Calling the line “a shadow of its former self,” Chris Arrant offers some advice to Marvel on how to revitalize the MAX imprint, over at iFanboy:
The initial PunisherMAX series had many reasons for being as popular as it did, and I’d argue one of those was because not only the creators, Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon, being inspired choices to do the book but also that they had a history together. Imagine if Marvel put some thought into it and attempted to reconvene some great team-ups from adult-oriented books of the past in a new MAX title. What would Transmetropolitan‘s Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson do when given free reign on a Marvel character in the MAX line? What about Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith of 30 Days Of Night fame coming back together for one last run? Andy Diggle and Jock, given the keys to say, Ghost Rider? One last one… Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan do Wolverine. It’s about unique creators doing unique books, but seeing two familiar creators reunite can make it one better.
Chris also suggests bringing in a strong editor and rethinking the format of the books. It’s true that the Max line seems to be suffering from a lack of direction or purpose recently. I wonder if the House of Ideas would be interested in hiring Chris himself to overhaul the line…?
April 26th, 2012 at 10:58 am
His point #4 is a little flawed because Ennis and Dillon didn’t launch Punisher MAX, they worked under Marvel Knights. Punisher MAX launched with Ennis and Lewis Larosa.
April 26th, 2012 at 2:08 pm
One big problem: Marvel won’t let any of their name brand characters be a part of the MAX line. Any character that has a prayer of a non-R rated movie is pretty much verboten, which greatly limits appeal. So no Thor, Spidey, Iron Man, Cap, Wolverine, Iron Fist, Black Widow, X-Men etc.
Agree that using it as an incubator for new talent would be smart, but would the talent be up for it? Plugging away on a low selling book for the Big Two may have had an appeal 5-10 years ago, but there are so many more outlets today for young talent that it’s just not as appealing anymore.
April 27th, 2012 at 5:56 am
“What would Transmetropolitan‘s Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson do when given free reign on a Marvel character in the MAX line?”
Have him smoke cigarettes and say “bastard” and introduce a goth-dressed female character who was tougher than him, I should think.