Contest of Champions | The Institute of Idle Time

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Contest of Champions

Al Ewing & Paco Medina
This book seemed bizarre to me. All of these alternate universe characters feel like red-shirts in Star Trek; I don’t care about them. This book really just reeks of that crossover-tie-in funk that bogs down so much of what Marvel publishes. There isn’t really anything substantial in the book even worth writing about – a really lousy comic. I will in no way shape or form be reading any more of this book. – IP

I did not like this at all. I don’t want to play your damn game and I don’t want to read your confusing tie-in. – BC

First collection: Contest of Champions, Vol. 1: Battleworld (May)

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Marc Guggenheim & German Peralta
I’m so confused. I thought even with multiverses collapsing, the Marvel Movie U and the ANAD Marvel were separate things. Is that Robert Downey Iron Man? I don’t see this book capturing a wide audience. I don’t think the TV show’s audience is really hankering for more B-listers and primetime tropes in comic form. This is some classically lame, cross-promotional baby shit. Ugly drawings. Boo boo, Peralta. – RF

First collection: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Vol. 1: The Coulson Protocols (August)

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Marvel’s latest series relaunch is its most ambitious to date, with up to sixty new titles debuting this winter. Unlike similar events in the past, whether it was Heroes Reborn whose issue re-numbering eventually defaulted and resulted in schizophrenic dual-numbered issues, or the more recent Marvel NOW! which seemed to target properties that were developing their own cinema-inspired identities, this year’s All New All Different Marvel bears a few significant differences.

For one, the name is pretty dumb. It doesn’t have the snap of DC’s “New 52” or even the brevity of “Marvel NOW,” but maybe the cumbersome label makes it easier to shed, months down the road, when this new universe has been established as the new normal. Which brings up the second key difference: this time, the relaunch is universal. In the wake of the latest Secret Wars event, bits and pieces of various Marvel realities – some that we are familiar with and some of which are brand new – are coming together to form this new universe. All of the groups are affected: the X-Men books, the Spider-books, and, of course, the Avengers titles.

As we did with the 52 series that comprised DC’s relaunch, a dedicated team of Idle Timers will be reading the first issue of every series under the All New All Marvel banner. We’ll then rank them from worst to best, and share insight from both long-time comics fans and neophytes. Sometimes the best feedback, for a venture designed to hook new readers, comes from folks coming in cold. MH hadn’t even ever heard of Doctor Strange, if you can believe it. Continue reading All New All Different Marvel – Week 1 →