Marvel really needs to stop deliberately tricking fans into thinking they're going to give them what they want and then taking it back again.
I agree with you, because it's never a good idea to piss off your fanbase. As Bendis said recently regarding the Spider-Woman series that never was, it's not a good idea to sell people something they weren't intending to buy - there's a kind of unspoken contract between creator and audience, and if you jump the shark too many times, and needle your audience too many times, eventually you alienate them completely.
I think that right now, all the Cap-centric marketing initiatives and appearances are motivated by 'OMG THIS WOULD BE SO COOL' but it won't take much for them to go over the line and start to deliberately strong along the audience, in a frankly mean spirited way. There are a lot of fanboy creators who hate fanboys. Some of them are infamous for this. fwiw I don't think that Marvel is deliberately trying to piss off fans, or even string them along. At the moment.
I'm still enjoying comics, but not the big flagship books. I don't bother to buy either Avengers title. Occasionally I'll download them, if something interesting happens, but I can't justify spending money on something that I don't like. It's all too decompressed and 'cool' for me. Marvel Adventures continues to be awesome, though. I find that if I stay away from the events, and team books, I enjoy comics so much more, and don't get bogged down in the idiocy of editorial snafus and bad characterization.
Re Captain America - I think this title is still solid and will get a serious push from SI. From the previews, it looks like Bucky Cap will play a role in the event, and may fight alongside IM and Thor. It looks like Bendis has reformulated his reassembling plans to take into account Steve's death. Bendis quite likes the character, and he and Bru are friends, so I'm sure they worked it all out. (Bru even gives Bendis a shout out in his thank you page, in Criminal). Once Bucky Cap has appeared in a major event, and has been exposed to a wider audience, I have a feeling that the book's numbers will improve. Bucky Cap is exactly the kind of character to appeal to today's comic reading base. ie. 18-25 yr old males with disposable income, and love for all things hip and street.
I still respect Bru. His work on Captain America continues to be good, even though, as you say, he doesn't seem to be planning on bringing him back anytime soon. Still, even if Bru doesn't bring him back, someone will. It's inevitable. I don't know, I guess my thing is that I'm happy to wait for Steve's resurrection, as long as I need to, in order for it to be a good story, not motivated by 'OMG so cool!' I'd rather have a good story about Steve's return later, that a shitty one now.
Re the Cap movie - I tend to think of a Cap movie as being an inherently dodgey proposition. They've tried it twice before, and screwed it up both times. It's only going to work if they get the same kind of fantastic creative team as they did on IM, and if everyone exercises a LOT of restraint. But yeah, they'll most likely bring Steve back a bit before the movie, in order to cross-promote. One scenario I can see working for them in terms of marketing, is bringing him back just before the movie is released, and then having the movie be about Steve getting thawed out. That way they can have two Man Out of Time stories going at the same time. Works just like Fraction's IIM is supposed (but totally doesn't).
Anyway, rant away! I'm always happy to hear other fans opinions, and I'm not going to be offended. ;)
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I agree with you, because it's never a good idea to piss off your fanbase. As Bendis said recently regarding the Spider-Woman series that never was, it's not a good idea to sell people something they weren't intending to buy - there's a kind of unspoken contract between creator and audience, and if you jump the shark too many times, and needle your audience too many times, eventually you alienate them completely.
I think that right now, all the Cap-centric marketing initiatives and appearances are motivated by 'OMG THIS WOULD BE SO COOL' but it won't take much for them to go over the line and start to deliberately strong along the audience, in a frankly mean spirited way. There are a lot of fanboy creators who hate fanboys. Some of them are infamous for this. fwiw I don't think that Marvel is deliberately trying to piss off fans, or even string them along. At the moment.
I'm still enjoying comics, but not the big flagship books. I don't bother to buy either Avengers title. Occasionally I'll download them, if something interesting happens, but I can't justify spending money on something that I don't like. It's all too decompressed and 'cool' for me. Marvel Adventures continues to be awesome, though. I find that if I stay away from the events, and team books, I enjoy comics so much more, and don't get bogged down in the idiocy of editorial snafus and bad characterization.
Re Captain America - I think this title is still solid and will get a serious push from SI. From the previews, it looks like Bucky Cap will play a role in the event, and may fight alongside IM and Thor. It looks like Bendis has reformulated his reassembling plans to take into account Steve's death. Bendis quite likes the character, and he and Bru are friends, so I'm sure they worked it all out. (Bru even gives Bendis a shout out in his thank you page, in Criminal). Once Bucky Cap has appeared in a major event, and has been exposed to a wider audience, I have a feeling that the book's numbers will improve. Bucky Cap is exactly the kind of character to appeal to today's comic reading base. ie. 18-25 yr old males with disposable income, and love for all things hip and street.
I still respect Bru. His work on Captain America continues to be good, even though, as you say, he doesn't seem to be planning on bringing him back anytime soon. Still, even if Bru doesn't bring him back, someone will. It's inevitable. I don't know, I guess my thing is that I'm happy to wait for Steve's resurrection, as long as I need to, in order for it to be a good story, not motivated by 'OMG so cool!' I'd rather have a good story about Steve's return later, that a shitty one now.
Re the Cap movie - I tend to think of a Cap movie as being an inherently dodgey proposition. They've tried it twice before, and screwed it up both times. It's only going to work if they get the same kind of fantastic creative team as they did on IM, and if everyone exercises a LOT of restraint. But yeah, they'll most likely bring Steve back a bit before the movie, in order to cross-promote. One scenario I can see working for them in terms of marketing, is bringing him back just before the movie is released, and then having the movie be about Steve getting thawed out. That way they can have two Man Out of Time stories going at the same time. Works just like Fraction's IIM is supposed (but totally doesn't).
Anyway, rant away! I'm always happy to hear other fans opinions, and I'm not going to be offended. ;)