For whatever reason, it just seems like all the Marvel attempts at launching a Dark line (or even single titles) don't sell well.
I've supported many of them; the Hellstorm book, the first Morbius, the 1980s Man Thing, Dr. Strange (the last edition), etc. I think name recognition is an issue; you just don't hear "Brother Voodoo" spoken with the same power or frequency as you do Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, etc., and it's unlikely you ever will.
Other than that...I'm not sure what's going on. Some of these titles have had strong creative teams, some have not. Horror, in general, seems to struggle in the Big Two. DC has a bit more prominent stable of characters, but even there, titles like Demon Knights, I, Vampire, Frankenstein, etc., just couldn't make it. And even JLA Dark, which supposedly has a movie in the works (I will believe it when I see it) isn't exactly hitting home runs, sales wise.
Don't get me wrong. I would absolutely love to see a revival of the 1970's Marvel line, but I'm not sure how to go about it. If you make it too 'retro' you will risk making the characters and stories seem dated. If you 'reboot' them too much, you'll lose the fans of the classic material and risk looking ridiculous, with Dracula popping open his Kindle to access the Book of the Dead or some such nonsense.
Maybe the inevitable Dr. Strange flick will open things up for the supernatural line, who knows? Until then, I'm not real optimistic.
As TRACKS said is from Deadpool the Gauntlet its pretty cool team, its a shame that they're all dead but it doesn't mean they cant be brought back to life.
Another idea would be a Tomb of Terror series with Satana as the host(kinda like Elvira or Vampirella) telling stories of each Supernatural.
It would help keep me in comics!!! Marvel has such a great cast of supernatural characters, but they hardly show up in any main tittles or make a difference , hence the reason for my dropping Mighty Avengers( no blade, no buy)
I honestly think a good venue would be to have a digital only series if cost is a concern but they'd have to make with a consistent ongoing story focused on Dr. Strange (especially with him dealing with his new status quo) or similar high profile supernatural character like Blade or Elsa Bloodstone or Cap Britain (and MI:13 hopefully) and a smaller backup tale featuring a mystic character or one that finds themselves in a supernatural battle. Have the main story lead into some other books here and there so that it gets something akin to old school editor notes where people would have to read the digital series to find what happens next to some side character or villain they were just recently introduced to or had known for a while and just seen undergo a radical change.
I think a book like that could be the mystical backbone of the entire Marvel mystic universe, the problem is getting an editor or editors willing to craft such a unified vision. Despite Marvel's love of crossovers and guest spots the truth is they really don't have much in the way books cooperation unless its for a crossover event or the books are written by the same writer.
there needs to be more Marvel Knights mini-series based on the magic/supernatural culture characters.
Right now there's Ghost Rider, Avengers Undercover (although that's ending), a lot of mystic stuff in New Avengers, decent amount in Iron Fist, Loki, Thor...
Which is why I said characters like Blade are hurt by the shared universe. Nonetheless the potential is there for Marvel to do a mostly self contained horror / supernatural book. DC recently did it with Animal Man and Swamp Thing in the early days of the New 52 and it wasn't hurt by the shared world simply because they isolated the characters from the shared world. The key is isolation. Blade operating in New York City is just plain silly because you can't take a step without tripping over a Marvel here but what about Phoenix, Arizona? You just have to move the story away from mainstream 616 and keep it that way without any extremely stupid crossovers (Curse of the Mutants).
Current Ghost Rider definitely has supernatural themes, but also stays very street level as well, but as far as quality goes, it's very underwhelming for me. Avengers Undercover I don't know too much about, though Hellstrom is yet again portrayed as a villain if I'm not mistaken, which is a shame if it's true. New Avengers has supernatural elements as well, but isn't exactly a supernatural book. And Iron Fist, Loki and Thor, although tied to mysticism, lacks the horror element supernatural books tend to have. Not meaning to dissect your suggestions or anything, but it's few and far between we get a supernatural book that feels like a supernatural book. Maybe it's too much of a niche genre.
That suuuuuuuucks
Last edited by Of Atlantis; 08-15-2014 at 05:47 AM.
So many characters, so much lost potential.
4 Ghost Riders
Blade
Dr. Strange
Brother/Dr Voodoo
Elsa Bloodstone
Living Mummy
Werewolf By Night
Vampire By Night
Man-Thing
Manphibian
Morbius
Man-Wolf
Adam (Frankensteins Monster)
Terror
Deathlok
Sleepwalker ( yeah, I count him as a monster)
Son of Satan
Satana
Etc, etc.