So now that most of the Marvel Now books have a few issues(or more depending on the title)in,I thought I'd share some thoughts...also it's a good time killer while I'm at the shop and there's Friday Night Magic gaming going on.So far I've read just about every title that Marvel has put out with this and for the most part,I like the direction of the line.I won't bore anyone with title by title reviews so I'll comment mostly on title groups with the occasional title mention

First up,the Avengers line.I find that the top franchise seller for Marvel at the moment is good but not great.Uncanny Avengers which was supposed to be "THE" Avengers book to read has suffered due to it's lateness.With Oliver Copiel taking over art chores,hopefully that'll change.The main title,I haven't warmed up to yet.It's not bad but Hickman is a slow build-up writer so it feels kind of drug out. All the other "Avengery" books are average reads.Not bad but not great.
The solo books like Cap,Iron Man and Thor have been decent with nothing stinky that stands out unless you're not a fan of Greg Land.The one stand out book for me has been "Hawkeye" and if you don't read it,I recommend that you do.

X-men line:With Bendis the writer of the two main books(All-New and Uncanny X-Men)I didn't know what to expect,but they're actually pretty good.The off-shoot titles are hit or miss but I can tell,the line will suffer with so many X-related stuff(12 titles counting solo books like Savage Wolverine,Wolverine and Gambit)out there. Way too many to choose from with mostly $3.99 price tags. I expect some thinning down the road.

Spider-Man: Not horrible really. I would actually enjoy Superior Spider-Man more without the ghost of Peter Parker in every issue. Avenging Spider-Man actually makes for a more entertaining read. I can tell Slott is having more fun writing Spider-Ock than he was Peter Parker the past couple years(much like Geoff Johns' writing of Sinestro was more interesting than Hal Jordan in Green Lantern).Scarlet Spider and Venom are books I read off the shelf so just "meh" for those.

Fantastic Four and FF-Both written by Fraction,but FF the more enjoyable read for me.....probably due to the fun Allred art. The main book is ok and building to whatever Fraction has planned,but again slow burn storytelling.Bagley art is solid and fits well with the FF.

Hulk related-Indestructible Hulk is awesome. Waid is telling a good story that gets better each issue.Totally digging this. Red She-Hulk...solid but nothing spectacular. Thunderbolts with Red Hulk just ok.

Random titles: Fearless Defenders,Deadpool and Morbius...pretty meh stuff unless you're a fan of these characters.

New stuff:Guardians of the Galaxy and Nova...too soon to tell,but Guardians I like and Nova has Loeb-stink but McGuiness art so that title's a wash.

That's all for now.

Guardians was ok but not good enough to follow.

The Nova title looked silly. What happened to the previous Nova?

Deadpool I'l get in trades.

Hulk I'll get in trades.

Thunderbolts is fun. I added it to my pull list.

Fearless Defenders was fun.I'll probably get the next few issues.

Secret Avengers was ok. Why is Nick Fury now Sam Jackson?

Richard Rider,the previous Nova,was last seen trapped in the Cancer-verse. The Nick Fury in Seret Avengers is Nick Fury Jr. introduced as Marcus Johnson in the mini-series "Battle Scars".

I don't understand how comic book companies as large as marvel manage to get away with not being able to meet regular schedules. Or why they have to deal with delays in the first place.

I would imagine it would be much harder to pump out a live action TV show because there's a lot more to do behind the scenes, and actors cannot be replaced.

How hard would it be to get a writer to write several issues in advance and then have several artists working together? Isn't that what animation studios do with their shows? What's the difference with the comic book industry?

It's a mixture of fans and pros fault. These days artists,not all but a growing number,are so focused on the detail of their art that they don't get much done.Editorial doesn't want to upset the artist,so they allow lateness if the artist is popular enough. There's also the fan reaction that sends mixed signals to the industry heads. Fans hate late books,but they also don't care for fill-in artists or an inventory book that interupts the story arc. For example,when Phil Jimenez couldn't keep up with the schedule for Infinite Crisis,DC tapped other artists to jump in to keep the series on schedule.Fans bitched. Marvel,having taken notice of that,publishes Civil War and when Steve McNiven got behind,they opted to have the book come out late then use another artist.Guess what? Fans bitched. It's the no-win scenario in those cases. Also,fans don't want multiple artists on their books generally. I remember a few books w/artist credited as Deodato Studios...bascially artists that draw like Mike Deodato Jr...which tells you nothing as to who they are and doesn't sell the book.Most of the time,fans like one single artist on a book. Now sometimes you'll see a book split between two artists and two inkers and it works. The current World's Finest book that split the art between George Perez and Kevin Maguire for a time,looked pretty good together. I'm not saying that the approach of animation-style producing for a comic is invalid,but I doubt you'll see that kind of model used in producing a comic as the norm anytime soon.

It used to be that a monthly title that was late was pretty rare whether it was due to a more stern hand by editorial or artists were more professional in their commitments or a mixture of the two,I have no idea,but for whatever the reason,a good practice these days would be to give an artist that has deadline issues a healthy lead-in time to have a few issues in the can before solicts. Marvel has been currently using the rotating creator method to keep certain titles on schedule. Of course,they've had some insane shipping issues. You had Iron Man out three weeks in a row. Superior Spider-Man,two weeks in a row or more instead of twice a month. Now that's just plain confusing to readers and also puts a hurt on the wallet if you get these titles. It seems to be righting itself at the moment but who klnows.

I'm reading and liking the two FF titles and All-New X-Men. I haven't tried Uncanny, I didn't know it was Bendis.

I tried Superior Spider-Man and it wasn't terrible but it didn't hook me.

IN THE ASS.

With a chimp.

Sometimes I wonder if they delay good comics so you will buy other comics just to get your comic fix.

I'm liking the New Avengers and Avengers by Hickman. I was only interested in this because of his work on FF and Fantastic Four which was great. And I will second Hawkeye. I never really cared much about the character at all and now this is one of my favorite books! Everyone should be picking that one up.

I used to be more of a DC guy but these days I am picking up more from Marvel than DC. Journey Into Mystery is not bad (not as good as when Loki was the star), Daredevil is RAWK! and Thor: God of Thunder is pretty good, too.

especially with a chimp.

Hi Allan1! Nice to see you can initiate an interesting topic! Bwahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!

Superior Spider-Man ia definitely a superior book! It's great seeing Pete going, "Why didn't I think of that?" Can't wait until Pete's back in charge and Doc Ock is hanging on in his head making Pete do bad things! Nuff said!

LLance,you old dirty bastich!

Llance is still alive? Christ. Medical science, eh?

Sooo... whats "new" about Marvel "New"?

My favorites have been Spider-Man and the new X-Men book. Captain America is horrible!

So I did, and it was excellent.

Still kicking tho I ran myself over w/ my daughter's car on my 29Th anniversary on July 2nd as we were leaving to see the Spider-Man movie premiere. Went to the hospital and they found an aneurysm in the lower section of my stomach. Got laid off from the casino in September but did return part-time in October. but, yes Dave, I still live! How about you? Still alive and kicking?

Yeah, expecting my third kid in September. I think when we all started talking at the DCMBs in 2000 I was engaged (to my first wife - remarried since then). Tempus fugit, eh? Good to see you're still breathing.

I'll reluctantly check out X-men on the back of your recommendation.

on the back hehe

Don't be ridickulous.

it's my mutant power.

Jeffrey.