"All-New, All-Different Marvel Previews" to Reveal Future of Marvel Universe

[JKtheMac]

Original Sin involved more than one home office. There are several ongoings not involved with Secret Wars. I wasn't reading comics during AvX, so I don't know whether there were a few ongoings not participating. Axis likewise involved multiple home offices. Age of Ultron technically affected the entire MU, at least temporarily. Whatever the technicalities, these annual events are effectively "line wide." The proposition is to keep the home offices to themselves more or less until something really big can be developed over a span of several years.

Involving more than one office is not really the definition of a line wide crossover though, and neither is the non-participation of some volumes. Involving multiple editorial teams is a good way to increase the reach and scope of a crossover but no one would claim that Original Sin was anywhere near the scope of AvX.

Age of Ultron confused everyone because it was wide in scope but ignored by many books. Again if everyone stopped listening to the hype it would have been obvious that it wasn't a major event. There is a clear schedule of major events every two to three years. They have a big status quo changing event and set the major lines on a track, then once those major lines begin to run out of steam they bring in the next big event.

Reading this back before I submit this sounds a bit cynical but I am not. The Event structure works really well at the moment, and let's face it you can't market an event by saying "this event only has limited scope, and doesn't change too much".

[MarvelMaster616]

Just in time for the San Diego Comic Con later in July. Makes sense. I really liked the sneak peak of ANAD Avengers. That looks like it's going to be a solid flagship title. But I can't help but be worried about the X-men and the Fantastic Four. We've already seen numerous instances of Marvel undercutting them in terms of merchandising. How can that not carry over to the comics? If the rumors about the X-men being banished into space are true, that's going to really twist the dynamics of the new Marvel Universe. But I think if done right, it could still be a good thing for them in the long run. For the Fantastic Four, however, I think the outlook is pretty bleak.

[dolf334]

Yeah...I do agree that with all the early promotional stuff they were doing for Secret Wars did make me feel like ''Just get on with Secret Wars already''. I couldn't get into Spider-Verse when that was on because I was like ''There's going to be a Spider-Verse in Secret Wars anyway so why bother?'' But that's how they do things LOL.

Do you think that Marvel is promoting the newer titles because early returns on Secret Wars sub-titles are not selling as well as they would have expected them to sell. Therefore, Marvel wants to show the readers want is going to be coming around the bend in order to possibly increase current sales as well. I know a lot of folks here have mentioned that they are not getting Secret Wars tie-in 'XYZ' because it is basically a What-If story, and they will come back to the getting titles once the new continuity begins.

[Tom Reed]

Just give me the rumored Illuminati series and I'll be content....as long as it's not written by Bendis.

The Illuminati deserve Bendis.

[JKtheMac]

Do you think that Marvel is promoting the newer titles because early returns on Secret Wars sub-titles are not selling as well as they would have expected them to sell. Therefore, Marvel wants to show the readers want is going to be coming around the bend in order to possibly increase current sales as well. I know a lot of folks here have mentioned that they are not getting Secret Wars tie-in 'XYZ' because it is basically a What-If story, and they will come back to the getting titles once the new continuity begins.

Initial reaction from the editors suggest better sales across more titles than anticipated.

[Tom Reed]

Do you think that Marvel is promoting the newer titles because early returns on Secret Wars sub-titles are not selling as well as they would have expected them to sell. Therefore, Marvel wants to show the readers want is going to be coming around the bend in order to possibly increase current sales as well. I know a lot of folks here have mentioned that they are not getting Secret Wars tie-in 'XYZ' because it is basically a What-If story, and they will come back to the getting titles once the new continuity begins.

Well Tom Brevoort and Axel Alonso have repeatedly said that sales will push what new titles show up post Secret Wars.

[Biclopcicle]

Involving more than one office is not really the definition of a line wide crossover though, and neither is the non-participation of some volumes. Involving multiple editorial teams is a good way to increase the reach and scope of a crossover but no one would claim that Original Sin was anywhere near the scope of AvX.

Age of Ultron confused everyone because it was wide in scope but ignored by many books. Again if everyone stopped listening to the hype it would have been obvious that it wasn't a major event. There is a clear schedule of major events every two to three years. They have a big status quo changing event and set the major lines on a track, then once those major lines begin to run out of steam they bring in the next big event.

Reading this back before I submit this sounds a bit cynical but I am not. The Event structure works really well at the moment, and let's face it you can't market an event by saying "this event only has limited scope, and doesn't change too much".

So what you're saying is that only events that actually have line-wide, long term impact are those to be considered "line-wide," and that in reality they only occur every 2-3 years. I would agree with that. But I would prefer not only that they don't tell us that every event is "major" like they have with OS, AXIS, AoU etc but also that they not even have those stories. Or keep those stories sequestered to the X-office, Spidey office, Avengers office, etc. It doesn't seem to be an organic process. The stories aren't building up to Original Sin etc. Its like they go on their retreats and say "hey guys, give me ideas for the Summer 2016 event!" Perhaps that is the more financially viable model, who knows. If so, it won't change. Seeing as how this has been the model going back at least to House of M, it probably is primarily financially driven.

Purely from a creativity standpoint, I don't believe this is a great structure they have set up. Yeah, it's only a minor annoyance to acknowledge then rapidly ignore OS, AXIS, etc., but its worthwhile to commiserate with the other posters on this.

[Biclopcicle]

I also remember the old school Annual-based events they had back in the late 80's and maybe early 90's. I guess people could more easily ignore the annuals. I liked Atlantis Attacks though! They had the Serpent Crown Saga in each Annual. I thought that was a nice little gimmick

[Serotonin]

Why should they return ? It is unknown until now how much of the old stories which happened shortly before SW will make it into the 616 but the more the less they have a chance because they lost their kingdoms, they are wanted and who knows what.

Don't expect much to be erased. In ANAD Avengers from FCBD, friction between Falcon and Steve Rogers still exists - and that friction happened right before the incursion due to Steve revealing he joined the illuminati. Marvel also recently trademarked the term for a comic which is where the rumor of the series comes in.

[youthoftoday]

Do you think that Marvel is promoting the newer titles because early returns on Secret Wars sub-titles are not selling as well as they would have expected them to sell. Therefore, Marvel wants to show the readers want is going to be coming around the bend in order to possibly increase current sales as well. I know a lot of folks here have mentioned that they are not getting Secret Wars tie-in 'XYZ' because it is basically a What-If story, and they will come back to the getting titles once the new continuity begins.

Plan and simple, it all has to do with the solicitation process. July will bring us October solicitations which is when most of these will probably be launching. So even if they didn't give us this "preview" magazine, we would still be finding out about them when solicits come out in the middle of the month. This way we are just finding out a few weeks earlier. It has nothing to do low sales or lack of interest.

[JKtheMac]

So what you're saying is that only events that actually have line-wide, long term impact are those to be considered "line-wide," and that in reality they only occur every 2-3 years. I would agree with that. But I would prefer not only that they don't tell us that every event is "major" like they have with OS, AXIS, AoU etc but also that they not even have those stories. Or keep those stories sequestered to the X-office, Spidey office, Avengers office, etc. It doesn't seem to be an organic process. The stories aren't building up to Original Sin etc. Its like they go on their retreats and say "hey guys, give me ideas for the Summer 2016 event!" Perhaps that is the more financially viable model, who knows. If so, it won't change. Seeing as how this has been the model going back at least to House of M, it probably is primarily financially driven.

Purely from a creativity standpoint, I don't believe this is a great structure they have set up. Yeah, it's only a minor annoyance to acknowledge then rapidly ignore OS, AXIS, etc., but its worthwhile to commiserate with the other posters on this.

Yes I suspect deep down we agree on most of this it's just the way we express things.

It sounds to me you are retreading the very debates that were being had in those writers retreats about five years ago. Around about that time the writers were getting very frustrated on an almost point to point basis with what you lay out as your frustrations. I would argue that they have improved things somewhat since House of M for example. They have events that do mean something, and are driven with creative considerations in mind.

On the other hand, even if the editors are no longer dictating the direction it is still part of their job to carry those creative decisions through, so they are always going to be the guys telling us every event is worth reading because it changes everything. It's how they trained themselves to sell comics. It might be more honest to say "this event has an affect on the MU but primarily it's just a great story with some cool thematic tie-ins" but we are so used to the hype machine we might read that as "don't bother with this one guys it's not a biggie".

[Biclopcicle]

Yes I suspect deep down we agree on most of this it's just the way we express things.

It sounds to me you are retreading the very debates that were being had in those writers retreats about five years ago. Around about that time the writers were getting very frustrated on an almost point to point basis with what you lay out as your frustrations. I would argue that they have improved things somewhat since House of M for example. They have events that do mean something, and are driven with creative considerations in mind.

On the other hand, even if the editors are no longer dictating the direction it is still part of their job to carry those creative decisions through, so they are always going to be the guys telling us every event is worth reading because it changes everything. It's how they trained themselves to sell comics. It might be more honest to say "this event has an affect on the MU but primarily it's just a great story with some cool thematic tie-ins" but we are so used to the hype machine we might read that as "don't bother with this one guys it's not a biggie".

Thanks for the perspective. Yeah I didn't really read comics from 1994-2012. So I wasn't along for the ride as things evolved. I read House of M recently, but yeah I didn't experience things as they happened. So good, if they have acknowledged above issues and have at least attempted to address them then sounds line we're more or less on the same page

[Rogue Star]

All I wanna know is what happens to Rogue, Rosalind Solomon, and Cassandra Lang. Marvel's answer will determine if I'll be reading comics after Secret Wars.

[Wandacrystal22]

Marvel is making me loose interest in the MAJORITY of the comics. I might be reading old stories than new ones. I still got DC, Image, and Valiant.

[Overhazard]

i hope to see some of the original guardians back in some capacity as i am assuming Guardians 3000 isn't returning...too bad as I really enjoyed the title.

Best space book Marvel had in a really long time.