Marvel Now!...?

Remember on Seinfeld when George's father kept yelling, "Serenity Now!" to calm himself down but he just kept getting angrier and angrier? Well, that's how I feel about Marvel Now!.

What's Marvel Now!? Well, it's the aftermath of Avengers VS X-Men and it is also the restarting of a whole bunch of Marvel titles at #1. Hmmm... that sounds familiar somehow... oh yeah - DC DID IT A YEAR AGO! Does Marvel think it is going to recreate the success DC had? I hope not but I find it to be unlikely.

I'm not opposed to change necessarily. The Uncanny Avengers sounds cool to me. Change keeps things moving forward and from stagnating.

But Marvel plays with #1 issues like they're tissues - disposable. Some of the titles involved have had multiple #1 issues and then they return to their "legacy numbering" for the big landmark issue. Take Fantastic Four for example. It ran from 1961 to 1996 without a numbering change. Then, after the Onslaught storyline, it was relaunch with a #1 as "Heroes Reborn" and lasted for 13 issues. It then relaunch with a new #1 AGAIN with "Heroes Reborn". Starting with #42 of the "new" series, BOTH numbers were listed on the cover (perhaps just to add to the confusion) - #42 and #471 of the legacy numbering. When issue #500 rolled around, they were sure to put the #500 very large on the cover and the "new" numbering faded away, ending with #79 (#508)! The series then ended AGAIN with issue #588 and the FF title was launch with a #1. After eleven issues, the Fantastic Four title was relaunch with... you guessed it! #600! Confusing the matter, the FF title continued publication as well. So for Marvel to AGAIN cancel the series with #611 and relaunch with a, "New #1!" it's hard to get excited.

Marvel Now!... Nah, perhaps later.