u/JDBlou

So Marvel comics has just announced their latest initiative: Marvel Midnight, giving us dark and twisted re-imaginings of Marvel heroes...

And yet I can only muster a tepid enthusiasm for the line as a whole. X-men vs Vampires, body horror Spider-man: Standard fare at this point in Marvel's 70+ years of publishing. Admittedly cosmic/eldritch horror Fantastic Four is a sharp inversion on the strange new worlds, cosmic exploration core feature of the F4 that I'm cautiously optimistic for.

"A darker imprint, a universe anathema to hope, to brightness." Now, where have I heard that before?

And yet, the initiative feels... reactive? Cynical? Like someone took away the wrong lessons from Absolute DC: the world is dark and the heroes are darker and more challenged, more grim. When what should've been taken away is that the core of the character, the inherent resonance of the character is maintained despite the overwhelming fundamental animosity of the universe.

The X-men current line isn't exactly genre challenging in the way Krakoa was. Despite how that era ended, the reinvigorating effect it had on X-men comics is difficult to dispute. Spider-man publishing has been playing variations on the same notes ever since OMD happened. Avengers team shakeups and compositions conveniently line in fair proportion to whatever new blockbuster's out in a couple months. None of the monthlies ever seem to last more than 10 issues besides Spider-man and X-men which sustain runs through no effort of their own.

They've unceremoniously ended their new ultimate line, losing all momentum and goodwill by actively kneecapping it with an ending, while DC Comics is running circles around them, with strong showings and bigger swings in their absolute books and core titles. I don't think Hickman has the goodwill Marvel thinks he does from his Krakoa days. He spearheaded the ultimate universe and now that's ending, his last venture to shake up the cosmos with Imperial went off like a damp squib, what should've been multiple on-goings hastily retrofitted into mini-series. The precedent begs the question: why should we invest in something with no promise of follow-through? Will Marvel at the first sign of trouble for Midnight sales cut their losses and run? Nothing's allowed to grow at Marvel if it's not an overnight success.

I want to be clear I'm not defending DC by painting them what they are not. DC has made plenty of mistakes, the New 52 sacrificed long term goodwill and character development for short-term profits, and all culminating in them having to walk back the entire initiative, a tactical error that is still being paid for today.

Both are IP brands with profit margins and corporate overlords to report to, meaningfully both are IP hen houses, incubators. Marvel Editorial just seems content to remain complacent, the brand treated as an factory IP farm versus DC Comics' "free range" IP farm.

It's safe, corporatised with a mandate that seems to be based on what tests well, which is somewhat absurd given DC is under the same sort of financial obligations. The leadership has no creative vision, most of the properties are shelf-stable, milquetoast fare. How many times have Scarlet Witch and Moon Knight been relaunched in the last five years alone? How many times must we see Peter Parker get involved with a new partner just to have his relationship blow up in his face, lose his job?

I don't think every creative choice DC makes is an immediate winner but I find it hard to argue that DC is taking more ambition with books for Deadman, Zatanna, Firestorm, Lobo.

Marvel's set to release three new spider-man books in time for the new flick: two spider-man hulk team-up books and a spider-man punisher team-up book... the same characters set to feature in said film.

Let it be said I'm not just blindly defending DC here, regarding tie-ins with an acknowledgement: DC also has a Supergirl movie coming out, and she's clearly the centre of a big marketing push. She's getting an worldwide anthology special, a "summer of supergirl" special featuring stories from big creators, an elseworlds featuring her and a baby Kal-el escaping krypton's destruction together in a lone wolf and cub situation, a multitude of character promotion.

Lobo's ongoing is also convenient given he's a feature player in the film and yet it all feels arguably less cynical because they're being positioned to entice viewers to read more if they want to learn about the character. Something that isn't just the broad strokes of the movie but "more", Marvel to me feels like mashing action figures together: blatant, superficially resonant movie tie-ins delivered with the grace and subtlety of a sledgehammer. Categorically Marvel and DC are performing the same action but there's a marked, qualitative difference in execution.

Ultimately it's a timidity that I think reflects entirely on the editorial of Marvel, they have the creatives and funnel them into paint by numbers fare. It begs the question what is the future of Marvel Comics?

Watching the slow deterioration of a mainstay institution is incredibly sad, given it's an acquiescence not a terminal diagnosis. But I can't help but feel right now like there's a DNR order on Marvel publishing and it's signed by Cebulski.