GETTING A LEG UP ON MARVEL LEGACY


KC Carlson by Keith Wilson

KC Carlson by Keith Wilson


a KC COLUMN by KC Carlson

It will be interesting to see how everybody’s going to react to the new Marvel Legacy initiative which was announced all over the place last weekend. In case you haven’t heard, Legacy starts up full throttle in many Marvel books shipping in October (but being solicited for you to order THIS MONTH!).

The Mighty Thor #700

The Mighty Thor #700


According to Marvel (and I quote), “Legacy will usher in the dramatic return of dozens of its most beloved heroes, villains, teams, and artifacts in bold stories that will begin the next chapter of the Marvel Universe.” One of the big-deal aspects of Legacy for long-time readers/fans is Marvel’s announcement that they are returning to original “legacy” series numbering. That means giving comics the cumulative issue number that each series should have had there not been so many artificial reboots to get those “awesome” first issue sales.

In their press releases, Marvel has said, “For an in-depth look at our return to original numbering, fans can consult Marvel’s renumbering chart — a handy and easy way to jump on board with our Legacy content!” I don’t know where that chart will be hosted or printed, and that seems like an incredibly new-reader-unfriendly approach, but this initiative is firmly aimed at gaining back long-term fans.

(Rumor has it that fans got smart and just walked away when all the various Marvel re-starts got confusing to them, and the last couple of rounds of reboots ended up in disappointing decreases in sales rather than the increases that they were hoping for. I love it when fans get smart enough to not just blindly take what’s thrown at them.)

Captain America #695

Captain America #695


And here’s a good start. It’s not in the current solicitations, but it was recently announced that there will be a new (or more properly, continuing) Captain America series starring Steve Rogers by writer Mark Waid and artist Chris Samnee. Their run will start with Captain America #695. We’ve seen that creative team twice already: on Daredevil in 2012 and on Black Widow in 2015. They work well together. And this will be Waid’s third time on Cap as writer, both previous runs cut short not because of him. (I bet he’ll get rid of mind-controlled Cap!) What art we’ve seen is awesome and even the book’s logo is retro!

FINE TUNING THE REBOOT

On the marketing end, Marvel is reportedly going out of their way to (re-)launch their new publishing initiative with a “dynamic new trade dress that signals a clean jumping-on point for new readers.” (And hopefully returning readers as well.) Plus, many books will have three bonus “Marvel Primer Pages” designed to catch up new and returning readers. (Hope we aren’t losing three story pages for this… It’s certainly something that Marvel of the past would pull…)

SO WHAT’S IN THE BOOKS?

We haven’t seen much of any of this yet (just the Marvel Previews that hits stores today), so we’re going to have to take their word on a lot of it right now…

Invincible Iron Man #593

Invincible Iron Man #593


Probably the most interesting (and least promoted) aspect of Marvel Legacy is the fact that NOT ALL of the regular ongoing Marvel titles and characters will be involved with it (at least initially). I’m not sure how I feel about that (especially if it turns Marvel into a two-tiered superhero company). On the other hand, it’s worked out pretty well for DC Rebirth — allowing for stories and characters outside of Rebirth to have miniseries and other publications devoted to them.

Here’s how the first month of Marvel Legacy books play out (non-involved Marvel titles not listed):

Spirits of Vengeance #1

Spirits of Vengeance #1


WEEK ONE: On Sale October 4

Avengers #672

Iceman #6

Iron Fist #72

Jessica Jones #13

Royals #9

Spirits of Vengeance #1

Venom #155

X-Men: Gold #13

Amazing Spider-Man #789

Amazing Spider-Man #789


WEEK TWO: On Sale October 11

All-New Wolverine #25

Amazing Spider-Man #789

Defenders #6

Despicable Deadpool #287

Falcon #1

Gwenpool, the Unbelievable #21

Uncanny Avengers #28

X-Men: Blue #13

Champions #13

Champions #13


WEEK THREE: On Sale October 18

Cable #150

Champions #13

Incredible Hulk #709

Invincible Iron Man #593

Luke Cage #166

Mighty Thor #700

Monsters Unleashed #7

Spider-Gwen #25

X-Men: Gold #14

X-Men Blue #14

X-Men Blue #14


WEEK FOUR: On Sale October 25

All-New Wolverine #26

Amazing Spider-Man #790

America #8

Black Panther #165

Despicable Deadpool #288

Jean Grey #8

Captain Marvel #125

U.S. Avengers #11

X-Men: Blue #14

Check out some of those huge issue numbers!

Defenders #6

Defenders #6


We’re assuming that more titles will be added in subsequent months. Also, it seems that they’re playing a little fast and loose about what a “Legacy” title is, as Defenders has had a lot of different series over the decades and (IMHO) should have an issue number higher than #6. (Unless they’re picking nits over Defenders vs. THE Defenders. Gosh, that would be silly.) I guess Falcon’s previous miniseries and one-shot don’t count either.

More titles and characters are likely to be added to Marvel Legacy in the future as new titles and characters are created or revived. We already know about the above-mentioned Captain America title. It will be interesting if any of the other current Marvel titles or characters will be added to Legacy after their current series inevitably run their course. Should a future Hawkeye series to be added to Legacy, I bet it will fun to try to figure that one out, issue-number-wise.

It seems weird that I’m thinking harder about this new initiative than maybe Marvel is…

I hope it’s well-planned-out and well-executed — because Marvel really could use some good news and excitement around now. I’m sorry to say that there’s a lot of current Marvel series that are just sitting there on the racks of Westfield stores — unsold, unread, and unloved.

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KC CARLSON wonders what the numerous comic book stores nationwide called Legacy Comics think about Marvel’s new publishing initiative. A Google search finds a whole bunch of them. Maybe they’ll get some “free” advertising in Marvel Comics’ latest publishing imprint.

WESTFIELD COMICS is not responsible for the stupid things that KC says. Especially that thing that really irritated you. . . . I deliberately did not talk about the many missing or dead “duplicate” Marvel characters from the last several years. Like Bruce Banner/Hulk for instance. Gotta leave something to talk about down the road a bit…