Who's Joined the Big 9?

[Brian Adkins]

Interesting question. Maybe something with Gwen Stacy in it? Seems like she's in a lot of things in some fashion these days.

[Huntsman Spider]

Interesting question. Maybe something with Gwen Stacy in it? Seems like she's in a lot of things in some fashion these days.

Spider-Gwen, alias Ghost-Spider, mainly. Pretty much all the Spider-related characters get continually published, or at least guaranteed a relaunch down the line, in some form or other, with the Scarlet Spider excepted due to that being rooted in the mess that was the 90s Clone Saga.

[phantom1592]

While X-Men is mentioned, I might go so far as to also suggest Excalibur.

??? What are Excalibur? I'm not sure if it really counts if you have one really great run, and then just reuse the name a couple times without any real connection.

With no original characters on the team it doesn't seem that 'Excalibur' is anything more than a name...

The long-term Big 9 books are really the bedrock of the Marvel Universe, all created in a three year period.

Hard to say if Guardians, Black Panther and Captain Marvel are long-term (spanning at last 20 years) contenders or just decade blips based on the MCU craze and cultural pushes.

And this is my biggest issue too. We live in a world of 'fads'. Are these iconic characters that will stand the test of time... or did they have one or two really good runs and then get ignored? Will they be equally popular and mainstays in another 20 years? Because that's what Spider-man, Fantastic Four and Captain America are.. They're the foundation with half a century of popularity. I really don't think anything else will really ever compete with them. I think Venom and Deadpool will get old. They've never really been 'characters' so much as gimmicks, and gimmicks get old and the next generation wants nothing to do with them.

Wolverine has been the only character who appeared since the 70's that really broke into the 'iconic' stage. Maybe Spawn... but even he's generally a footnote on life support from the 90's...

Black Panther and Captain Marvel could have... and maybe should have... but they've been around way too long with no real results to really put money on them now.

[Lightning63]

I'd say wolverine will definitely stay main stay but venom/deadpool will drop out of the spotlight and Miles/Black Panther/Gotg/ms marvel have the chance to become mainstays

[phantom1592]

I'd say wolverine will definitely stay main stay but venom/deadpool will drop out of the spotlight and Miles/Black Panther/Gotg/ms marvel have the chance to become mainstays

Should be interesting to see... but they have to handle it right. Letting T'challa die with Boseman will not do the character any favors. Black Panther was primed to really be a big thing... but now?? I don't know. Miles is trickier... He's really too similar to Peter. He needs a few things that make him unique... they either need to give him something special in his personality... or fix Peter. But right now the eternal need to keep Peter in High School and make him awkward and trying to understand his powers while being really smart and be responsible is way too similar to Miles. Age Peter up... get him at LEAST in College where he belonged and let the awkard teenage thing be Mile's to play with and we may see some traction. I just started watching the newest Spider-man cartoon... and they literally have Peter and Miles going to school together and everything Peter is doing is pretty much how Miles was in Spider-verse... It's just stale.

[ARkadelphia]

Since the Silver Age, there have been nine titles that are continuously published, with no more than a few years break at the most between relaunches:

FF, Spidey, Avengers, Cap, Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Daredevil, and X-Men

Since then, Wolverine has joined those titles brining it up to 10.

I'm wondering, which other characters or teams have become 'must-publish' books for Marvel? What books are Marvel expected to publish now, that we take for granted? Are perhaps either Ms. Marvel, Miles Spidey, X-Force, Black Panther, Cap Marvel, or Guardians (or all of them) getting to that point? Have I missed any book you think has joined the big leaduges, or is there a one I listed you definitely don't think has made the big leagues? Curious to hear people's thoughts.

When I look at this list what really strikes me is Daredevil. Most of the other books I KNOW have had rough patches in their history. FF cancelled earlier this decade plus heroes reborn. Avengers, Cap, IM also Heroes Reborn. Thor outright cancelled during that time. X-Men cancelled in early ‘’70’s. hulk took time to launch in the first place, getting cancelled after 6 issues.

Now spidey is spider. He’s been successful since day one and everyone knows it. But daredevil. he may not have had the super sales peaks of these other books, but I can’t think of a time where he’s ever struggled like all these non-spidey titles. Am I wrong here or forgetting something. Seems like he’s just super consistent and blessed with long runs by his writers.

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

When I look at this list what really strikes me is Daredevil. Most of the other books I KNOW have had rough patches in their history. FF cancelled earlier this decade plus heroes reborn. Avengers, Cap, IM also Heroes Reborn. Thor outright cancelled during that time. X-Men cancelled in early ‘’70’s. hulk took time to launch in the first place, getting cancelled after 6 issues.

Now spidey is spider. He’s been successful since day one and everyone knows it. But daredevil. he may not have had the super sales peaks of these other books, but I can’t think of a time where he’s ever struggled like all these non-spidey titles. Am I wrong here or forgetting something. Seems like he’s just super consistent and blessed with long runs by his writers.

I think the thing with Daredevil is that ever since Frank Miller started writing and drawing him, not only had the bar been raised high but he's had quite a constant run of top and/or interesting writers (bar a hiccup or two) - Denny O'Neill, Ann Nocenti, Karl Kesel, Joe Kelly, Kevin Smith, David Mack, Brian Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Mark Waid, Charles Soule and now Chip Zdarsky.

[chicago_bastard]

Wolverine has been the only character who appeared since the 70's that really broke into the 'iconic' stage.

You don't consider the Punisher to be iconic?

When I look at this list what really strikes me is Daredevil. Most of the other books I KNOW have had rough patches in their history. FF cancelled earlier this decade plus heroes reborn. Avengers, Cap, IM also Heroes Reborn. Thor outright cancelled during that time. X-Men cancelled in early ‘’70’s. hulk took time to launch in the first place, getting cancelled after 6 issues.

Now spidey is spider. He’s been successful since day one and everyone knows it. But daredevil. he may not have had the super sales peaks of these other books, but I can’t think of a time where he’s ever struggled like all these non-spidey titles. Am I wrong here or forgetting something. Seems like he’s just super consistent and blessed with long runs by his writers.

The Daredevil title struggled heavily in the 70s and was close to cancellation several times then. To avoid it Marvel made Black Widow co-star, later they seriously considered publishing Iron Man and Daredevil as one split book, finally they had to put the title on bi-monthly status. Only when Miller took over Daredevil became a success. It's still impressive that DD kept being published constantly but it's fair to say that Marvel didn't show as much patience with other titles.

[Killerbee911]

I'd say wolverine will definitely stay main stay but venom/deadpool will drop out of the spotlight and Miles/Black Panther/Gotg/ms marvel have the chance to become mainstays

I don't see any reason why Deadpool or Venom will drop out of the spotlight. I will put it this way Captain America, Superman, Fantastic Four are more likely to drop out of the spotlight than those two. Those characters can't go dark when the market shifts away from white knight style heroes they can't do anything else but be that while Deadpool and Venom can adjust to be lighter and more heroic. Venom and Deadpool(Harley Quinn) actually have momentum based on market growth.

The longevity of many characters are based on "hey I am leader of the Avengers" "Marvel spotlights me in nearly every event" " I am part of an artificial trio of heroes who are important" "Marvel is putting the best talent possible on my book" "I am historical important so I have to get a spot in movie or in a cartoon" "Your book failed okay we don't care we giving you another shot". The funniest thing people love to call out Captain Marvel or Champions for being "artificially kept alive" but don't talk about when it happens to the "iconic" characters.

The most beautiful about this era is the movie industry shows what happens when parity of resources is given to characters.

[MatthewFieldhouse]

I don't see any reason why Deadpool or Venom will drop out of the spotlight. I will put it this way Captain America, Superman, Fantastic Four are more likely to drop out of the spotlight than those two. Those characters can't go dark when the market shifts away from white knight style heroes they can't do anything else but be that while Deadpool and Venom can adjust to be lighter and more heroic. Venom and Deadpool(Harley Quinn) actually have momentum based on market growth.

The longevity of many characters are based on "hey I am leader of the Avengers" "Marvel spotlights me in nearly every event" " I am part of an artificial trio of heroes who are important" "Marvel is putting the best talent possible on my book" "I am historical important so I have to get a spot in movie or in a cartoon" "Your book failed okay we don't care we giving you another shot". The funniest thing people love to call out Captain Marvel or Champions for being "artificially kept alive" but don't talk about when it happens to the "iconic" characters.

The most beautiful about this era is the movie industry shows what happens when parity of resources is given to characters.

Deadpool's ongoing ended last week, has a one-shot later in year but no new ongoing yet, so others aren't more likely to drop

[Mike]

I'm wondering, which other characters or teams have become 'must-publish' books for Marvel?

I really can't think of any. Marvel may "push" characters that they want to be popular but the buying public really has a say in the end.

[Digifiend]

Deadpool's ongoing ended last week, has a one-shot later in year but no new ongoing yet, so others aren't more likely to drop

So that's at least a three month hiatus. When was the last time Deadpool was missing for four months or longer?

[Huntsman Spider]

I don't see any reason why Deadpool or Venom will drop out of the spotlight. I will put it this way Captain America, Superman, Fantastic Four are more likely to drop out of the spotlight than those two. Those characters can't go dark when the market shifts away from white knight style heroes they can't do anything else but be that while Deadpool and Venom can adjust to be lighter and more heroic. Venom and Deadpool(Harley Quinn) actually have momentum based on market growth.

The longevity of many characters are based on "hey I am leader of the Avengers" "Marvel spotlights me in nearly every event" " I am part of an artificial trio of heroes who are important" "Marvel is putting the best talent possible on my book" "I am historical important so I have to get a spot in movie or in a cartoon" "Your book failed okay we don't care we giving you another shot". The funniest thing people love to call out Captain Marvel or Champions for being "artificially kept alive" but don't talk about when it happens to the "iconic" characters.

The most beautiful about this era is the movie industry shows what happens when parity of resources is given to characters.

That's a fairly good point there, and it begs the question, "What's the real difference between those 'legacy icons' such as Iron Man and the Avengers and 'rising stars' such as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel and the Champions?"

[PCN24454]

That's a fairly good point there, and it begs the question, "What's the real difference between those 'legacy icons' such as Iron Man and the Avengers and 'rising stars' such as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel and the Champions?"

The difference is that if I were to say "let Peter Parker retire" most of this forum would be out for my blood.

Otherwise, yeah it's kinda prejudicial.

[Digifiend]

Wasn't there a bit of an uproar when it was reported in 2011 that Peter Parker was getting killed off? Of course, it was actually the Ultimate Universe version, not the mainstream version.