Getting to the root of Marvel's New York City Problem....

[Fairyprincess]

Didn't the hulk start out in new mexico????

[Zero Hunter]

I have said for years they need to spread out a little. The big thing for me is why the city of New York even ALLOWS teams to set up in the middle of the city. There is no way in hell in any real world sense they would allow the Avengers or the FF or the X-Men to just set up shop in the middle of such a populated area. Even the movies realized this when they moved the Avengers out of the city into a less populated area. The X-Men should have been told right from the start to get their school the hell out of Central Park since there is no way the city would just say ok to that. There are some characters that are just so linked that they shouldn't be moved like Spider Man but the others not so much. It makes me laugh when you realize that if a villain destroyed New York City he would wipe out 90% of Marvels heroes in one blast.

It is a hold over from the old day when the writers thought NYC was the center of the universe.

[Anthony W]

I have said for years they need to spread out a little. The big thing for me is why the city of New York even ALLOWS teams to set up in the middle of the city. There is no way in hell in any real world sense they would allow the Avengers or the FF or the X-Men to just set up shop in the middle of such a populated area. Even the movies realized this when they moved the Avengers out of the city into a less populated area. The X-Men should have been told right from the start to get their school the hell out of Central Park since there is no way the city would just say ok to that. There are some characters that are just so linked that they shouldn't be moved like Spider Man but the others not so much. It makes me laugh when you realize that if a villain destroyed New York City he would wipe out 90% of Marvels heroes in one blast.

It is a hold over from the old day when the writers thought NYC was the center of the universe.

Y'know what? The last time Marvel comics even remotely cared about places that weren't NYC were when they were hawking those USAvengers covers...or when they destroyed Las Vegas for shock value. But never fear Captain America is getting up for his journey of discovery where the rest of the America will be used as props to help him get over all the guilt he feels for the things his evil twin did?

It was an evil twin right?

[Alan2099]

I miss the Avengers West Coast and European Excalibur team. We need to bring those back.

[pageturner]

It is silly given the existence of super fast vehicles and teleporters that characters cannot be more spread out. Some characters are tied strongly to NYC like spiderman, and the Defenders but many can be moved with little impact. In fact it would make NYC less of a target for many bad guys.

[pageturner]

Didn't the hulk start out in new mexico????

at one point it was said he liked being in that area because it was less populated which would make sense for Banner to think that way. He also said he liked the fact people still air dried cloths which made getting new purple pants easier.

Banner was more responsible than Richards who put a portal to the Negative zone in Manhattan.

[Anthony W]

It is silly given the existence of super fast vehicles and teleporters that characters cannot be more spread out. Some characters are tied strongly to NYC like spiderman, and the Defenders but many can be moved with little impact. In fact it would make NYC less of a target for many bad guys.

I was once one of those fans that thought Marvel's approach was better than DC'S, but now I have to admit that they put more care and thought into their fake cities than Marvel does into their real cities.

[Thursaiz]

As a non-American, it does seem extremely silly to have New York City be the center of the universe. It worked in the 60's, but now it isn't even in the top 20 cities on this planet to live in. Of course, American readership would plummet if heroes started living elsewhere. In reality, the only hero I can think of that actually needs skyscrapers at all is Spider-Man.

[Red Robe Jaldari]

As a non-American, it does seem extremely silly to have New York City be the center of the universe. It worked in the 60's, but now it isn't even in the top 20 cities on this planet to live in. Of course, American readership would plummet if heroes started living elsewhere. In reality, the only hero I can think of that actually needs skyscrapers at all is Spider-Man.

That would do them in? Characters that sold well for more than 10 years?

[davew128]

I have said for years they need to spread out a little. The big thing for me is why the city of New York even ALLOWS teams to set up in the middle of the city. There is no way in hell in any real world sense they would allow the Avengers or the FF or the X-Men to just set up shop in the middle of such a populated area. Even the movies realized this when they moved the Avengers out of the city into a less populated area. The X-Men should have been told right from the start to get their school the hell out of Central Park since there is no way the city would just say ok to that.

Well in the instances of the FF and Avengers, the City had little say. For whatever reason the Baxter Building has always been somewhat immune to any efforts to get the FF out of there. As for the Avengers, they've been chartered historically by both the US government and the UN (and at times shut down as a result), and likely the city was told to butt out. The X-Men? It was addressed immediately as apparently they are paying some insane amount of rent. Its amazing how many real world problems get a pass in both the real world and in fiction when enough cash is presented.

[Rosebunse]

I sort of like and I think it makes Marvel work, in a way. NYC has basically become Superhero City, creating a bubble for superheroes and villains and giving them their own little world and even their own little culture. I think it would be cool to see them take their fighting to other cities that might not be prepared for it, but at the same time, I'm not sure it would work mass scale.

[Hypestyle]

Detroit. Atlanta. St. Louis. Denver. Make some one-shots and mini series happen.

[Anthony W]

I sort of like and I think it makes Marvel work, in a way. NYC has basically become Superhero City, creating a bubble for superheroes and villains and giving them their own little world and even their own little culture. I think it would be cool to see them take their fighting to other cities that might not be prepared for it, but at the same time, I'm not sure it would work mass scale.

It works for the heroes. If you are villain why would you commit crimes in NYC where all the heroes live? It makes no sense. Superpowered crime should be on the risein every major city in America not named New York. Something tells me that for every Electro there is a nameless guy who got superpowers in a freak accident moved out of city and robbed middle America blind and retired in three years with over ten million in the bank.

[Rosebunse]

It works for the heroes. If you are villain why would you commit crimes in NYC where all the heroes live? It makes no sense. Superpowered crime should be on the risein every major city in America not named New York. Something tells me that for every Electro there is a nameless guy who got superpowers in a freak accident moved out of city and robbed middle America blind and retired in three years with over ten million in the bank.

Well, some villains don't want to leave, I imagine. Sure, they could move out, but for some of them, they'd be leaving their friends and family behind, their support systems, their assured jobs and organizations. Plus, quite a few of them can't really leave because their finances probably keep getting busted up every single time they go to prison. Which creates a never-ending cycle of them getting into prison, leaving prison without any money, doing a score to get money, getting beaten up by Spider-man and sent to prison again, rinse and repeat.

This isn't even getting into the fact that some villains sort of have to stay in New York for health reasons. Where else is someone like Morbius the Living Vampire going to fit in and get blood? What about Eddie Brock's cancer problems? There are probably others I've forgotten.

[MajorHoy]

. . . Captain America is getting up for his journey of discovery where the rest of the America will be used as props to help him get over all the guilt he feels for the things his evil twin did?

It was an evil twin right?

Well, . . . not exactly.

It was him, but he was changed by the cosmic cube.
Then the cosmic cube released the previous version of Steve to fight and defeat the altered version of him (which had originally been changed by the cosmic cube).

Or something like that . . .