Marvel has confirmed to ICv2 the launch of six new titles for March 2004. Five of the titles, Iron Fist, She-Hulk, Captain America and the Falcon, Alpha Flight, and Cable/Deadpool, will be on-going series, while the sixth release, Avengers vs. Thunderbolts, will be a miniseries. It is hard to see any strategic design in what has to be considered one of the major moves by the post-Jemas Marvel management team. Iron Fist and Captain America are both in development as major motion pictures, but they won't be released until 2006 at the earliest (see 'More Marvel Movie News'). Some might think that Marvel is trying to cash in on the 'Retro 1980s craze,' but the revamped Marvel characters involved have their origins spread out over the last 3 decades of the twentieth century: Iron Fist, Falcon (1970s), She-Hulk, Alpha Flight (1980s) and Thunderbolts, Cable/Deadpool (1990s). It should be interesting to see how the market reacts to this new Marvel initiative, which largely involves second and third tier characters. It will be up to the creators involved to generate enough sales momentum to keep these series on Marvel's schedule. Captain America and the Falcon, with art by Bart Sears and Christopher Priest doing the writing, looks like the best bet, but time will tell.
New Bottles, Vintage Characters
Posted by ICv2 on December 9, 2003 @ 11:00 pm CT

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