In (Surprising) Praise of Marvel: NEW X-MEN #146

>From http://www.sequentialtart.com/community/Forum2/HTML/003086.shtml

This may contain some mild SPOILERS and certainly some definite hints, so read NEW X-MEN #146 before you scroll down...

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Bravo, Marvel, bravo!

I applaud Marvel this month, though I am sometimes its critic, for managing to restrain themselves with the marketing and promotion of NEW X-MEN #146.

Much like a movie trailer that gives too much away (ruining an otherwise decent movie), I find that many mainstream publishers (with the help of some "news outlets", admittedly) absolutely wreck the experience of reading a new book with their hype. Whether or not you see the WIZARD cover story, the banner ads, or the in-store posters, even the covers alone bearing "THIS IS THE ONE YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!" or "FINALLY, THE SECRET REVEALED!" tanks the enjoyment of a book's dramatic turns heavily. (Conversely, there are just as many instances of those screaming declarations on the cover of a book whose story is wholly lacking in that supposed drama.)

Not so with NEW X-MEN #146, the climax of which absolutely floored me. Were there fanboys/fangirls who guessed this resolution on Internet message boards? I'm sure there were, but I did not see them nor did I guess it. Either I am dumb (which is truly possible), or it was just genuinely good writing on the part of Grant Morrison (which feels, to me, slightly more possible). Were we to expect something "big" to happen in NEW X-MEN #150? Sure, but this issue defies the traditional "ramping up" nature of such lead-in issues to an anniversary and, rather, takes the reader by the throat. Further, it makes a regular reader have to go back (as the best works, be they movies, prose books, poetry, etc.) and revisit the stories that they thought they understood, but certainly had greater meaning in light of #146's revelation.

Will all this matter to someone who neither follows NEW X-MEN nor the superhero genre overall? Not terribly...except for the fact that Marvel did not drop the ball in its overenthusiasm and whorishly market this book to high heaven. (How much higher could they really make sales on it, after all?) Now, one might argue that expectations would have to be pretty low to be amazed with such a non-feat...But I feel it deserves recognition, especially for all the BATMAN: HUSH-like freneticism about which we (or, at least, I) complain that normally accompanies such a book. Marvel actually managed to take the high road, letting the issue and the fabulous cover speak for itself --

-- And, for that, I applaud them.

(P.S. I'm sure there is some irony felt by those with whom I'm close and consider me a "media whore" with my own work. C'est la vie!)