Broken Frontier

Hello! This is William Gatevackes, back again with another week of Guiding Lines. This time we are looking at the books coming out tomorrow, February 8th.

One of these books is Incredible Hulk #92, which kicks off the “Planet Hulk” storyline that will run for over a year. Marvel has been hyping this arc for quite some time, offering it as a companion to its other big event of 2006, the “Civil War” crossover.

The story has the Hulk stranded on an alien planet run by a Roman Empire-like government. On this world, the Hulk is not the strongest there is, so he's more vulnerable than he ever was before. He soon finds himself in a gladiatorial arena, fighting for his life.

The situation brings back memories of other Hulk storylines of the past, such as the “Jarella” arc of the ‘70’s, where he entered a microscopic universe, and the ’80’s “Crossroads” saga, where he was stuck in a multi-dimensional crossroads and visited a number of unique and interesting planets.

The Hulk has a reputation for being a hard character to write, with creators struggling to come up with fresh views for the title. I think the commitment Marvel is showing to this particular storyline is risky. For the next 14 months, the book will be embroiled in this arc. What will happen if the public isn’t interested in seeing the Hulk cast in the Russell Crowe part from Gladiator?  If the readers tire of the plot after six issues and sales plummet, there will still be eight more issues to go. Perhaps this is why Marvel is spending so much time publicizing the title.

Two weeks ago, I featured JLA Classified #16 in this column, praising it for being a venue for creators who are not working on the main title to have a shot at the characters.  Another DC book has been providing the same opportunity for some 17 years, and is now celebrating a milestone issue.

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #200 hits the stands tomorrow, which is quite an accomplishment for any title. In an age where restarting a title at number one to get a little boost in sales is common place, not many comics have the chance to reach issue 200.

Legends of the Dark Knight has given creators as diverse as Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, Howard Chaykin, Gil Kane, James Robinson, Bo Hampton and Matt Wagner the opportunity to work on one of DC’s most recognizable characters, Batman. If this title didn’t exist, these creators might not have had that chance, and we would have missed out on some great stories.

I would hope that both Marvel and DC note the longevity of this title, and the success of JLA and JSA Classifieds, and create more titles like them. I find it exciting when quality creators are able to leave their marks on characters that they normally wouldn’t have the occasion to.

The advance solicitations didn’t say so, but tomorrow’s JLA #125 is the last issue of that title. In the wake of Infinite Crisis, DC is doing a bit of house cleaning. Many longtime titles are being cancelled, like Flash (several weeks ago), JLA (as of this week), and Wonder Woman (soon to come). They aren’t ending because of low sales or a deteriorating market place. No, they are being cancelled so they can get a bright and shinny reboot with a new number one several months from now.

As I mentioned several paragraphs ago, the practice of canceling a long running title only to restart it with issue one is nothing new. First issues sell better, not only to readers looking to jump on a title at the beginning, but also to collectors who realize that number ones sell better in the back issue market.  

Some may argue that this is a way for comic companies to generate excitement for their titles. First issues represent a fresh start, and starting a title anew is a good way to bring back an audience that left the title.  I think, however, that there should be another way. The new team on JLA will be Brad Meltzer and Ed Benes. Meltzer is coming off the insanely popular Identity Crisis series. Wouldn’t Meltzer taking over JLA with #126 be just as exciting without having to start a new series?

When you restart a title, you lose a sense of history, something Marvel recently found out. They changed a number of titles to their old numbering when they approached their 500th issue. Some might say that a number doesn’t really mean a lot. But by my count, the first issue of the new JLA series will be the 500th appearance of the League in its own title. I just happen to think that’s a little more exciting than a new number one.

Speaking of renumbering, Sensational Spider-Man #23 is coming out tomorrow. I bet that many of you are now running towards where you store your back issues, asking yourself, “Sensational Spider-Man #23?! Didn’t that come out in 1997?” (Okay, I admit - nobody is doing that. But just suspend disbelief for a moment.) You would be right. But this is a new Sensational Spider-Man #23. The Marvel Knights Spider-Man title has been renamed Sensational Spider-Man starting with this issue.

The reason for the renaming is due to a reorganization the company is doing with the Marvel Knights line. When Marvel Knights started in 1998, the brand was earmarked for a bunch of projects that would take place outside of Marvel continuity, featuring stories that couldn't be seen in books published by Marvel proper. This imprint was placed in the hands of Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti, and perhaps due to the fact that Quesada eventually became Editor-In-Chief of the entire company, Marvel Knights became part of Marvel and began adopting its continuity.

Now, Marvel Knights is being taken back to what it originally started as, a line that featured stories by top creators that take place outside the normal Marvel Universe. Therefore, the current titles that carried the Marvel Knights header are being renamed, Sensational Spider-Man being the first.

The fact that the renaming is being done for a valid reason doesn’t take away from the fact that this change now adds confusion to comic buyers, especially ones new to comics. My wife offered to buy me some Captain America comic books for Christmas. She didn’t know what she was getting into when she tried to figure out which numbers I needed in each volume, and how to tell the difference between them all.

The casual comic fan might not realize this title had changed. If they were picking up Marvel Knights Spider-Man every so often, this may mean they wouldn’t know to buy Sensational Spider-Man.

In my opinion, I think adding the “Sensational” was unnecessary. If they wanted to show that the title was no longer under the Marvel Knights imprint, then they could have simply removed Marvel Knight from the title and left it as Spider-Man. Yes, there was a Spider-Man title before, but this change would have been less confusing to the uninitiated.

Marvel is also releasing another comic book tomorrow that is designed to appeal to a much younger audience than the Marvel Knights imprint. Comics aren’t just for kids anymore, and they haven’t been for a long time. However, comic books were once aimed at a younger audience almost exclusively. Most of the titles published, including those by Marvel and DC, were written for all ages. As comic books got older, so did their readers. Now, the books are aimed at a more mature audience.

But if the comic medium is to last past this generation, some effort must be made to reach the younger readers. Hook them early on comics, and you’ll have a fan for life. However, there are not many books out there aimed at young readers, or at least a lot less than there were several years ago. Slowly, this is changing.

Marvel has made several attempts to publish comics aimed at the younger market. Tomorrow brings another book in this venture: FF Presents: Franklin Richards, Son of a Genius -Everybody Loves Franklin . This book features stories revolving around Reed Richards son, Franklin. They are told in an amusing style that is safe for children, but also intelligent enough that adults might enjoy reading them, too.

The stories resemble the newspaper strip Calvin and Hobbes in tone as well as artwork, with Franklin as a sort of kinder and gentler Calvin. The strip has appeared as a back up story in several other titles, and now is getting it's own one-shot introducing an original tale.

When most comics for kids are tying into popular cartoons, it’s refreshing that Marvel is providing something witty and original as an enticement to younger readers. If these types of comics catch on, the comic medium will be in good hands for years to come.

That’s all for this week, come back again in 7 days when we take a look at the comics being released on February 15th. The titles featured may include New Avengers #15, Batman: Year One Hundred, Giant-Sized Ms. Marvel and many more. Until then, this is William Gatevackes, signing off!