Will Marvel’s ‘Legacy’ Event Bring Its Groove Back?
Marvel announced more information about it’s Fall event called “Legacy.” The gist is that it seems to be correcting the off-course moves of the past few years, including returning to the numbering of issues from before it restarted at No. 1 for those titles that got that change starting in the “All-New” campaign.
The news came out of a Marvel panel Saturday at C2E2 in Chicago. A number of articles, including on mainstream news outlets like ABC News, quote Marvel editor in chief Axel Alonzo (who, even though we share a title, probably makes waaaay more than I do) as saying:
“With ‘Legacy,’ we want to tell stories that are accessible to all, but remind readers of Marvel’s rich history. To drive that point home, a number of our titles will return to their original series numbering, and our stories will invoke that history, reminding readers of connections between characters they may have forgotten about, and ushering in the return of some big characters who’ve been missed. Above all else, we want to inject our comics with a massive dose of fun.”
In case you didn’t read all of that, he says “…the return of some big characters who’ve been missed.” I bet we’ll see Marvel’s first dysfunctional family return, the Fantastic Four. If that isn’t a nod to the company’s “legacy” I don’t know what would be.
But here’s the question — If they, say, make Odinson Thor again, does that mean Jane Foster goes back to being a dying cancer patient and we lose the outstanding female Thor we’ve come to love in the past couple of years? Will Riri Williams stop being an Iron Man (I know technically Ironheart)?
Jason Aaron, who is currently writing The Mighty Thor, will write the massive, 50-page Marvel Legacy launch special, so one can hope he won’t cast Jane aside completely.
Please, Marvel, do the smart thing by essentially fixing the dumb moves, which lost you large numbers of readers, and righting the ship. But also do the right thing by keeping the wonderfully diverse line of characters that have been introduced in the last handful of years.
