Avengers 24 NOW Cover - P 2013
Last year, Marvel Comics relaunched its most popular series — and unveiled revamps of some more obscure titles such as Guardians of the Galaxy and Nova — as part of a publishing initiative called “Marvel NOW!” It worked so well that they’re at it again with “All-New Marvel NOW!” running December through April.
The initiative begins Dec. 24 with the release of a special issue of the regular Avengers series and two new series — All-New Invaders by James Robinson and Steve Pugh and the previously announced Inhuman by Matt Fraction and Joe Madureira — debuting in January 2014.
In the following three months, characters like Black Widow and Silver Surfer — both of whom are appearing in the publisher’s Infinity event — will be given the “All-New NOW!” spotlight in new series. “Our catalog rolls deep,” Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Axel Alonso told USA Today. “It’s giving people fresh, new voices, breathing new life into characters that quite frankly just deserve their own spotlight.”
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The four-month publishing push will do more than that. Existing series such as Avengers, Indestructible Hulk and Captain America also will receive special issues aimed at new readers, which will contain digital codes for the first collected edition of said series alongside stories created to offer the perfect jumping-on point. “If you haven’t been reading Hulk or Captain America or Thor, here’s a spot where you can start cleaning and get on board,” the publisher’s executive editor Tom Brevoort explained.
The first “Marvel NOW!” promotion lasted from October 2012 through May 2013, and significantly increased the publisher’s sales and marketplace presence — although it included new series for every single one of Marvel’s biggest characters. As much as the hardcore fan base might be looking forward to a new series for the Invaders or Inhumans, whether this second wave can really match up in terms of success is open to question.
