Marvel NOW!

[Bullio]

Terrible title for the event aside, is anyone else looking forward to this?  I wasn't planning on picking anything up until after a few months had gone by and the titles started settling in, but I have to say I'm very tempted by the story ideas and the creative teams behind them.  Hickman's Avengers, Fraction's Fantastic Four and FF, Indestructible Hulk (green Hulk!), Aaron's Thor: God of Thunder, and Posehn and Duggan's Deadpool all sound like incredibly fun titles.  I went in for Uncanny Avengers and the NOW! .1 issue and they were alright.  I didn't encounter anything within either title that made me wary, so hopefully all of these plans will work out for the best and we'll be drowning in seriously awesome books for awhile.

The only change I'm skeptical of is All-New X-Men, with changes to the status quo that brings the original team forward in time to live among the modern Marvel universe.  I hope Bendis (I think he's writing it) does some excellent work with the title.  At the very least, it's one way of bringing Jean back from the dead.

[steve2275]

ill buy em all

[Bullio]

Now that the event's rolling, what are people's thoughts?  I decided to go in for the first issues on pretty much everything, and wound up really surprised and impressed by some and disappointed by others.  Thor: God of Thunder, All-New X-Men, and Avengers are definitely my favorites right now and are all titles I'm sticking with through their first arcs.  Indestructible Hulk was great as well, but I couldn't get much of a read from it as to whether or not I'm going to stick with it.  Will probably check out #2 and let that be the deciding issue.

Uncanny Avengers is alright, but I don't think I'm going to stick with it.  I love Remender and I'm glad he's on a higher profile title, but for budgetary reasons I think UA is going by the wayside.  Story's enjoyable enough, but it's not good enough to put it beyond anything listed above.

Deadpool has been disappointing, unfortunately.  It was one of the titles I was most looking forward to.  The story concept is great in theory, and there are moments when the promise shines through, but the writing leaves a lot to be desired.  The writing isn't bad, per se, but it's not all that interesting or engaging.  I do love the art, though.

My biggest surprise is All-New X-Men.  I was really skeptical of the idea of bringing the original 5 to the present as the status quo, but Bendis is doing a fantastic job three issues in.  Aside from Thor, it's been my most eagerly anticipated title every week.  Next issue should be very interesting.  I get the feeling #4 is going to be the "make or break" issue of the series, for reasons obvious to anyone who has read the first three.

Thor: God of Thunder is awesome, and is probably my favorite NOW! title.  Aaron's writing, Ribic's artwork (which is gorgeous), the plot...everything about it is just epic.  Which is as it should be.  Everyone should be reading this and basking in its glory.

Avengers is right up there with Thor.  The only reason I'm hesitant to put it right next to, or even ahead of, Thor is because I just read the first issue yesterday evening so I haven't had much time to let it set in.  The setup (like Thor's) is huge and, if done right, could have an incredible payoff.  If anyone besides Hickman were writing it I would be skeptical, but this is Hickman we're talking about.  He did "huge" with the Fantastic Four a lot, and he did it well.  Rumor is the advance reviews of #2 say it's as good as #1, so this could be one hell of a ride.  So I'm really excited more than anything.   And what can I say about Opena?  Dude puts everyone aside from Ribic to shame in the art department.  Beautiful work throughout.

The only title I haven't read yet that I still want to check out is Fantastic Four.  My impression based on reviews is that it's like Uncanny Avengers in the sense that it's good, but not good enough to strain the budget to fit it in.

[gameplan.exe]

well I must say, I was ambivalent about this, but you're giving Thor and Xmen such high marks, I might just have to check them out!

[Nate Grey]

I got so behind on buying comics like 4-5 years ago which made me stop collecting altogether. But I gotta say, a friend of mine is raving about Thor: God of Thunder and All New X-Men so much (along with online reviews I've been checking out) that I'm actually considering starting up again. 

[Demacus]

Definitely a fan of Thor: God of Thunder (and I've never liked that character before.)  The story is really engaging and compelling.  I can't wait to read the newest issue.

The same goes for The All-New X-men.  Very good writing.  It does not come across as grasping at straws for a viable story. Really good stuff here too. 

Uncanny Avengers is kind of odd.  I like the concept of the story, but I feel it's not being executed well.

Also, as a Spider-Man fan, I just recently caught up with Amazing Spider-Man 687-700, and am now reading and enjoying Superior Spider-Man.  Again, interesting story concept, and I'm really liking how it seems to be playing out.

I haven't tackled New Avengers yet, but I'm working my way around to it.

[thetrooper27]

I was at the bookstore the other night, and I wasn't very happy with the current artwork on much of anything.  But my biggest concern is how much everything has changed.  There are so many characters that aren't who they really are (you mentioned Spiderman, which I hear is good, but I haven't read it myself), and so many changes have occured, and a buddy of mine says that it's been really good for comics, but I'm a traditional guy, and I'm having a hard time getting down on the confusion.  It would be much easier if I liked the artwork.  But I will reserve judgment until I do some reading... not fair to knock it until I've tried it.

[Demacus]

troop: if you DO pick up the Spider-man books to read, you should start with Amazing 697 for the final arc of Amazing, which leads into Superior number one.  If you need MORE info leading into Amazing 697, I started at 687 as I said before, but that was issue 6 of the story arc "Ends of the Earth."  You might want to start 682.

[thetrooper27]

Thanks for the tip... I hear that Spidey is the best of all Marvel titles right now.

There are a few Xbooks... can anyone comment on each one and what kind of story that they're telling?

I've also considered looking at Ultimate Xmen since Barberi is drawing it, but I never got into Ultimate Marvel.

[Demacus]

Bullio touched on the primary X-titles earlier in this thread.  I'd say for the most part his assesment stands.

[Bullio]

All-New X-Men is about the original 5 being brought to the present and finding their place in modern times among the Jean Grey School crew.  Definitely my favorite of the NOW! X-books that I'm reading, but it's also had the longest to develop so it's sort of an unfair claim to make (though it was pretty damn good right out of the gate).

Uncanny X-Men is about the New Charles Xavier School crew (formerly of Utopia), Cyclops's revolution, and coping with the power changes of the remaining Phoenix Five.  A little slower out of the gate than ANXM, but I have full faith it'll get interesting quick.

Cable and X-Force is probably what you'd expect: action, espionage, things blowing up, and a precognitive Cable (okay, maybe not so much what you'd expect).  Fun title with a quirky cast, some post-AvX drama between Cable and Hope, and Colossus generally losing his shit.

Uncanny Avengers is a team consisting half of mutants (X-Men) and Avengers lead by Havok up against a newly powered-up Red Skull.  It got really interesting in a hurry with the third issue, and has just gone insane with issue 4.  Read it.

X-Men Legacy is about Legion.  Haven't been reading it, but have heard good things.

Uncanny X-Force just rebooted with an all-female cast (and Puck).  Don't really know anything about it.  Haven't been reading it and don't have an interest in the current lineup.

Savage Wolverine is a mini about Wolverine and Shanna in the Savage Land.  It's alright with some great art, but far from essential reading.  A new proper Wolverine series written by Paul Cornell with Alan Davis on art is launching this month.

Deadpool is about him hunting down the ghosts of deceased former Presidents of the US.  I love the art, but the writing is really disappointing.  Which is a shame as "Deadpool as Ghostbuster with his sidekick ghost Ben Franklin" should be an awesome thing to behold, but it's a mostly flat affair.

And then there are the still running non-NOW! X-books.  X-Factor has been awesome since Peter David rebooted it in 2005 and is arguably still the best X-book running.  Wolverine and the X-Men has been a mixed bag post-AvX.  And there's the Gambit solo book, which I gather is pretty good overall though inconsistent at times.

X-Men (self-titled) just ended but is relaunching very soon.  Age of Apocalypse (take a guess what this is about) and X-Treme X-Men (time-traveling, dimension-hopping X-Men) are ending after the X-Termination crossover.  Astonishing is part of it as well, though that book will continue after the event.  No idea what's been going on in Astonishing as I stopped reading it after Whedon left.

[thetrooper27]

Thanks for the heavy breakdown.  I need to go to a comic store instead of the bookstore.

[Demacus]

Uncanny Avengers...  Wow...  Really did not see that coming...  Not a fan of the art style, but it's definately picked up.

[gameplan.exe]

And then there are the still running non-NOW! X-books.  X-Factor has been awesome since Peter David rebooted it in 2005 and is arguably still the best X-book running.  Wolverine and the X-Men has been a mixed bag post-AvX.  And there's the Gambit solo book, which I gather is pretty good overall though inconsistent at times.

wait, there's a new solo book for Gambit? I'm going to [wiki]investigate!

[steve2275]

And then there are the still running non-NOW! X-books.  X-Factor has been awesome since Peter David rebooted it in 2005 and is arguably still the best X-book running.  Wolverine and the X-Men has been a mixed bag post-AvX.  And there's the Gambit solo book, which I gather is pretty good overall though inconsistent at times.

wait, there's a new solo book for Gambit? I'm going to [wiki]investigate!

its true
i dont buy it tho
current issue is 9