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Finished Hickman's New/Avengers...Pretty damn epic. Onto Secret Wars! Any recs on tie ins?

 

I'm about halfway through Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics and it's very useful. It gives explicit form to lots of ideas I had some intuitive sense of, but didn't know how to talk about.

 

The tie-ins are all just excuses to tell what are essentially "elseworld" stories inspired by Marvel's history up to that point. Which, was creatively cool and led to some good stories that I'll mention in a second, but know that they're not meant as a cohesive whole. Like, they do all take place on the same Battleworld, and there's some overlap and world-building, but it's all pretty minimal and not useful for the greater narrative. So, for the purposes of your Hickman read, just read Secret Wars itself without interruption and enjoy how fantastically Hickman stuck the landing. (Man, I loved the final issue's confrontation between Reed Richards and Doom so much. The final page of the final issue brought me so much joy.)

Anyways, after you read Secret Wars, if you wanna check out some of the miniseries, here are the ones I personally loved:

Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows: I'm obviously biased as a Spidey fanboy, but man, this story by Dan Slott and Adam Kubert imagining a world where Peter and MJ never separated and had a daughter is just a delight. The ongoing series continuing the story without the Battleworld backdrop is nice, too. Really makes me mad that we don't have this status quo in the main continuity, especially since Miles Morales is now in 616 to play the young Spidey role.

1602: Witch Hunter Angela: This miniseries by Marguerite Bennett and Kieron Gillen, with Stephanie Hans illustrating the main story and various artists doing flashbacks, takes Angela and Sera to the Elizabethan era. It's gorgeous and charming and just generally fun.

Civil War: I personally don't care for the original Civil War event and even got rid of my copy at a nerd rummage sale this past summer, but I love Charles Soule and Leinil Francis Yu's story about a Marvel where the war didn't end. This war-torn land produces some big action, a fun twist, and a compelling resolution for Steve and Tony's conflict.

Runaways: This miniseries by Noelle Stevenson and Sanford Greene doesn't use any characters from its namesake besides Molly, but with a cast of Jubilee, Cloak, Dagger, Bucky, Valeria, and more, it stands just fine on its own. Really under-appreciated story that fans of comics like the original Runaways and the New Mutants should have no problem enjoying.

Master of Kung-Fu: This isn't quite on the level of the others listed here, but if you like the character reimagining of 1602 and Runaways, you'll probably also dig this one. I personally did.

A-Force: G. Willow Wilson and Marguerite Bennett cowrote this story, which takes place on an island populated by all Marvel women. It later inspired a short lived all-women Avengers series in main continuity. Good stuff. Wonderful cast.

Infinity Gauntlet: Good cosmic story with good art. If you like Thanos and the Nova Corps and whatnot, read it.

Weirdworld: I'm losing momentum describing these, lol. Forgot how many good minis Secret Wars gave us. Um, this was written by Jason Aaron and illustrated by Mike Del Mundo, and it features a mystical world called "Weirdworld." If that doesn't excite you, then you're lame.

 

Perfect, that's exactly what I was looking for. I was wondering if I should get Secret Wars digitally or in print and the only thing stopping me was if I had to be switching between issues it would be annoying, so I think I'll order that on Amazon right now. I just recently read Civil War and didn't even think about it being tied into Secret Wars. I also read the Old Man Logan stuff awhile ago. I'll check these all out, Weirdworld, Runaways, and Angela especially.

 

Captain America was pretty good, should be a fun time.

 

@Henry

 

don't @ me brah

jk its done

 

Ordered a Chip drawn Galactus. Ebay is dangerous.

 

Finally started Descender and it's great.

 

literally rushed here to discuss this hahah. wild!

 

This is a big get marketing wise for DC.

But I’ve made my disdain for Bendis’ writing very clear, so there isn’t any excitement from me regarding this announcement.

I’m guessing this is just a matter of him costing too much for Marvel / becoming a little stale creatively since he has written every damn character.

While I’m not excited, I’m always rooting for good DC stories. So I’m rooting for him.

 

Whoaaa that's pretty damn cool. Wonder what he's gonna write.

 

I would bet money on him writing Batman. That’s a no-brainer for DC considering Bendis’ success writing noir-ish books. That book would sell through the roof.

Personally, I’d like to see him on a book like Teen Titans. Or even Legion of Superheroes.

 

What the heck. lol. So weird.

Hopefully he writes at least one DC property I like (preferably not a dang twice-monthly one), since I love Bendis and need to continue having him in my monthly pull.

Also, I hope this means Spider-Man gets a POC writer. Get someone like David Walker on that book!

I also personally hope Bendis doesn't take Sara Pichelli and David Marquez with him.

 

I’m way more excited about Bendis bringing over great artists than for Bendis himself. It’s the one aspect of this that (i) can talk myself into easily.

 

Oh shit. That was unexpected.

 

I'm pretty excited for this. never saw it coming, but I think it'll be a good change for him.

 

David Walker on spidey would be wonderful.

I have 0 clue what I’d like to see Bendis on but whatever it is, I’ll check it out at least.

 

Walker would be a good choice. I LOVED Nighthawk. PM&IF and Cyborg were both interesting as well.

 

I hadn't realized that Comic Vine was dead. They've updated twice since August. I guess it shouldn't be too much of a bummer since I hadn't used the site in a long long time.

 

Oh man, I'm starting to get worried that Marvel will put Nick Spencer on Spider-Man. I don't know what made that thought cross my mind, but I hate it.

Wonder what this means for Jessica Jones and Defenders. If they keep Jessica Jones going after he leaves, I think Mariko Tamaki would be a great fit for that character, based on her work on Hulk/She-Hulk. I could see Defenders going to either David Walker or Charles Soule.

As for what Bendis will write at DC... Man, I dunno, especially since I have no ongoing on my pull anymore (recently dropped Superman to add Doomsday Clock). The most obvious choice for his tastes and stature would be (unfortunately) something in the Batman world, though I feel like both the main book and Detective are called for the foreseeable future, right? Maybe Suicide Squad? Ew. Or maybe he could end up on Green Lanterns? What I read of that series felt like something Bendis would be great at, with its focus on character interaction, though his GOTG work wasn't his best, so I dunno. Depending on how long Priest wants to write Justice League, maybe Bendis would bring his New Avengers experience to that, though he's inconsistent on team books, so writing one twice-monthly would be rough. (Unless twice-monthly would actually be a good fit for his super decompressed style?)

Ultimately, all those suggestions are twice-monthly, and I HATE twice-monthly. That schedule wore me out on Superman after a full year, and it's the sole reason I'm not picking up Justice League with Priest taking over. Bendis on the right book MIGHT sway me, since he has a strong track record with artists (including fill-ins) and is good at stretching out stories without them feeling like a drag; in fact, a faster schedule could make him read better. But, it's still a hard sell for me.

If I could pick any one existing DC series for Bendis to write, it'd be Trinity. I've noticed from afar that it has literally never had a consistent creative team or vision from the very beginning, in spite of being a standalone monthly series centered on DC's 3 most iconic characters. Give that book to Bendis long-term with the right artist, and I'll totally eat that up.

 

I'd like to see him with a Young Animals book. There is a lot of interesting stuff going on there that I think he could make some cool contributions to.

Green Lanterns would be nice. I love the dynamic of that book.

I think most projects would be a step up adding him.

 

I like the idea of Young Animal using mostly newer writers, though something like Mother Panic isn't that different from what he did years ago with Alias. I'd sooner see him creating a noir series for Vertigo, though, with someone like Maleev or Gaydos on art.

As a rare comic reader who loves Bendis and isn't in love with DC, I'd personally agree with your last sentence, lol. I just selfishly want him on a property I'd want to read.

 

I'm a few months behind on most things, but there really isn't anything right now that I NEED to read on the monthly, outside of Metal. Most of the books started really strong, but lost steam quickly (Flash, Detective). Wonder Woman is probably going to dip without Rucka. I think that she could make for an interesting Bendis title, especially with the way Rucka wrote her. I agree that twice a month sucks.