The First Issue of the New, "Heroes Reborn," Shows Promise

A bit ago Marvel announced they were doing a new, "Heroes Reborn," event. Unlike the one in the 1990s that featured an alternate Earth, this one had it apparently be the regular reality but rewritten where the Avengers never formed and that altered a lot of history--resulting in the Squadron Supreme being the big-name team. It sounded like a fun mini-event, but a big chunk of tie-ins were announced. That made it sound possibly a bit bloated for a weekly thing. Still, I tried the first issue and I thought it showed some promise. The idea is that the Avengers never formed for some mysterious reason and it seems like only Blade realizes that the World is wrong. Agent Coulson is President and seems to maybe be evil, supposedly Mephisto is involved in all this I read, and there is a lot going on in this different-but-vaguely-familiar World. There is still a Hulk, but he's locked up, Dr. Doom lost his political power and becomes the Juggernaut. Captain America was never found after he crashed into the ocean during World War II, and so forth.

I am a big fan of alternate-reality stories and have a soft spot for the Marvel version of the Justice League known as the Squadron Supreme so that maybe helped me enjoy this odd first issue. Written by Jason Aaron with lovely art by Ed McGuinness, this first issue is dedicated to basically laying out how things are all warped and that Blade isn't pleased by it. Not a ton happens beyond Blade saying, "This is wrong, this is wrong, that's wrong too!" but it is still fun to witness our Marvel heroes all changed about. McGuinness really does a fantastic job illustrating certain scenes, such as when the Juggernaut-powered Dr. Doom fights Hyperion or when some speedsters (one being a clever amalgamation of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver) fight. It looks good even if not a lot happens beyond place-setting.

I suppose the tie-ins are kind of necessary to help flesh out this strange World whilst the main weekly comic will focus on Blade and anyone he can recruit to his cause of fixing the World. The second main issue and the first of the tie-in issues will be released tomorrow. I may give them a browse as this first issue had me cautiously optimistic about, "Heroes Reborn." It could all fall apart and suck by the end, but right now it's a fun alternate-reality jaunt.

The More, "Heroes Reborn," Comics Marvel Announces, The Less Excited I Am

 

Last month Marvel announced a mini-event titled, "Heroes Reborn." It imagines a world where the Avengers never formed along with other heroes starting-up and instead the Squadron Supreme is running the show along with other interesting new versions of familiar characters. I thought it was basically an arc of, "Avengers," or a standalone mini-series. I was wrong as Marvel keeps announcing various one-shots and tie-ins As this, "Mini," event becomes more of a big full-fledged, "Event," I just find myself losing interest in buying any of it. 

Massive events sometimes are cool but can be a waste of money too. I've been following a number of comics that tie-in with, "King in Black," because I have soft spot for Venom/symbiote stories and it's been alright, but I'm glad I am being a little picky in which books I spent money on with that mega-event. I do like a good alternate-Universe tale, with Flashpoint being an event I didn't know I would absolutely love as much as I did back in 2011 or so, and when Jonathan Hickman did, "Secret Wars," and its numerous tie-ins, that was pretty cool. I also plan to read a chunk of DC's current, "Future State," when some issues I ordered thanks to a good discount arrive.

Still, I saved money on both those events by getting the countless tie-in comics from dollar bins or reading trade paperback collections from the library. I wasn't in a rush to read these massive events that tweaked the World in cool ways but had way too many tie-in books. Other, recent events, I have basically avoided and just read the tie-in comics that I was already reading. I didn't follow, "Empyre," at all besides in the X-Men comics I was getting that touched-upon that event--to give one example.

"Heroes Reborn," could be a lot of fun, but I don't want to spend a bunch of money on it. I'll probably wait for the trade paperback/paperbacks collecting it to arrive at the library eventually. I'm in no rush to read the event and its increasing number of tie-ins, so I'll give it time. Saves me a chunk of change, after all.

The Latest, "Heroes Reborn," Sounds Quirky

Back in the 1990s, there was this event of sorts where many of Marvel's major characters seemed to die fighting a villain named Onslaught. They didn't die, however, they warped to World created by Franklin Richards of the Fantastic Four (because he was secretly super-powerful). The mainstream Marvel Universe dealt with thinking the Avengers, Fantastic Four, etc. were dead and they got their own comics. The Earth was revisited sometimes and one character from that alternate place--Rikki Barnes--has been living in the regular Marvel Earth for some time. There is going to be a new, "Heroes Reborn," event and absolutely none of what I told you matters because this is a whole new thing. Yeah, comics.

Starting in May, the current, "Avengers," comic by Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness will take us to an alternate reality where the Avengers were never formed. Instead, the Squadron Supreme are Earth's greatest heroes and Phil Coulson leads them. Thor never got his hammer, Peter Parker is simply a reporter, Doctor Doom became the Juggernaut (somehow), Captain America stayed frozen in ice, and the only Blade of all people remembers that this is a wonky timeline. This isn't a massive event, it seems, just a fun arc in the current, "Avengers," comic. As someone who likes the Squadron Supreme in its various iterations (basically Marvel riffing on the Justice League) and who thinks Blade is cool, I think this may be interesting. 

I really appreciate this is just a story arc (for now) and not some massive event with a ton of tie-in comics. I'm well-known as being a fan of alternate-universe/what-if tales between this having some cool characters involved and featuring a messed-up timeline I'm gonna check it out. I just don't get why Marvel went with the name they did considering this is nothing like the original, "Heroes Reborn."