Marvel Doesn't Totally Suck Now

- by Ninja Ross, 24 November 2012

You may remember an article I wrote called “How to Deal With Your Realisation That Marvel Kinda Sucks Now.” You may also remember Reuben DeBord’s “Is it Time for Marvel NOW?” Well, I still stand by my opinions in that article but I did recently pick up "Hawkeye" Issue 1, based on its great reviews. I then quickly picked up the rest of the issues and I’m now up to date on that sucker. Matt Fraction has a great sense of humour and can write great action scenes while David Aja helps bring an almost indie style to the book.

The best thing about this new Hawkeye series is that it’s just about Hawkeye. No crossovers or guest appearances that would usually appear in a book like this. This is what Hawkeye does when he’s not in the Avengers. Also, he’s not wearing the old costume. Sure, it looked cool and Señor Editor will probably moan at me (he’s a fan of old Hawkeye) but let’s be honest, he just looked like a purple Wolverine. [WRONG!!! Wolverine looks like a non-purple Hawkeye! MOAN!!! It's not Hawkeye's, nor his tailor's, fault that some newbie one-off Hulk villain became Marvel's greatest cash cow! And your Trash Mutant parking space is now for the handicapped only! - J. Jonah Editor]

Why his current costume is pretty much the movie version, it’s not in the book very often. Clint Barton is often dressed in a suit or just casual clothes. Heck, he was naked during one fight scene but that wasn’t nearly as cool...

But, most importantly, this incredible book made me check out some of Marvel NOW’s issue ones. Indestructible Hulk isn’t bad but I noticed Phil Coulson has been crammed into the Marvel Universe. Deadpool’s a lot of fun. Everything else is pretty much how I expected it to go; cashing in on the movies and being boring while doing it.

But Thor is something different. Thor: God of Thunder is freaking awesome.

Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic give us a real Norse God. He’s kicking in teeth, drinking ale, making his way through Midgard’s women folk!

But not only is he awesome but the story is incredibly exciting, well written and it looks fantastic. Thor is hunting a God Killer. There is no other way I can put that. Someone is killing Gods and Thor wants to beat the crap out of him.

Like Hawkeye, this book deals with Thor and his problems, not Marvel’s and everyone else’s problems. It has three settings: The past on Midgard, the present on an alien world and the future on Asgard. No Marvel in sight!

But it has the classic exciting Marvel feel that has been missing from Marvel books for a few years now. The feel of a creative team enjoying what they do and trying to make the best story they can.

So, these two books show that Marvel has a chance of redemption. A chance to be as good, if not better, than it used to be. I’m getting close to optimistic here, people! You KNOW that’s a rare thing.

Read these books. If you agree with me (you will) you should tell Marvel, with your money, that this is what you want. Not the other crap they produce and promote.

Tagged: comics.

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