DC Announced a Bunch of Cool Comic-Book Stuff Today! As for Marvel...

DC announced all kinds of things today at Comic-Con International/San Diego Comic-Con, with a lot of it involving their comic-books. The comic line of DC is on fire right now compared to a struggling Marvel, so I was curious what might be coming down the pipeline from the company. We've got a new Static (Shock) series on the way, and Vixen is getting an ongoing solo book as well, with DC challenging, "...the long-standing stigma that 'Black comics don’t sell,'" with two fan-favorites. Plus, Michael Walsh writing and drawing Jonah Hex as a horror-filled Western sounds like it'll be rad. Speaking of horror, James Harren doing a book on Etrigan The Demon, has my attention. One big crowd-pleaser was the announcement of, "Batman of Two Worlds," which will have Matt Fraction's Batman of the standard DC going through a parallel story with the Batman from the Absolute Universe that Scott Snyder will be writing (I have no idea if they'll meet and chat/fight, but we'll see). It'll feature, "Two stories, one crime." It'll come out on Saturday, September 19th, for Batman Day. This all looks quite exciting!

We get a new, "Venom," #1 every few years or so.

As for Marvel and their comic announcements as of today, um, well...let's see here. Eddie Brock is going to be Venom again after other people have been wearing the suit--Mary Jane most recently, because why not? Also, the evil/"Infernal," Hulk is going to have a bunch of one-shot fights with various heroes. Plus, Deadpool and the Punisher are going to have a crossover, as they do every now and again. Uhhhh, plus Mary Jane is getting another ongoing comic with J. Scott Campbell doing a cover for it, as he always seems to enjoy drawing her. Look, I was a huge Marvel fan for years, and some of my favorite stuff came out from them 2000-2015 or so, but this is all pretty uninspiring. I'm sorry; don't shoot the messenger. Let's just hope that, "Avengers: Doomsday," is a hit and injects some form of life into one division of the company because the Marvel Universe of comics is a bit dull. We're getting an, "Indiana Jones," comic in a different continuity than the superheroes and the, "Marvel Midnight," stuff looks a little interesting, but the Main/616 Universe has a handful of writers doing stories I like and little else popping off. Unless you're chomping at the bit for the Punisher to randomly join the Avengers or Iron Man to be in trouble with the law for the umpteenth time, shit's bleak. Again, let's just be cautiously optimistic about, "Avengers: Doomsday," and see how that (in December) and the Spidey movie coming out (in a week or two) go. As it stands, DC is bringing a lot more fire this year to the show while Marvel seems to be mostly hints of a spark and a lot of fumes.

Marvel’s Midnight Universe Has Been Unveiled and It's a Bit Underwhelming

I wrote just a smidgen ago about how Marvel was hinting about a new, “Midnight Universe,” that would feature Marvel with more of a horror bent. Many people, myself included, thought this meant a lot of beloved and cult creepy characters Marvel has would be featured in dark, edgy tales. Well, Marvel just started releasing details this week. We’re getting X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man…but evil/scary. Yawn.  Oh, and the X-Men are, of course, vampires because Marvel always has had a weird affinity for making the X-Men hang out with or occasionally turn into vampires (hey, Jubilee).

A twisted universe with no heroes and only monstrous versions of Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, the Werewolf by Night, and Blade or such could be such a cool concept. Instead, we’re just churning out another iteration of the biggest characters Marvel has—but spooky! This news has evaporated much of my interest in the Midnight Universe. The creative teams are quite good, which is the only thing that hasn’t utterly erased a cautious optimism I feel. Jonathan Hickman with Matteo Della Fonte on the X-Men book, Benjamin Percy and Kev Walker doing Fantastic Four, and Phillip Kennedy-Johnson with Scie Tronc—the first-ever Marvel book he’s done art for.

I sincerely hope the Midnight Universe is indeed Marvel’s horror-heavy answer to DC’s immense success with the Absolute Universe. I want all comic publishers to do well, big or small, because then the comic industry itself remains strong. Healthy sales benefit everyone, but I just don’t know if this Midnight Universe sounds particularly interesting or all that new. The X-Men have had plenty of interactions with vampires, and Spider-Man has been a more spider-like beast on numerous occasions, too. The Fantastic Four comic does intrigue me a bit, however, because Percy and Walker are a Hell of a good team. Basically, I will try the first issues of each of these series, and we’ll see what happens from there.

Marvel Is Hinting at a New, "Midnight," Universe Coming This Fall

Marvel is in the process of wrapping up their reboot of the Ultimate Universe (I'm still shocked they are actually ending it) and just started hinting at something called the, "Midnight Universe," with the tagline, "A terrifying new universe from Marvel Comics arrives this fall." Upon seeing this my first thought was Marvel is going to try and do something similar to DC's smash-hit Absolute Universe, with some kind of dark or scary twist...hence the spooky-ish time of Midnight? Well, Bleeding Cool has announced with a big All-Caps, "SCOOP," that the Midnight Universe is a mix of Marvel's answer to the Absolute Universe and will have a horror focus. Jonathan Hickman, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, and Benjamin Percy will all be working together for a radically reimagined alternate Marvel Universe that will have a focus on Blade, Ghost Rider, Darkhold, Dracula, Morbius, and the good ol' Werewolf By Night.

This announcement has me feeling both a bit cynical and excited. I am rolling my eyes a bit at the idea of Marvel so unabashedly going, "Let's do our own Absolute-type thing!" but hearing it has a horror bent perks my ears up as someone who enjoys sci-fi and horror comics, as well as superhero stories that twist the genre a bit into those styles. Will there be enough interest in a more horror-styled alternate universe for this line to succeed or will it fall flat on its face? Nobody can (for sure) know as very few predicted the Absolute line would be as popular as it has become--I will say I am eager to learn more because I'm always down for a solid Blade or Ghost Rider yarn. Marvel will officially be revealing more next week, so let's stay tuned for the (official) details that will be coming before too long.