Marvel Launches Heroic Age
- Posted by Johanna on January 27, 2010 at 4:28 pm
- Category: Comic News
Marvel got primo press placement today with an article in USA Today promising that “Heroes will be heroes again” and the Marvel universe will soon have “a renewed sense of hope and optimism.”
It’s about time! It has been a depressing, morally repugnant place where the bad guys were thought to be heroes and the “good guys” were doing terrible things in the name of expedience. I’m actually looking forward to this “exciting new direction” for two reasons:
1. I like optimistic heroes that do the right thing.
2. “Titles branded with the Heroic Age banner offer a perfect jumping on point for readers new and old alike.” Which is always a plus, since Marvel can be a confusing place.
Unfortunately, I have to wait until May, when the Avengers title relaunches with a new #1. Even more unfortunately, Marvel is placing renewed emphasis on its best-known heroes — meaning except for the hot redhead in the catsuit, they’re all white guys or animal people. I hope that some of the promised new characters bring a bit more diversity.
January 27, 2010 at 9:29 PM
In fairness, Sue Storm could be in the picture…
January 28, 2010 at 12:13 AM
Am I too much of a pessimist to say “I’ll believe it, when I see it.”
Between this and DC’s “Brightest Day” that’s promising similar things, and both by most of the same creators involved in the dreary and dull. Well…
January 28, 2010 at 8:47 AM
They sure were trying hard to send the message that this had nothing to do with Disney ordering them to clean up their act (because they didn’t, we swear!)
January 28, 2010 at 9:01 AM
They were talking about this before the Disney merger…I suspect this is not Disney forcing anything upon them.
January 28, 2010 at 10:06 AM
Yeah, I don’t think it has anything to do with Disney, just a general fatigue and malaise among superhero readers. The ones I know are tired of the jaded, violent approach and want something more optimistic.
January 28, 2010 at 11:51 AM
…which would require someone besides Bendis and the other Marvel standard-bearers writing the comics.
January 28, 2010 at 1:08 PM
Hm. How many titles can Dan Slott write in a month? ;)
January 28, 2010 at 1:37 PM
Makes sense. Real life is depressing enough these days.
January 30, 2010 at 6:51 AM
Nice to see “Agents of Atlas” in the ad. I certainly would not call them well known heroes.
February 17, 2010 at 1:56 AM
[...] and the beast only gets a couple of panels, but it’s obvious from Marvel’s “Heroic Age” banner that some people won’t let the sun go down on an idea until that idea’s [...]
March 11, 2010 at 9:54 PM
[...] was excited by the idea of Brightest Day. Like Marvel’s Heroic Age, it seemed to promise a return to what superheroes should be, inspiring and amazing fantasy [...]
May 12, 2010 at 5:00 PM
Marvel is all about the money…Has anyone counted how many new Avenger and X-Men spin-offs are coming from the new “Heroic Age”? It is getting hard to keep up with them all.