Season One: Marvel hits refresh

[sherkahn]

It had to happen. The Ultimates universe was not enough. Yahoo has the article about Marvel.



Albeit it, it is not a complete reboot to the characters and the history, just contemporary additions added on to their origins.

From the article:

Marvel Comics is updating the origin of the Fantastic Four this week in a sleeker tale dubbed "Season One" with a more contemporary vibe, while sticking to the roots of Reed Richards, Sue Storm, brother Johnny, and Ben Grimm, otherwise known for the past 51 years as Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, the Human Torch and the Thing.

Think tablet PCs instead of room-sized computing machines.

The revision is part of Marvel's push to add modern touches to its characters. Marvel also is bringing a modern spin to the origins of its other classic characters this year in similar "Season One" editions, including Daredevil, Spider-Man and the X-Men.


I'll say it once, I'll say it again. I get that you need to add contemporary, relevant material so that new and younger readers can latch on to the characters and the qualities that we love in these heroes (and villains), but it's feels like taking all that rich history (good and bad) and seeing them flush it down the commode.

We'll see how this "refresh" is handled when the books come out, as some reviews are already being posted.

For legality...

Comments

[korvar]

I think the "Think tablet PCs instead of room-sized computing machines." line is key. Even if they're not updating the events per se, just updating the visuals so they match today's tech (or "a few years ago" tech for the origin story) is something that will be done from time to time.

[glprime]

But see, I like the FF, Spidey and the X-Men "Age of Superheroes" having started 15-20 years ago. I really do. Because it makes a sense of continuity fun, and having an older generation be experienced and capable, not always "I'm so unsure of myself! Will I be able to save the day? Waaaaa! I'm so young!!!"

[korvar]

Actually, I'd agree with that - but you have to remember that even 15-20 year old tech is significantly more advanced than what they're shown with in their original origin!

Plus Reed should always be shown using tech more advanced than the current mainstream, so it should balance out :)

[halloweenjack]

The problem is, not only is that dating the comic, but it also depends on the artist getting it right. I still remember when Warren Ellis had Ultimate Doctor Doom networking a swarm of thousands of robotic insects together with Bluetooth, which (at least at the time) allowed a maximum of eight devices networked together at once. (He also had Ultimate Reed using an iPod, when it would have been much more plausible for a geek like Reed to put together his own MP3 player (well, Ogg Vorbis, more likely) out of scratch, with a hundred features that iPods have never had and an interface that only he was smart enough to use.) It's not really the FF if they're using the same stuff that you can play with at Best Buy.