if given the job of EIC, what would YOU do?

[Eternal Padawan]

That Punisher origin series was called "Born" methinks. It wasn't that great. I flipped through the TPB at the bookstore and it got REALLY wierd at the end. The MAX series definitely punches Leifeld nuts. Nicky Cavella was one whack nutjob digging up Castle's family and pissing on their remains. Too bad about Micro.This book is in my top 5 every month and since Supreme Power is getting pussified back down to MArvel Knights status, this is the only MAX title left on the shelf right?

[Diabolical]

Born, not that great? I though it was fucking awesome! It gave a real insight into Frank before he became The Punisher (which one could argue that he was the Punisher before his family was killed).
Ennis has never failed to shock me, first Micro's return and...what happpens, then what Cavella did to Frank's family. After seeing the last page of issue #19 (...I think, "Up is Down and Black is White" part 1) I literally said "Holy shit" and didn't realize I said it.

[Eternal Padawan]

...as long as Marvel is churning out new book after new book, what do you think of this idea?

Spider-Man is on the run (obviously) and is running out of people he can turn to. This book would have to deliver some kind of schism between him and the New Avengers so as to isolate him even further from the rest of the super-hero community and turn him to his most desparate hour.

Angelica Jones. At the end of Civil War, she basically hung up her spurs and decided she would rather raise a family than fight crime. But as a mutant, and a Catholic, she can't turn her head when a mutant related incident ( and really, an issue that's being avoided like a white elephant in this whole SHRA business) when the Govt. "recruits" a famous X-Man for a specific mission on the pretext, that as a Registered Super Human (Mutants are registered by default since the M-Day incident) he is required to do his duty. the mutant objects and goes on the run...who is it?...

Robert "Iceman" Drake is pressured into a questionable mission by SHIELD, and the Dept of Super Human affairs. His decision to ignore them and go on the run will have long lasting ramifications for the rest of the mutant population and ostracize him from his fellow X-men.

Fate brings these three adventurers together as they join forces to regain what they have lost and expose the SHRA for the facist ploy it really is as...


SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS

[anarky]

Angelica... is she married to the onetime Marvel Boy, under whatever alias he uses now?

I personally think they should bring back H.E.R.B.I.E., and show how he was emotionally devastated by Civil War.

[Eternal Padawan]

Did they get married? Yeah maybe. Since he's a trainer at the Initiative complex (as an aside, is it just me, or is it beyond crass for SHIELD/Avengers/SHRA to build their training camp on the ruins of Stamford? Whos jackass insensitve Idea was that?? Anyway..) I was thinking her coming down on the side of the rebels would be good for conflict between the two of them. More angst and whatnot.

[jjreason]

This is today's sign that the apocalypse is truly upon us.

[vynsane]

simple: what would you do to write compelling stories yet keep the slavering fanboys placated with not too much status-quo shakeup? or would you just say "fuck the fanboys" and take a sledge hammer to said status quo?

here's something i thought would be a freakin' awesome reinvention of one character that's gotten stale and another one that hasn't really ever had too much characterization ever.

make wolverine the new spirit of vengeance.

imagine a flaming adamantium skull! a ghost rider with claws! berserker rage AND penance stare! how could this NOT be awesome?

of course the "fans" of either would be enraged, but who cares?

[Eternal Padawan]

First thing, kick Wolverine off the X-team. Have a titanic falling out between him and Xavier, or Scott, or both and he just tells them to stuff it, or he actually does something worth getting booted out of the mansion. Either way, he's no longer the Poster Boy for mutants.

X-Books. After Wolverine leaves, kill Xavier or let everybody know what a douche he is. So that the Mutants feel lost and leaderless again. Always make the X-Men feel hopeless. Always always always.

Avengers. I like where Bendis was headed with the adding of the marvel Big Guns like Spidey and Wolverine. Keep it up by getting Hulk on the team. Have the balance of power actually start to shift towards the new guys where Banner and Logan and Parker are making decisions over the objection of long timers like Pym, Stark, and the Wasp.

Second, make Tony Stark a supporting player in the Iron Man comic, and give the armor to a Rookie, so that he's ACTUALLY Stark's bodyguard.

Bring back John Walker as Cap for awhile. He's the Guy Gardner of the Marvel universe. But forgo the usual "lapdog for the Govt" mentality and have him actually striving to hold up Steve Rogers ideals. He wouldn't always accomplish that goal, but it would be interesting to see him trying.

Fantastic Four. The All new, All Different Fantastic Four! The Original Four get stuck in the Negative Zone or on the opposite side of the Galaxy for a really long time and they need to be replaced.

I've mentioned this before, but take all the second and third string "non powered" heroes like Silver Sable and her wild pack, the Heroes for Hire chicks, Code:Blue, Dominic Fortune, Dakota North, etc and revamp SHIELD. And Revamp HYDRA in the same book, makle them an actual threat again.

Introduce the young girl from the Miller/Romita Man Without Fear miniseries from the 90's as a new female Daredevil. Fans would eat that shit up.


Maybe make that kid from Peter's class the new Spider-Man. Instant teenage angst in the book again.

We've seen villains repeatedly turn into good guys. How about some long time heroes going bad? I think Cloak from Cloak and Dagger should give into the darkness, kill Dagger and become the new lord of the underrealm.
Darkhawk should witness his family getting killed and pushes him over the edge, turning him into a violent Punisher type executioner, but then the darkhawk gem feeds on this negative energyand makes him more and more evil as time goes on. Potentially he could become an A-List threat like Doom and Ultron. Give him his own title so we can all read his descent into evil monthly.

Finally, get the villains organised. If the heroes can have their Initiative, then the villains must cope or die. Closer continuity with what they are all up to. have an ultimate goal in mind, so that a dastardly heist in one book, is actually needed in another, or its a distraction in yet another.



In short, fresh blood all around. Keep things exciting, and then you can always have Somebody's Triumphant Return down the road.

[vynsane]

We've seen villains repeatedly turn into good guys. How about some long time heroes going bad?

didn't that kind of just happen in civil war? isn't stark like a raging asshole of doctor douche proportions? he may not rant and rave like a "super villain" but he's definitely not on the side of the angels at this point. i think it's even MORE interesting that he's not a black and white bad guy - he's a hero who's clouded by all kinds of shades of gray.

that said, an "iron man corps" would rock ass. give all his old armors to the best and the brightest at SHIELD and let them have at it. kind of like the "war machine" mini that ran under MAX for a while, except in color and less blood - not a MAX title.

[anarky]

If there's going to be an Initiative, and all the heroes need to answer to the government, then the government should either supply equipment for them, or have regulations regarding their equipment. Say it's for insurance purposes or something.

Kill Gambit. The guy's a douche. But he's the sort of fan-favorite douche whose death could make waves.

Bring Sleepwalker back, but as a more horror-tinged title. Make Cobweb less of a silly villain, and more of a demented dream-world psychopath intent on killing all humans for some reason.

All the joke villains like Molecule Man, the ones that are actually really fucking powerful if you bother to think about it? Make them live up to their powers. Imagine Molecule Man killing 3/4 of the Fantastic Four in one battle. That would shake things up.

An alien invasion that actually kills a fucking lot of heroes. There are, quite simply, too damned many Marvel superheroes. Even their editorial staff can't keep up with them.

Do something cool with Machine Man and Deathlok, for a change. Maybe even make them a team. By "Deathlok," I mean the one with the most potential: the pacifist trapped in the killing machine (the 90s version).

Spidey is critically injured or dying of some sort of long-term effects of the spider bite. The one thing that can save him? The same symbiote that he wore years ago, which has now had a pretty long career as a villain. Not a permanent change, but longer-term than "Iron Spider." Force him to really face his demons, get into his head a lot. Hell, forego the action and just keep most of the drama in his head.

Less emphasis on all the cosmic shit. It's usually boring as fuck. In fact, have someone kill Galactus.

Reveal that the different "gods" are really just deranged beings of extreme power. It's pretty fucking ridiculous to use all these different mythologies as fact within the same world.

Thor: gone forever. Replacing him: Thunderstrike (though with a less retarded costume). Oh, and he can call himself Thor if he wants, since the real thing is gone. But less pseudo-Shakespearean dialogue, more street-smart attitude.

And, last and most importantly, kill Frank Castle. Have him come back as a black man in spandex, hunting demons.

[Diabolical]

make wolverine the new spirit of vengeance.

imagine a flaming adamantium skull! a ghost rider with claws! berserker rage AND penance stare! how could this NOT be awesome?

Sounds like something Marvel would have done in the 90's.


I'd make more of the "grittier" heroes into MAX books: Daredevil, Wolverine, Nick Fury (as he was seen in Punisher MAX), maybe Spider-man (or a good Venom book), and a few more.

Retcon Civil War so it never happened and bring back Captain America and get it done with sooner rather than later.
It would all be a dream. Cap could wake up, turn on a light and say "Honey, you won't believe the dream I just had." Another light would come on, revealing his wife, Suzanne Pleshette. Cap would continue: "Iron Man was a douche and caused the heroes to fight each other because the New Warriors acted like 'tards. The someone killed me and The Punisher put on a gay-ass bastardization of my costume and his." Suzanne then tells him to shut up and go back to sleep.

Streamline teams/characters down to 1 or 2 titles, like X-Men, Spidey (which they're kinda doing), Avengers, ect.

Bitchslap and fire Matt Fraction for Punisher War Journal. "He's really going to hunt a kill super villains." Yeah, like Stilt Man. Oh fuck you asshole.

[jjreason]

I would be interested in experimenting with putting out WAY fewer books each month - run it like the 1960s for 1 year or so and see how badly the TOTAL number of comics sold fell down. I have a theory that it wouldn't be that far.... that a few geeks like me could be convinced to buy everything if a) it was all good and b) there wasn't such a glut.

[Eternal Padawan]

If there's going to be an Initiative, and all the heroes need to answer to the government, then the government should either supply equipment for them, or have regulations regarding their equipment. Say it's for insurance purposes or something.

Huh?

Kill Gambit. The guy's a douche. But he's the sort of fan-favorite douche whose death could make waves.

Well, they made him a villain as one of Apocalypse's Horsemen and no one batted an eye. maybe if he killed an X-Man and was killed in return THAT would make waves.

Bring Sleepwalker back, but as a more horror-tinged title. Make Cobweb less of a silly villain, and more of a demented dream-world psychopath intent on killing all humans for some reason.

I actually had an idea where all the different "netherworld/alternate dimensions" were under seige by some uber bad guy and they cleaned house mystically in the Marvel U. Dr Strange and all the Midnight Sons characters would be at the forefront with a lot of hero deaths. Maybe even get a new Sorceror Supreme.

All the joke villains like Molecule Man, the ones that are actually really fucking powerful if you bother to think about it? Make them live up to their powers. Imagine Molecule Man killing 3/4 of the Fantastic Four in one battle. That would shake things up.

Short term that would be awesome and earth shattering. Long term it would bite them in the ass, because someone would eventually get nostalgic and retcon in a lameass reason why they survived. They do need to do something with the all-powerful beings.

An alien invasion that actually kills a fucking lot of heroes. There are, quite simply, too damned many Marvel superheroes. Even their editorial staff can't keep up with them.

I see it as a sign of weak editorial leadership if the only thing they can think of doing with a character is kill them. Usually it doesn't resonate the way they want it to. If they are going to have a bloodbath, then kill of the big guns and let the b-listers shine.

Do something cool with Machine Man and Deathlok, for a change. Maybe even make them a team. By "Deathlok," I mean the one with the most potential: the pacifist trapped in the killing machine (the 90s version).

I highly recommend NextWave: Agents of H.A.T.E. if you want your Machine Man fix. Funniest book out of Marvel in decades. Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen are gods. Check it out. And apparently the mini series "Beyond" reverted Michael Collins back to a regular human because he's running around in the newest issues of Fantastic Four sans cyborg killer body.

Spidey is critically injured or dying of some sort of long-term effects of the spider bite. The one thing that can save him? The same symbiote that he wore years ago, which has now had a pretty long career as a villain. Not a permanent change, but longer-term than "Iron Spider." Force him to really face his demons, get into his head a lot. Hell, forego the action and just keep most of the drama in his head.

THAT is fucking brilliant.

Less emphasis on all the cosmic shit. It's usually boring as fuck. In fact, have someone kill Galactus.

Or NOT have Galactus in EVERY cosmic book Marvel puts out. Seriously. have the guy dissappear for about ten years, real time, then bring him back to attack Earth again. Blammo. Instant super collosal mega threat again. You could make it a year long crossover event in EVERY marvel book that year.

Reveal that the different "gods" are really just deranged beings of extreme power. It's pretty fucking ridiculous to use all these different mythologies as fact within the same world.

Agreed. Maybe a "God-Killer" crossover. Molecule Man finds religion and thinks the Christian God wants him to smite all the pretenders. A mythological bloodbath ensues.

Thor: gone forever. Replacing him: Thunderstrike (though with a less retarded costume). Oh, and he can call himself Thor if he wants, since the real thing is gone. But less pseudo-Shakespearean dialogue, more street-smart attitude.

Thor doesn't bother me so much as all his Asgardian hangers on. have him banished from Asgard so we don't have to deal with his entire fucking entourage. Just him and his hammer dealing with things. Also, tone down the "Ave Verily!" speak. Thunderstrike is dead. If anybody should replace Thor it's Beta Ray Bill! A Fucking Horse skull headed Alien with the thundergods powers is awesome no matter what anyone says.

And, last and most importantly, kill Frank Castle. Have him come back as a black man in spandex, hunting demons.

That's gay, Bob harras. Completely gay.

I would be interested in experimenting with putting out WAY fewer books each month - run it like the 1960s for 1 year or so and see how badly the TOTAL number of comics sold fell down. I have a theory that it wouldn't be that far.... that a few geeks like me could be convinced to buy everything if a) it was all good and b) there wasn't such a glut.

I always thought it would be cool for them to start dwindling their books back down to the main core titles, then slowly drop those until only Amazing Spider-Man was left, then in the final issue, have teenage Peter wake up and go downstairs where Ben and May are sitting at the table and May is making wheatcakes and have Peter say "I just had the most Amazing, Marvelous dream..."


But another idea would be to have the core titles coming out on a bi weekly basis, instead of having multiple titles for each character ( just plan your arcs far enough in advance to have revolving creative teams) like X-Men, Spider-Man, Avengers, Daredevil, Hulk, Captain America, etc and then have three or four anthology titles, Tales of Suspense, Tales to Astonish, etc that cater to those books that start and then get cancelled by issue 12. Only put out a story arc about a character like Ghost Rider or Namor or whoever when you have a kickass story idea, and when you don't leave the book for a different character.

[anarky]

To elaborate the first thing I said: if the government is going to "regulate" superheroes, it should be totally all up in the heroes grill. Red tape and everything. It should be a chore to be a hero, fill out the paperwork, get tested on flying skills and such to keep the hero license up to date, etc. Make it suck to be a hero. And then show how everyone reacts.

For Molecule Man, killing the FF was an example. But, seriously, the guy can control any non-organic molecule. When Stan Lee came up with that, he didn't know that "organic molecule" means a molecule made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. That means there are a lot of non-organic molecules in the human body. Let's let the dude shine.

Marvel has a lot of characters like that, who have powers that would be godlike, but that are treated like jokes. Maddrox is another. The dude can indefinitely clone himself in a split second, and has no ill effects from his duplicates dying. The guy could fucking take over the world in less than a day.

Thunderstrike doesn't have to be Eric Whatshisface. I just think the idea of a mortal with Thor's powers and an attitude was a good one that wasn't explored properly.

As for killing a lot of heroes, I never said it would be the second-stringers dying, did I? There are some "top-tier" characters who are played out. However, that said, there are a lot of characters in both Marvel and DC who exist only as a name, power, and costume. Any of those are disposable.

[Eternal Padawan]

Ha! That would be completely boring. I would love it! Month after month of endless bureaucratic nonsense and next to zero actual Super-Heroing. Get to the point where they all basically turn in their badges and then have some world level threat show up and all the heroes are like "Fuck you, we ain't helping ya ungrateful bizitches..."

All "Godlike" characters need to have a "kryptonite" built into their power or it becomes less and less likely they will be defeated each time they show up. I agree. Maybe Galactus could show up and eat Molecule Man and sate his hunger for a generation.

I agree with the Thor idea. They got so confusing with the Donald Blake/Thor relationship where he was just a human shell that Odin had created. That was so lame. I'm curious to see what they are doing with Thor next month in his new series. Something tells me they should do away with the character altogether and all of his Norse Mythology Ilk.

I see killing as a last resort is all. Did anyone say "Ohmigod!" when they killed Black Goliath? Or Hawkeye? Or Vision? Or any of those New X-Men kids? or Skin from Generation X? What was the last memorable Marvel death you can remember ( aside from Captain America)? Partly because there's no permanency to it. Quesada has all but given up on his "Dead means Dead" rule. Colossus came back. They killed Magneto off, brought him back, killed him again, and then resurected him the next fucking week in Excalibur. Fuck man, they brought back Bucky AND Captain Marvel in the same year. Had Uncle Ben shown up it would have been a trifecta of pissing on his own rule. So they make with the killing off of a bunch of A-listers, then either turn around and bring them back, or just plop another character into the costume. Casual readers wouldn't even know there had been a change. And the same goes double for villains. Frank Castle popped like 30 super villains a few issues back. That's more than Scourge killed back in the bar with no name massacre in Captain America back in the 80's. Nobody cares!! they need to make us care about the character before they kill him or her off. Like they did with Blue Beetle. Take some c-list chump hero like Justice, ramp him up in an Avengers book for a good 18-20 issues and make everybody LOVE him, then right before he's about to save the world, have the Red Skull put a bullet in his head. THEN people will talk about somebody dying. mass killings will get nothing but yawns.
I agree that Marvel has WAY too many characters.