New Avengers 8, FF 7, Dr Strange 2 and Avengers 34 (800) -Is This really what Marvel Has Become?

 

For me The Avengers, Fantastic Four and X-Men were the team books with the best writers and artists.  We know for a fact, because if you have read and studied comics everything you need as proof is there, that comics declined in the 1990s. Hack writers with no knowledge of characters or their history were cheap to hire by a company like Marvel that had fallen into decline from the top on down.  

 The last good run of Fantastic Four was likely the early 2000s when old hands were brought in. Reboot after reboot after reboot after reboot has seen the stories decline. The current incarnation just fell flat but I persevered and now it is just poor.  It might have been bearable were it not for the fact that there have been some lousy artists involved. In the past I have had no problem with Ramos's art but in this Fantastic Four run it is ugly with no saving grace and I know Ramos fans will be outraged by my writing that but I do not care because the story is bad enough but the art has pushed me to the point of ending decades of reading the former Marvel flag ship title.

Please tell me New Avengers is going to end soon so that standing order can be cancelled. There is some nice art in the book but the story seems to be all over the place and while I am sure that the writer thinks they are being clever it is all wearing a bit thin now and seems to be going nowhere.  It is issue 8 but I feel like we are back with issue 4.  

 Winter Soldier and Black Widow have to take turns in tying each other up and torturing one another. to see who is the traitor....more like the writer trying to get their kinks out there. Honestly, at one point I just asked out loud "What the  *****  is supposed to be going on?"

And the cover is awful.

The Avengers was the title others tried to emulate. It was another title that just went wrong in the 1990s, there seemed to be a glimmer of hope and return to form when Busiek, Davis and then Perez revived it with Heroes Reborn and Avengers Forever seemed to indicate Marvel was returning to form, They dumped Perez and Busiek and....oh gods.   I have a run of Avengers from the 1960s to present and there have been some awful -AWFUL- reboots with bad stories and equally bad art.   

The current run has been notable for bad writing and also the fact that the Avengers rarely feature in the title and at best we've had two members in an issue. That's a lovely old feel cover to the book and as an 800th issue (don't worry they add and remove the "legacy numbering" whenever they think it might sell something) and all Marvel has been stating you think this is going to be a treat for fans.   

Well, that pipe dream hit the crapper fast.  Bad characterisation, messy story and while there is some good art it is all over the place and I had to keep double checking.  Do I quit with this at 800?  Honestly, I can see why some fans will not consider there being an Avengers comic after 500 and why a lot were complaining about this big anniversary issue.

Nice cover.

Dr Strange is another nice cover and anyone who knows me will tell you that my all time favourite solo characters are The Sub-Mariner and Dr Strange.

Sadly, Dr Strange has been rebooted and messed up so much that I resorted to trades to keep up with it but then it just died for me.  When it was stated that this new series was "a return to form" for the character I did not realise they meant "bad form".  After issue 1 I stated I would see what happened in issue 2....

I am not buying issue 3. Some of the art was just ugly.  When you look at a long established character and have to ask "why does he look so awful now?" you know things have gone wrong. 

I actually hate saying how bad a company I have followed and supported with my money since the 1960s has gotten.  This constant swapping around of writers and artists is not keeping things fresh but actually destroying characters and titles. I think the best example is The Ultimate Universe  line. Marvel is showing the universe end while publicising its revival (AGAIN).

I know Disney does not care about Marvel Comics as they only bring in a pittance while the movies are the big earners. I gave up on DC because of what happened over and over again and now it looks as though modern Marvel is about to join it.