Opinion: On The Waning Power Of Marvel Comics

Make Mine Marvel — a tagline that is both parts marketing as well as a rallying cry for legions of fans. A phrase that speaks to the love and devotion built around an idea, born from a handful of creators and a publisher that continues to thrive.

Once upon a time, they were words that I lived by. Hell, there was a time where they might have been something that ended up tattooed on my body (if I ever stopped hemming and hawing about getting a tattoo that is). Now, though … well, that’s a different story.

My love of Marvel characters hasn’t waned. No, Spider-Man (Peter & Miles) is still my number one hero and the X-Men have always been — and forever will be — one of my deepest fandom loves. So many other characters, teams, stories, and eras that live in my mind and heart. They’re not going to leave, even if I seriously wanted them to. And trust me, I don’t want them gone.

What has waned though is my interest in what this publisher is putting out monthly.

An overabundance of nostalgia, status quo reversals, lack of bold innovative risks, and a death grip on one-sided corporate synergy have taken their toll. A company that saw a rise in both diverse ideas as well as characters and creators in the 2010s has turned back the clock. Relying on old voices, diminishing the role of many youthful or marginalized characters, and phoning it in with major properties. Going for quantity-over-quality in many respects, though that is of course a mostly subjective quantifier.

Take a look at Marvel right now. Okay, now tell me, what do you think their mission statement is when it comes to their publishing line? Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Got anything? If you did, I’d be shocked, because despite my decades of being a Marvel zombie, I could not point you to anything other than “put out comics with our iconic characters, ????, profit” as the seeming directive. Something like the Krakoa era for X-Men stood out not just because it was new and innovative for the X-Men, but because it was the Dutch crunch bread amongst a sea of mostly plain white bread rolls.

Peter Parker hasn’t had a resonating lasting relevant moment or story in quite some time that isn’t being played on a video game console. Miles Morales and Kamala Khan are both huge in other media but perpetually buried in the comics. Right now, the X-Men are drowning in 1990s nostalgia, muddled metaphors, unclear status quo foundations, and a desire to pump the market full of as many books as possible until it collapses.

The Avengers are just … there. Hulk, Thor, and the Fantastic Four have some solid, intriguing stuff going on that gets little traction, chatter, or spotlight. One Captain America became a landlord while the other Captain America doesn’t even get a title of his own (until it’s time for movie release synchronization in 2025…). Iron Man is going through another relaunch, which is probably like number 500 or something of the last decade alone.

I’d say something about most of the Marvel’s major female characters, but almost none of them actively have a title right now. Those that do are just starting or are also steeped in “Oooh remember this?” levels of corporate nostalgia.

It’s about the same for any characters with a skin tone that is more than one of the various shades of white or peach. A lot of this mirrors things I just wrote in a piece about how Marvel fails to utilize their youthful heroes, a whole chunk (especially the Kamala & Miles-led 2010s group) being from marginalized backgrounds.

I find myself at a point where the monthly solicitations from DC Comics — a company I’ve read a bunch of but never had the same levels of love — are exciting me far more. Do they have similar issues? Oh for sure.

Yet, the fact that tons of the younger, up-and-coming talent behind the pages left Marvel for DC in recent years speaks volumes. There is a sense of openness around DC’s works, that people can take some chances, tell stories that aren’t rehashes, and give spotlight to types of characters that otherwise wouldn’t have gained it in the past.

DC All-In as a new line wide initiative has a really bubbly ‘anything can happen’ feeling to it, even with some of the stories being new versions of older tales. Some real shades of that Marvel NOW! era from 2012 that they ran with for most of the 2010s. What Marvel has left behind, DC has picked up and ran with.

Look, as I said, I’m not going to stop having a space in my heart for Marvel Comics and their characters. My first moments falling in love with fictional characters will always have ties to their part of the massive creative playground. What will change, though, is how much I let that part of the heart guide decisions, as the things I care about become less something I want to spend my money, let alone my time, pursuing.

I move forward now less a Marvel zombie and more a Marvel dabbler.

Perhaps one day, a day I’m looking forward to, the words “Make Mine Marvel” will resonate greatly within my heart.

Until then, I look forward to all the great comics I’ll continue to devour on a regular basis. A dash of Marvel sprinkled upon the sundae made up of heaping scoops of other publishers.