Try reading the Wiki; or just buy the book if you care that much. Refusing to read a book, but begging to know the info, is a little silly. It's not like comic book spoilers are hard to find online.

Dude. Was this necessary?

I don't want to hear about the story. I want to hear about why the story. And I want to hear it from you.

Both the Avengers and X men are suffering from Justice League syndrome:

too many members in their rosters.

Dark is lame. Why?
Pokemon did this.

I kinda like the direction of Osborn\Green Goblin but not the Dark teams he is creating.
This is just a continuation really of the Illuminati concept IMO.
Osborn could have changed\evolved without the dark teams in tow.
He should have just stayed tied to the Thunderbolts-that I can see.

I also don't like what Marvel has done with Skaar, Son Of Hulk.
It was 1 of the only books not set in current 616 continuity and it had a feel all it's own-sorta like Conan or Kull.
Now he is thrust onto earth and is already crossing over at a feverish\frenzied pace with earth bound characters like She-Hulk and the FF.

Pretty soon he should be an Avenger!!!

I have absolutely no doubt that Jeph Loeb and Brian Bendis feel a deep affection for the characters they write and are excited about the stories they're telling.

Then again, I feel the same way about Rob Liefeld and Youngblood.

Intent and execution are very different things. You may not enjoy the stories Bendis and Loeb are telling right now, but you're way off base when you assume they're deliberately destroying the characters... except...

Some of the most common advice a writer receives is to take their favorite characters and put them through hell. Reason being that the audience wants to see their hero overcome a challenge.

I have no doubt that Loeb and Bendis are *trying* to tell good stories. They may not always succeed, but they're certainly trying.

-J

Wha...HUH? Really? Well, that just stinks. I dropped Amazing Spider-Man right after "The Other." As much as I dislike Bendis, his USM was fun to read and retained the flavor of the classic Spidey (read, pre-BND) that I have always liked so much. I guess Bendis finally got tired of writing it...

OK, so I did some research on USM and found this:

According to solicitations the series will end with #133, only to restart under the name Ultimate Comics Spider-Man.

So it looks like I won't be down a Marvel book after all - and that Bendis isn't quite tired of writing Ultimate Spidey. Not yet, anyhow.

Whatever God or Gods you worship my friend may they bless you a THOUSAND times! And thanks to Zatara55 for starting this thread.

I was beginning to think I was the ONLY person who felt this way about Marvel. I sometimes joke with my friends because I want to be an editor at Marvel - because they must get paid to do nothing. In the "real world" when a writer comes up with a stupid/lame idea/story the editor tells them "this sucks, try again"...apparently editors at Marvel don't do that (now there may be an even scarier concept here - that Marvel editors DO actually work, in which case - except for a few titles - the #### they are publishing IS actually the good stuff and I'd hate to think what has been rejected).

I also agree that most of Marvel's writers (unlike say DC's Geoff Johns) are not there because they love the characters, but as a filler towards other things.

Essentially Marvel has gone from sensational hype to sensational hype (Civil War changes everything...Secret Invasion changes everything..."Dark" changes everything) instead of quality writing/storytelling. It's really sad considering how much I LOVE Marvel's characters.

What's sad is that... you KNOW Marvel can write better stories. They really can. Things like Spider-Man Noir, X-Men Noir, Pak's Incredible Herc, Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy... those show that good writing is possible, but it's all cast aside in favor of the semi-annual MASSIVE CROSSOVER ULTRA HUGE EVENT.

Blech.

I only worship one God my friend. Check your User CP so you can read your rep because you'll never be able to read it again once it gets replaced.
Another thing I don't like (and this applies to the Didio verse even more then Marvel) Is the carnage crutch. Instead of writing good solid stories they rely on massive slaughter and destruction to fill up their shallow tales.
Everybody is a red shirt these days. If a supporting character is introduced, good luck expecting some character development. They'll probably be dead in five issues. I don't think either Marvel or DC can say their Earths have a population problem any more. In fact humans should be put on the endangered species list on both planets.
They also need to end the hero goes insane and becomes a homicidal maniac story arcs that are so popular with our current breed of hacks.
It's beyond tired.

Is there something about my psychological profile that disturbs you? If there is, you can relax, because I have no idea where you live. You're safe for now.

But they *are* producing those other things, so we nee to keep spreading the good word. The megacrossovers sell; that's the numbers. But we can keep telling people about the other good stories out there.

(Also, you forgot to include Iron Fist there.)

I'm down to a single book in either universe that I'll collect in comic rather than TPB form. So many books are now published with the TPB in mind that it doesn't make enough sense to me to bother getting what is clearly just a chapter rather than a self-contained story.

Wow! Popularity=Quality

Glad to know it...

That's what the ... was for. Really, the further away from the "main event" one gets, the better the quality tends to be.