Marvel Now

[runawayboulder]

I'm kinda curious about the team of FF and I'm really glad the She-Hulk is back in some sort of spotlight instead of being a pariah.

 

[Binker]

Is there a complete list of the Marvel Now books, that is consantly updated because of numberous updates on new books?

 

[runawayboulder]

That makes no sense.

If I'm going to tell somebody that an artist is good and recommend them stories where they could see their stuff, why would I use something that I or the general public consider crap?

Why is that so difficult to understand???

 

[runawayboulder]

Is there a complete list of the Marvel Now books, that is consantly updated because of numberous updates on new books?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_NOW!

 

[Binker]

Is that every book, witht he exception of FF and Fantastic Four?

 

[JTStarkiller]

Remender and Romita are doing Captain America, so no. It's missing some.

 

[Webhead2006]

Just read the info for ff aand f4 books. The regular fantastic four one sounds interesting and I like there new threads. The new ff book sounds a bit odd and zany and interesting choice as new ff members along with there costumes. I do like shehulk and medusa in the group.

Fantastic four and FF story details:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics...n-Fantastic-Four-comic-book-series/56911846/1

Starting in November,Matt Fraction has one more thing in common with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

One of Marvel Comics' brightest stars takes on the original Marvel Universe book when Fraction becomes the writer on the relaunched Fantastic Four in the fall, as well as the spinoff sister series FF, as part of the company's Marvel NOW! initiative.

"This is the family car. Don't scratch it," says Fraction, who takes on the two books while moving on from The Mighty Thor and Invincible Iron Man.

He's doing some detailing on the old classic, though. His Fantastic Four, which teams Fraction with artist Mark Bagley (Ultimate Spider-Man, Thunderbolts), will take the whole family of superheroes —Reed Richards and wife Sue (aka Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman), their two kids Franklin and Valeria, plus teammates Johnny Storm (the Human Torch) and Ben Grimm, the ever-lovin' Thing — on a journey through time and space.

Illustrated by Mike Allred (Madman) in his trademark pop-art style, FF will get a new look and a new replacement Fantastic Four squad, with Ant-Man heading up Reed's Future Foundation and teaming with She-Hulk, the Inhumans' Medusa and Miss Thing, an all-new female character clad in a Thing suit of armor.

For the main Fantastic Four book, Fraction says, "it's the first family, and we're putting family first."

The story line to kick off both of his new books, which share a definite road map, is actually inspired by, of all people, Gov. Angus King of Maine. When he left office in 2003, he, his wife and his two kids hopped in a 40-foot RV and for six months, saw America by driving 15,000 miles over 34 states.

"It was this intensive road-trip home-school experience," Fraction says. "I don't really know any parent who wouldn't want to do that with the time and money available."

The story stuck with Fraction, and it became the root of his idea for the Richards clan: Reed builds a ship that will take his team and his children across time and space for an epic historical lesson, the writer says. "If they're studying ancient Rome, then by God let's go have lunch with Caesar on the Ides of March. If they're looking at the Big Bang, they're going to watch it from the front row."

They'll be gone for a year — which will only be four minutes in regular Earth time —and while there will be continuing plot threads, each issue will be a new adventure and new situation.

"It's very easy to say, 'I want to stay true to what Stan and Jack did.' Well, what Stan and Jack did was invent the entirety of the Marvel Universe in 104 issues," Fraction says of the original Fantastic Four comic that launched in 1961.

"This is the place to be wildly inventive, and I would like to put as many things down on the page as humanly possible and offer up another dose next issue."

The Big Bang happened in less than a second, though, so four minutes is an eternity for the big brain of Reed Richards. He makes it a point for them to choose the people they want to carry on their legacy just in case something goes awry since the Earth will still need protection.

Ant-Man and his group stand guard for the four minutes, but nothing happens. Three weeks later, a one-eyed, one-legged, long-haired, half-insane, bearded Johnny Storm walks through the time gateway, shuts it behind him and says, "We can never open this door again."

The new crew of FF were carefully chosen by the old team as well as Fraction.

Reed Richards reaches out to Scott Lang because as Ant-Man, he's scientific, he has things to prove, he's a family man and, because he recently lost his daughter Cassie, Reed feels putting this brokenhearted hero in charge of the kids in the Future Foundation will help him.

Sue wants a woman like Medusa who has a link to the Fantastic Four through the Inhumans but could also be a mother, a hero, a friend, a wife and "seemingly have eight arms to handle all these jobs at once," Fraction says.

She-Hulk has a pedigree with the team since she has been a member of the Fantastic Four, plus she'd be Ben's pick because she's "the one person he knew he could never lick," says Fraction, who writes Red She-Hulk in Defenders, which ends its run at issue 12 in November.

"Strong guys are easy but you need more than just a strong guy."

Miss Thing is the most interesting choice because, as Fraction puts it, "Johnny spaces it because he's Johnny." She just happens to be a "Lohan-esque celebutante blonde" he's with the night before he leaves and she's thrown into the middle of this situation.

"She's the regular person, she's the human, she's the overwhelmed 'Whaaa?' of it all," Fraction says.

For Fantastic Four, Bagley takes his first crack at the group and brings both warmth as well as big-time action sequences to the book, according to Marvel executive editor Tom Brevoort. And with Allred, he says, FF will have a tone and a flavor that will make it different from anything else on comic shelves.

"My hope is that it will be quirky in the same way that the Fantastic Four were quirky when they first appeared in the early '60s," Brevoort explains. "We know who they are, we know what they're about, but when they first showed up, it was like a bomb going off in comics.

"These were remarkable characters who were doing unexpected things and had a real element of danger to it and excitement and unpredictability. The hope is we'll be able to tap into something akin to that."

Ant-Man has been one of Allred's all-time favorite characters since he was a kid, and when Marvel editor in chief Axel Alonso told him he'd be doing the superhero with Fraction, "I did a back flip," the artist says. "He's always in touch with the deepest part of my brain."

Allred "melted" when he learned Medusa was on the new team — "She was my first and favorite costumed comic-book crush," he says — and is falling for the other two women, too.

He almost pushed to replace She-Hulk, "but then my brain cracked open, and like many 'arranged marriages,' I saw her soul and opened my heart to her," says Allred, adding that Miss Thing "is so weird and wild."

He digs the chemistry between the four and is giving them all matching uniforms —"except the 'new kid' who has the most 'traditional' look for obvious reasons," Allred says.

Brevoort reports that the new FF artist is "the happiest man on the face of the Earth. His enthusiasm is electrifying. He enjoys getting to play with all this stuff. It has such a nice bounce and spark to it because of that."

At meetings discussing the changes of Marvel NOW!, Fantastic Four received a good amount of interest from different writers because it's one of "the mini-crown jewels of Marvel," according to Brevoort.

Fraction, though, was perfect for it and FF in a couple of ways, the editor says, starting with the cutting-edge, technological aspect of Fantastic Four. "Matt's obviously got something of a crazy science brain."

Plus, like Reed Richards, he's a big family man — Fraction has two young children with wife (and Captain Marvel writer) Kelly Sue DeConnick, and part of the Fantastic Four appeal for him, he says, was "a chance for me to tell stories about my family through the lens of the cornerstone of the Marvel Universe."

In doing so, Fraction aims for the title to be entertaining for all ages, from his kids to the older comic fan.

"I feel that one of the best Fantastic Four stories was The Incredibles, and I want to take that back. It's so arrogant to say but it should have been us. We should have done that," Fraction says, laughing.

"If this could be the Pixar version of the Fantastic Four, something that everyone can enjoy, not just our medium 30-year-old white-dude reader, I'd be happy."

Whereas the Fantastic Four is about the Richards family having all-new adventures, FF is about an all-new Fantastic Four getting to meet the team's greatest hits, Fraction teases. "Suddenly, there are imposters to the throne and they come out of the woodwork for these guys."

Ant-Man has an agenda of his own, too, in addition to protecting the world. He blames Doctor Doom for the death of his daughter and, with the power of the Fantastic Four and the Future Foundation, wonders what would happen if they declared war on Latveria and devoted all their time and resources to eliminating Doom once and for all.

"It's a dark twist on what the Fantastic Four is about — it's the other side of the coin," Fraction says. "We have this Fantastic Four with a specific mission in FF and how can he direct and bring these people along with him?"

His favorite Fantastic Four run of all time is still Lee and Kirby's first issues in the '60s, and Fraction feels the pure raw inventive power of them is unmatched.

Reading those, "you watch an idiom get invented, and when they really hit their stride, just page after page after page is remarkable," Fraction says. "I can't actually read Kirby for too long. I can only go a handful of pages and I have to take a break and chew things over.

"It's so imaginative, it just sends me spinning. I have to put it down and daydream for a little while and go back to it."

Fraction admits he's "terrified" he's going to screw up Fantastic Four, but he feeds off that fear and to be true to the spirit of the book, he says, "you've got to invent, invent, invent.

"That's an all-too-rare occurrence in comics these days but I'm excited to get started."

 

[JewishHobbit]

Wow... both of those actually sound really good. I... might... give it a shot???

 

[Donnie Darko]

is it bad that the only Marvel Now comic I really want to get is Uncanny Avengers? I am a little bit interested in Hulk and Cap, but I have been trying to cut back on books.

Amazing Spider-Man won't be leaving my pull list any time soon, though.

 

[Webhead2006]

Ya I just hope they won't be rebooting asm numbers after 700 like the rest of the guys is. And I do hope slott stays on him too. But out of marvel now books. A lot look good. And I might read either ff or f4. But I will have to see once I know what's up with lineup for new avengers.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

If I'm going to tell somebody that an artist is good and recommend them stories where they could see their stuff, why would I use something that I or the general public consider crap?

Why is that so difficult to understand???

B/c you recommended it for the art, not the story. Nobody hates a painting at a museum b/c the description underneath it was poorly written.

The most recent Secret War. Horrible story, but some of Dell'Otto's best work. I'd def use it as example if I wanted to show him off to somebody.

 

[Mulholland-Jr]

Ugh. When's Fraction's run over?

 

[venom892]

Um, He is just starting and unless they are canceled, he tends to stay on a book for a while. So I guess if you want to read FF but not Fraction, you're screwed.

 

[Donnie Darko]

The most recent Secret War. Horrible storyQUOTE]

I agree with everything you said, but I just wanted to repeat this. That story was absolute garbage. The art was good, though.

 

[CConn]

I kinda wish Allred was on the main book instead.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

The most recent Secret War. Horrible storyQUOTE]

I agree with everything you said, but I just wanted to repeat this. That story was absolute garbage. The art was good, though.

It was the beginning of Bendis making us like Cage. And Wolverine got really drunk on a plane...can that even happen?

 

[runawayboulder]

The Defenders is being cancelled at issue #12 in November.

 

[venom892]

Anyone think that Marvel Now might mean the end of double shipping?Looking back it kind makes sense that they were double shipping titles so they could end them quicker to make way for the new #1s.I certainly hope it means the end of that practice.

 

[CConn]

If it does, I might actually pick up most of the new books.

But it probably won't. Marvel doesn't seen to do things for creative or fan-pleasing reasons. They're cash cows. And if they can schill 8 dollars out of our pockets every month instead of 4, they're going to do it.

 

[That person]

I really liked Superman: Birthright, so I'm definitely interested in what Waid and Yu can bring to the Hulk. Anyone know when it'll be possible to purchase a subscription?

 

[hippie_hunter]

Anyone think that Marvel Now might mean the end of double shipping?Looking back it kind makes sense that they were double shipping titles so they could end them quicker to make way for the new #1s.I certainly hope it means the end of that practice.

Nope. The double shipping was being done because Marvel was trying to boost their sales to make up for the fact that their ongoing line is doing rather poorly right now. And Marvel confirmed that Avengers will be double shipping the day Marvel NOW was announced.

 

[Ash Talon]

I love the FF. But I haven't been a consistent reader due to inconsistent creative teams. I'm reading the Hickman book in trade format. I love Allred and would really look forward to him drawing FF, if Fraction wasn't writing it. Fear Itself and his first arc of Thor wer so terrible and his Iron Man completely boring, I decided to skip any book he writes. I don't think I've ever blacklisted a comic writer before.

At least I'll be able to read Iron Man and Thor again. I'll probably try some other NOW books but not much is really floating my boat right now. I absolutely despise the time-traveling, original X-Men concept, so that's an easy skip.

 

[Webhead2006]

Ya I don't see any of the new teams leaving books for at least a yr or two. With how far in advance things are done writing/art wise. Plus if they have a long term contract going. But then the other side of things is if numbers of sales fall marrvel could drop them forr others.

 

[venom892]

If the double ship continues, I guess I'll just stick to Secret Avengers,Uncanny X-force and Daredevil.I'm interested in Uncanny Avengers,Captain America and Deadpool, but I don't think I'll jump into to them just to be swamped with books every month.I fear this practice will alienate a lot of potential customers drawn in by Marvel Now.For example I would have tried out Gambit, but I won't because it double ships this month and I bet it will again sometime soon. That one isn't too bad since it's 2.99, but the 3.99 books kill me.I bet with the relaunch Deadpool will finally take the leap to 3.99.

 

[runawayboulder]

Nope. The double shipping was being done because Marvel was trying to boost their sales to make up for the fact that their ongoing line is doing rather poorly right now. And Marvel confirmed that Avengers will be double shipping the day Marvel NOW was announced.

Outside of the Avengers, I don't think we'll see more double shipping right away from the rest of the books. They may wait until the first flurry of new titles are released.