. Recent issues of Mighty Thor have out and out stated that Jane Foster is going to die soon, which in and of itself is probably not a bad thing. The character has had terminal cancer for some time and given how she's been written in this run I don't think the character would see dying as Thor having saved so many lives at the expense of her own as a “bad death”. If she does out actively bettering the world, well, that's an ending I can get behind.

Simiarly, I do want the real Tony Stark back in some capacity. I love Riri Williams but I miss the dynamic the two had before Tony's Civil War II-induced coma and their Generations issue certainly foreshadowed how good it would be to have them interacting again now Riri has some proper hero time under belt.

Still, I fear...

I fear the fan wank aspect; I fear the collapse of all the interesting new characters that have taken up legacies over the last couple of years, especially in light of how quickly Unstoppable Wasp was cancelled; I fear the further shrinking of the medium in service to fandom-friendly nostalgia over even fractional innovation (because, let's face it, a healthy medium would have been able to introduce Nadia, Riri, Miles, Kamala, Amadeus!Hulk and all those others in their own identities instead of hand-me-downs).

Anyway, that's enough self-indulgent self-analysis. What was the first issue like?

Well, mostly it was bite-sized trailers for the tie-in series which is par for the course for event series first issues these days. Its really just a question of which ones interest me. There does seem to be a thread that actually sets up this series involving Starbrand and one of the many Ghost Riders, neither of which are characters I'm terribly interested in. There's also some business with a Celestial, again not a part of the Marvel Universe I've ever been that keen on.

There's a lot of good art but the many, many different art teams working on this issue just makes it feel even more like a collection of teaser trailers than it already did. The Fantastic Four-related teases are the most interested to me and I hope this means that Perlmutter has been forced to take his head out of his arse by Disney and we're getting a new FF comic sometime soon.

There's also some business with Odin, the Phoenix and some pre-historic Avengers that holds some promise as well as a short scene in which Norman Osborn retreats in shame from Doctor Strange's shrubbery.

Its bitty and sets up a lot of questions that will probably not be addressed in this series itself. Again, basically the format that these event series take nowadays but I find it tests my patience a bit more every year.

Still, a pleasing lack of Nazis so I'm inclined to give this one a chance. 

Events, nostalgic numerology and accessibility

Ugh, this...

Marvel, for the love of God, just tell good stories and sell them in accessible places. Its not that a difficult idea. Enough with the events, already. And what is all this renumbering about? I just can't see how this is a selling point at all. I'm not fond of the way series get a new #1 every time they change creative team or direction but I understand the argument that it provides easily recognisable jumping on points (if they were sold in places people could see them to recognise the opportunity...).

And just... we're only halfway through the Secret Empire Nazipalooza (because you keep adding issues to it), that terrifying dead weight on your audience's wallets, what do you want to be hyping another event for?

I would really like this medium I love to continue. Considering its the source material for the biggest thing in mass market entertainment right now, that shouldn't be too tall an order. However, if your best attempt at attracting readers is an event based on pandering to old-time fans, slapping bigger numbers on the covers, that requires a chart then, to be frank, I'm not laying down serious money on the bet.

The crux of the issue is Ultimates, a really good comic that keeps being interrupted. The first twelve issue run dribbled off into a Civil War II tie-in and now the ongoing narrative of the second is being sandbagged by Secret Empire filler.

The title gets twelve installments a year. Its main story is clearly driving to a point but it keeps having to pause to make room for whatever wank Marvel has decided is so good for us it can interrupt the series we want to read for months on end.

Ugh...