It’s possibly just me, but there’s something particularly spoilery about the new Marvel solicits, officially released today, in regards to the upcoming Avengers Vs. X-Men event. Thanks to the solicits for the main book and titles like Avengers, Secret Avengers and Wolverine and The X-Men, we now have a pretty good idea of the beginning of the conflict: The X-Men are in favor of the return of the Phoenix Force, because they suspect it’ll restart the mutant race (I thought this had already happened, at the end of Second Coming?), and this brings them into conflict with the Avengers and specifically Captain America, who declares war on the mutants and leads an invasion of Utopia. Oh, and Wolverine is forced to pick sides, as is mentioned in three different solicits.
Here’s the thing: This sounds like a classic “When Titans Clash!” set-up for this kind of story, simultaneously dumb enough and believable enough that I can buy into it easily as the flashpoint that sets the whole thing off. But it also feels like too much detail to know three months before the story actually begins, to me, at least. I get that solicits are supposed to give some idea of what’s happening in the books, and that there are those for whom “It’s Avengers! Fighting X-Men! And there’s Phoenix!” isn’t enough of a hook to actually check out the series, but I’m not sure that what’s been revealed will turn anyone around on a negative opinion, but may turn some people off buying the first issue. Am I being paranoid? Did everyone else see these solicits and think “No, that’s just enough information for me, my mind is now made up?”
January 24th, 2012 at 2:05 pm
There seems to be way too much reveal in their solicits lately. They need to walk that fine line between teaser and reveal, but maybe with all the editor cuts lately, they’ve lost that talent.
January 24th, 2012 at 2:14 pm
Between solicits that basically tell the stories 3 months in advance and press releases that reveal major plot points nearly a week prior to issues actually hitting the stands, I feel as though Marvel doesn’t really need to even sell comics anymore. You can follow the entire universe by checking their website and picking up the occasional copy of USA Today.
January 24th, 2012 at 2:58 pm
Feeling burnt out from these events, I thought I’d skip this one. Reading this post, now I know I’ll skip it. You’re right Graeme, it sounds pretty dumb and I just don’t think I can bear another event, and as Shariq said, I can be aware of what’s happening if I feel like knowing, via the web. And no doubt there will be some press event spoiling some big reveal, etc etc etc. Ahh Marvel.
January 24th, 2012 at 3:13 pm
Everything you say the solicits spoiled has already been revealed by Marvel’s press efforts. I also don’t consider the fact that the returning Phoenix Force (which has already been published) leads to conflict with the Avengers to be a spoiler. It’s set-up, a tag-line, something you’ll want to know to enjoy the story. No different than the publicity that goes into movies, TV shows, or live theatre.
January 24th, 2012 at 4:13 pm
I never got the impression, down the years, that the Phoenix Force was something that one took a position on – it shows up when it chooses to show up, being a vastly powerful, primal force and all that.
And since when did it bring life? … was the Nova feature in the recent 2012 preview book (so good I forget its name) the first such instance?
January 24th, 2012 at 4:28 pm
something tells me the xmen won’t be in ‘favor’ of a world destroying force coming to earth. more like ‘avengers think Hope is the cause and want to do something to/with her and the Xmen disagree on the how’.
What exactly is spoiled Graeme…Loeb-Nova spoiled the fact that the Phoenix is coming back in .1.
And honestly Graeme..are you gonna skip the first issue but buy the 2nd? Gimme a break.
January 24th, 2012 at 6:13 pm
I didn’t feel like anything more than what I already knew from all the teasers was revealed in this. Especially the issue of Wolverine and which side he would take; that was the first question that popped into my mind.
January 24th, 2012 at 8:09 pm
I’m waiting for Graeme to correctly punctuate a headline; here’s a hint not every one has a question mark at the end.
January 24th, 2012 at 11:13 pm
I think solicitations are business materials, so comic book retailers know the right amounts of issues to order and plan marketing ahead of time. To that end, they should have spoilers. Fans should read at their own risk.
January 25th, 2012 at 7:09 am
Simple solution — don’t read solicitations! I don’t, and I didn’t know about any of that. Now I do, though…
January 25th, 2012 at 9:12 am
@Matt Spatola – I usually don’t agree with the Graeme bashing, but that is such an unnecessary question mark. I feel like maybe he doesn’t have the confidence to make them full on statements.
January 25th, 2012 at 9:58 am
It’s called Avengers v. X-Men, so of course the characters that are both Avengers and X-Men are going to have to choose sides. It’s more stating the obvious than spoiling anything.
January 25th, 2012 at 10:06 am
I’m not so disturbed by the solicits for this event, as I wasn’t planning on buying it anyway and the information isn’t making me want to change my mind. I am, however, unhappy with the news that DAREDEVIL is going to be involved in yet another cross-over storyline making two cross-overs in just a few months. I really like the book and what Waid is doing with it, but think I’ll be dropping it because I just don’t want to keep having to pick up other books that I’m not interested in to follow the story.
January 25th, 2012 at 3:58 pm
Sean – just don’t read the one issue of the crossover tie in. Skip it an wait for the following month. See…not so hard and you can keep reading an awesome book (just not for one month)
January 30th, 2012 at 7:59 am
I’d Be Happy If The Solicits Didn’t Capitalise Every Word!
Or Use An Exclamation Point At The End Of Every Sentence!
Or Have Bullet Points On Every Line!