Are you ready for a “Fresh Start,” Marvel fans? Marvel Comics certainly hopes so because that’s quite literally the name of their latest reboot/relaunch initiative, which has become an annual thing for the last six years. This time, Marvel didn’t even wait a full year before leaving Marvel Legacy behind to embrace yet another company-wide shake-up. Needless to say, fans are a bit confused by the latest turn of events. Fortunately, today’s Nerdist News is going to explain exactly what’s happening at the House of Ideas.
Join the only host who is immune to retcons, Jessica Chobot, as she lays out the facts as we know them. Marvel’s biggest problem is that the company has completely devalued the notion of a relaunch by doing it so many times. This is the seventh or eighth time since 2012, and even the diehard Marvel Zombies are getting sick of it. It’s going to take more than just a bunch of new #1 issues to win back their hearts and minds–or, more importantly, their wallets.
So, why is Marvel trying yet another relaunch? For starters, longtime editor-in-chief Axel Alonso left the company late last year and his replacement, C.B. Cebulski, is presumably looking to stabilize the ship sooner rather than later. Former EIC Joe Quesada is also stepping back from Marvel’s TV and film projects to once again lend a hand to the publishing division. Considering that Quesada had a very successful tenure at Marvel, his input will likely be greatly valued.
However, none of this will matter if fans don’t respond to the comics themselves. There’s a reason why DC fans are more satisfied than Marvel fans at the moment: DC Rebirth successfully addressed the problems that fans had with the New 52 relaunch while reminding readers why they loved DC in the first place. Marvel’s Fresh Start needs to essentially pull off the same trick. That’s not going to be easy, but we are eager to see where Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness will take the Avengers in their upcoming run. Hopefully the rest of the new creative teams will be equally exciting.
What do you want to see from Marvel’s Fresh Start? Reboot your thoughts in the comment section below!
Images: Marvel Comics
