Most of Marvel's comics are really bad right now

[redrunner97]

I'll play a game and tell you which titles, of the ones you say are on your pull list, that I am personally enjoying.
No conflicted feelings, just my yes or no (even though opinion can change, alongside quality or perception):

Amazing Spider-Man BAD
Captain America (Sam Wilson) GOOD
Captain America (Steve Rogers) GOOD (... of what we've seen so far)
Invincible Iron Man GOOD
Mighty Thor BAD
Totally Awesome Hulk BAD
Daredevil GOOD
All-New, All-Different Avengers GOOD
Uncanny Inhumans GOOD
Guardians of the Galaxy GOOD
Extraordinary X-Men BAD

7 to 4... The "GOOD"'s have it! Case closed.... except, wait... are you saying everyone has their own unique individual opinion? Whaaaa...

I'd recommend branching outside the limit of only ten, and only THOSE ten. It's an arbitrary list and you're missing out on great books for no real reason.

Moon Knight, Karnak, A Force, Black Panther, Dr Strange , Ultimates , All new Inhumans are great

I won't put any X-men books because I'm completely biased and I love my mutant fix I tend to enjoy what ever involves my mutants (especially Magneto )

I'm the same with with my X-books too, Outburstz!!
No matter how good or bad, I keep on picking up the next issue. It's worth it in the end... I think. Lol.

For the record though, I'm LOVING All-New X-Men, and Uncanny X-Men is very enjoyable too.
Extraordinary X-Men is the only one I'm not really feelin', despite my unnatural adoration of both Jean Grey and Colossus.

Karnak might be the best Marvel book being published right now. It's deep, thought-provoking, artistic, and both aesthetically and intellectually stimulating. Everything you listed is high on my list. I think Marvel is actually putting out more good books than bad, by a wide margin, so that's a win in my opinion.

[Raye]

Now before you criticize my pull list and tell me how awesome the lesser-selling titles are, don't. I don't change my pull list. I buy the heavy hitters and roll the dice on quality. That's what I enjoy, but Marvel is really dropping the ball on the quality. Yet another damn relaunch is not going to cut it. They need to work on some good long-form storytelling and the recent interview where Brevoort is like "We need more impact now" totally ignores the basic principles of storytelling - you need small moments to make the big ones more meaningful. Be prepared for a lot of noise signifying nothing.

Is anyone else having a hard time enjoying Marvel lately or is it just me?

If you're not liking the books you're getting, it's not really fair to say you enjoy it, is it? If one approach has stopped working for you, maybe it's time to try a different one? It is also not fair to say that most of the books Marvel puts out are bad when your sample size doesn't even cover a quarter of their line. There are lots of good books. Also, it's subjective. I happen to really enjoy Mighty Thor, Iron Man is good, ANAD Avengers is good for what it is, but I am not really the target audience, i don't think. (I think it's aimed at somewhat younger readers/all ages. And it's fine, as far as that goes but not really what I am after for an Avengers book personally. But I think it's great that a book like it exists, and I'd happily give it to my niece to read) Captain America, been one whole issue but I personally really enjoy Spencer's work, and am intrigued by the development, so i'm sticking with it. The rest either i never tried or am not thrilled with, but you know, that's no different than any other time in the past.

[dragonmp93]

If you're not liking the books you're getting, it's not really fair to say you enjoy it, is it? If one approach has stopped working for you, maybe it's time to try a different one? It is also not fair to say that most of the books Marvel puts out are bad when your sample size doesn't even cover a quarter of their line. There are lots of good books. Also, it's subjective. I happen to really enjoy Mighty Thor, Iron Man good, ANAD Avengers is good for what it is, but I am not really the target audience, i don't think. (I think it's aimed at somewhat younger readers/all ages. And it's fine, as far as that goes but not really what I am after for an Avengers book personally. But I think it's great that a book like it exists, and I'd happily give it to my niece to read) The rest either i never tried or am not thrilled with, but you know, that's no different than any other time in the past.

I think that the problem is that he/she likes to read the top sellers, but he/she is not liking neither of them.

[redrunner97]

Also, it's subjective.

Quoted for truth, this is likely the most important takeaway from this entire thread; though I'd still recommend branching out into more diverse Marvel books.

[Raye]

I think that the problem is that he/she likes to read the top sellers, but he/she is not liking neither of them.

oh, I understand that. But that approach has clearly stopped working for him, so maybe try something different. What's more important, sticking with what you've always done, or actually enjoying yourself?

Quoted for truth, this is likely the most important takeaway from this entire thread; though I'd still recommend branching out into more diverse Marvel books.

For sure, i have no idea what he's looking for in a comic, (though I'd hazard a guess 'old school and classic') but there must be something out there that he'd like.

And yeah, I'm sure there are people out there who love every single one of the books he listed to bits. Probably not one person loving all of them at once, but Marvel is not trying to cater to one person, they are catering to many, so that's just how it goes.

[numberthirty]

Is anyone else having a hard time enjoying Marvel lately or is it just me?

I'm enjoying it just fine.

[DebkoX]

I have to disagree a little, Ant-Man + Ms Marvel are very good.

[Prisoner 6655321]

My Marvel pull list is

Silver Surfer
Moon Knight
Black Panther
Daredevil
Punisher
Daredevil / Punisher Mini
Howard the Duck
Power Man and Iron Fist
Doctor Strange

And I'm pretty happy with that chunk o' books.

If I have any complaints about Marvel it'd be the overall cost (price and sometimes erratic publishing schedule) and the constant cycling through events. Also, for some reason their covers tend to smudge way too easy.

[Prof. Warren]

I have been collecting each major character/title that Marvel publishes for several years now. This is the first moment in that time that I am absolutely disappointed.

I get the big 10 titles:

Amazing Spider-Man
Captain America (was getting Sam Wilson, now getting Steve Rogers)
Invincible Iron Man
Mighty Thor
Totally Awesome Hulk
Daredevil
All-New, All-Different Avengers
[Fantastic Four] - being replaced by Uncanny Inhumans and Guardians of the Galaxy
Extraordinary X-Men

This is the first time I have been both disappointed and bored of every single one of them. Usually one of them shines, but something is going wrong over there at Marvel. This Civil War II thing just feels like manufactured crisis and not any kind of organic storytelling, it involves the fate of low-level characters like War Machine, She-Hulk and Captain Marvel - who I don't care about and shouldn't be the center of a line-wide event.

Now before you criticize my pull list and tell me how awesome the lesser-selling titles are, don't. I don't change my pull list. I buy the heavy hitters and roll the dice on quality. That's what I enjoy, but Marvel is really dropping the ball on the quality. Yet another damn relaunch is not going to cut it. They need to work on some good long-form storytelling and the recent interview where Brevoort is like "We need more impact now" totally ignores the basic principles of storytelling - you need small moments to make the big ones more meaningful. Be prepared for a lot of noise signifying nothing.

Is anyone else having a hard time enjoying Marvel lately or is it just me?

Well, except for Extraordinary X-Men, I get all the titles you do and I enjoy them quite a bit. Some I really love, like ASM, ANAD Avengers, Thor, and Sam Wilson Cap. And others I'm liking enough to stick with, like Daredevil and TAH. Not to say it's "just you" but if you're complaining about "manufactured crisis" vs "organic storytelling" it sounds like you're just realizing what comics are all about. Any comic you ever enjoyed was a case of manufactured crisis. When people complain that they want "organic storytelling" it's usually that they reached that point as a reader where they perceive the strings pulling events more clearly. Those strings are always there but once you've been reading for awhile, what seemed "organic" at first (but really wasn't) can now seem "manufactured."

And as far as needed small moments to make the big ones more memorable, many of the complaints lately is that there's been too many small moments lately and not enough big stakes. So, everyone sees things differently.

My feeling has always been, if I'm not liking something, drop it. I'll stick things out for a little bit if I think my feelings might change with another arc or whatever but I don't hang onto titles I don't enjoy just for the hell of it. Maybe the current books just aren't to your liking. It happens. Even back in the heyday of Kirby and Ditko, I'm sure some readers just weren't feeling it. Personally I'm very happy with my Marvel pull list right now so whatever Marvel's doing at the moment, I hope they keep it up.

[Galerion]

OP should have really made a different thread title because it's nonsensical as it currently stands. ANAD has like 60+ titles and he has read only 10 of them. Since when is 1/6 of something the most?

Come back if you have actually read most of the books and if you are too stubborn and refuse to change and do that then tough luck. As a lot of people have already pointed out there are tons of great titles out there.
It's also funny what you classify as big and what not. You know there are titles out there that are outselling titles on your list.

[MyriVerse]

I pretty much agree with you.

Unless you're just into characters, I'd say Ultimates is more of a replacement for Fantastic Four.

The Avengers line and EX-Men are in truly deplorable states. Between the three Avengers teams, there's not a really good one. EX-Men are just being disgustingly whiny and idiotic.

But there are other titles I'm buying and enjoying: Ultimates, Captain Marvel, Uncanny X-Men, Power Man & Iron Fist, All-New Wolverine, A-Force (sorta), New Avengers (sorta).

Spidey & Iron Man are pretty much impossible sells for me. I cannot respect Spidey since OMD and Tony since Civil War.

[randomengine]

I see most of you didn't get the point.

Yes, I do get the longest running series. They tend to have the best art and best writing. I have been reading comics more than a couple of years, so I do understand that crisis are manufactured, but Civil War II is especially egregious. The original Civil War made sense in a way and came organically from what came before. This time we have an Inhuman created for the sole purpose of creating a problem.

My point is that Marvel's biggest books, the ones that stick around and don't get cancelled due to low sales, are not very good today as they have in the past. Greg Pak's original run on Hulk was legendary, this one is off to a ehhhhhhhhhh start. Waid's Avengers is all over the damn place in terms of quality. Extraordinary X-Men and Amazing Spider-Man are probably the best and most consistent. Uncanny X-Men is not the flagship X-Men book, I don't care if it has the name. They wouldn't give the flagship book to Cullen Bunn, the human comic-writing sweatshop, nor fill the roster of their flagship book with so many secondary and tertiary X-Men.

I follow the long-running series, that's what I do. I will not buy any series that won't last decades in a linear fashion (I have been daisy-chaining series together as Marvel keeps relaunching). That's not what I want to make this thread about. This thread is about why the best-of-the-best, the books Marvel puts all their best creative on and revolve their line around, why those books just aren't as good today as they have been in the past.

[randomengine]

I pretty much agree with you.

Unless you're just into characters, I'd say Ultimates is more of a replacement for Fantastic Four.

The Avengers line and EX-Men are in truly deplorable states. Between the three Avengers teams, there's not a really good one. EX-Men are just being disgustingly whiny and idiotic.

But there are other titles I'm buying and enjoying: Ultimates, Captain Marvel, Uncanny X-Men, Power Man & Iron Fist, All-New Wolverine, A-Force (sorta), New Avengers (sorta).

Spidey & Iron Man are pretty much impossible sells for me. I cannot respect Spidey since OMD and Tony since Civil War.

The reason that Uncanny Inhumans and Guardians of the Galaxy are Fantastic Four replacements are because Human Torch and Thing are in them. Ultimates has no Fantastic Four unless you count Black Panther, which I don't.

[randomengine]

My feeling has always been, if I'm not liking something, drop it. I'll stick things out for a little bit if I think my feelings might change with another arc or whatever but I don't hang onto titles I don't enjoy just for the hell of it. Maybe the current books just aren't to your liking. It happens. Even back in the heyday of Kirby and Ditko, I'm sure some readers just weren't feeling it. Personally I'm very happy with my Marvel pull list right now so whatever Marvel's doing at the moment, I hope they keep it up.

We all collect comics for different reasons. The point is not to criticize how I collect comics, but instead discuss the perception of quality with the books that I mentioned.

[SSJMorales]

I see most of you didn't get the point.

Yes, I do get the longest running series. They tend to have the best art and best writing. I have been reading comics more than a couple of years, so I do understand that crisis are manufactured, but Civil War II is especially egregious. The original Civil War made sense in a way and came organically from what came before. This time we have an Inhuman created for the sole purpose of creating a problem.

My point is that Marvel's biggest books, the ones that stick around and don't get cancelled due to low sales, are not very good today as they have in the past. Greg Pak's original run on Hulk was legendary, this one is off to a ehhhhhhhhhh start. Waid's Avengers is all over the damn place in terms of quality. Extraordinary X-Men and Amazing Spider-Man are probably the best and most consistent. Uncanny X-Men is not the flagship X-Men book, I don't care if it has the name. They wouldn't give the flagship book to Cullen Bunn, the human comic-writing sweatshop, nor fill the roster of their flagship book with so many secondary and tertiary X-Men.

I follow the long-running series, that's what I do. I will not buy any series that won't last decades in a linear fashion (I have been daisy-chaining series together as Marvel keeps relaunching). That's not what I want to make this thread about. This thread is about why the best-of-the-best, the books Marvel puts all their best creative on and revolve their line around, why those books just aren't as good today as they have been in the past.

Not blaming you, but your mindset is part of reasoning the books you read are not to your liking. Marvel knows that the big hitters/longest running series will have sales no matter what, so when they know your going to buy those no matter what, it's not a surprise you get better writing/stories in the smaller newer series that they want to increase readers with.


Also don't make title of post "most of marvel's comics", and then in your posts and response say "oh just the specific comics I'm reading I mean".