Many nights, Peter Parker cannot sleep. Not because he goes out to fight crime in his costume. It doesn’t even have it, much less shoots webs. Rather, he fights against the existential burden of his 35 years. A coffee tank allows you to get through the days. But the restlessness always returns. A wife and two children he loves, a job as a photojournalist. You would have valid reasons to be satisfied. Something is missing, however, even if he doesn’t know what it is. For the reader of Ultimate Spider-Man (Panini), on the other hand, is obvious. He was never bitten by a radioactive spider as a teenager. Nor, therefore, could he become the famous wall-crawler. In his brand new reinvention in the comics, signed by Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto, he is not a superhero. Still.
Neither is Wonder Woman. Or at least, the US Government does not see it that way. On the contrary, in the recent comics – published by ECC, written by Tom King and drawn, among others, by the Spanish Belén Ortega – he seeks to expel her from the country, as a clandestine migrant, just like the other Amazons. The world changes. And the myths of the cartoons with him. To save the planet, after all, they must first and foremost understand it. Marvel calls it Ultimate. DC talks about Sunrise, what the projects will follow Absolute y All In —can be translated as ordago—. The fact is that both companies are trying these months to modernize and retouch their symbols. To breathe youth and originality into characters of retirement age or beyond. To simplify a chronology that already scared even the most die-hard fan. In short, to engage new and old audiences. And, of course, to keep the box ringing.
“All aspects are true, but I would say the last one is almost certainly the main push. “Artists will strive to follow the mandate creatively,” reflects Sean Howe, author of the applauded essay Marvel Comics: The Untold Storynow republished by EsPop. Although the truth is that some premises are surprising. In Absolute Batman 1by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta, Bruce Wayne lost his father, but not his mother. Nor does he have, of course, his millionaire fortune. Which gives rise to an unprecedented Dark Knight of the working class. The version Absolute Wonder Woman grew up in the Greek underworld, and Superman, yet to be released, also promises to disorient comics veterans – in Spain they will be published by ECC starting in April. And The X-Men rethought by Peach Momoko emerged in Japan, sports a manga aesthetic and dispenses with some of its pillars, as well as the leadership of Professor Charles Xavier. “Considering what the genesis of superheroes would be like in a completely new world is a fascinating exercise,” says Hickman, head of Ultimateon the Marvel website.
“These publishers face a strange mess: they specialize in serial narratives that owe much of their power to their inherent complexity. And, at the same time, this becomes increasingly difficult for the public to absorb. Attracting new readers thus becomes an even greater challenge, due to all that baggage,” adds Howe. As an indication, the seal itself Ultimate: It was already used in the early 2000s, for a previous modernization of the characters. Hence, now the Marvel website explains on one page “everything there is to know” about the return of this label: there are 22 paragraphs, with mentions of several parallel universes. And that has just begun.
So the reset, from time to time, becomes necessary and welcome. Along with the introduction of heroes more connected to modern times, such as Miles Morales, Ghost Spider, Ms. Marvel or the Brazilian Wonder Woman Yara Flor. To modify the older ones, however, reforms are usually preferred, rather than a revolution. Or even change everything to, in a certain way, keep everything identical. “It is largely about props. The essence must remain. Telling the same thing, but in a different way, for other generations,” acknowledges Alejandro Martínez, editor of Panini Comics, which publishes Marvel works in Spain. “It is a larger creative universe, shared with other artists, but I still feel independent in some way. And at the same time there are small rules that I must respect so that it continues to represent Marvel,” Momoko declared to the specialized portal. Scrant.
His new X-Men continue to be marginalized, looking to fit into a world that rejects them. Now they face lights and shadows of social networks, the Japanese artist has put some body horror in the saga, but could not introduce some characters, vetoed by the publisher. And Spider-Man Ultimate He learns the same thing as in his very first story, devised by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962: “Great powers come with great responsibilities.” Only this time, the teaching doesn’t come from the late Uncle Ben, who is alive and has become an investigative journalist.
“I wanted to take what we love about these characters and build from that,” summed up Joshua Williamson, one of the lead writers of Dawn of DCto the web CBR. And Tom King explained to Scrant that her Wonder Woman comes precisely from a reflection on what makes her different. He concluded that Batman protects justice and Superman the state in which. The Amazon, on the other hand, “is against the established system. She is a rebel. “It is planted.” Just what, on the other hand, the writer sees reflected in his children, ages 10 and 14, one of the objectives of Marvel and DC.
Martínez considers that it actually happens from the very origin of these legends. Many Marvel myths were released when the United States was bogged down in Vietnam and the student revolution began; some from DC even witnessed World War II. The kids who read their first stories are grandparents today. Superheroes would never abandon anyone. And even less to his first followers. But they also need to talk to their grandchildren. The opportunity, of impact and business, seems unprecedented: for the first time three generations willing to listen to them coincide. It is enough to look at the number of children’s Spider-Man or Ghost Spider backpacks to see the even reinforced validity of some characters.
“They are living heroes, and the creative team dance has always been there. Each scriptwriter who takes charge of a collection for a long time decides how to handle it. Within the margins of such large licenses, I consider them author comics. If the creators did not put their soul into what they do, these comics would be empty for decades,” says Martínez. Even so, Howe emphasizes that since the eighties this type of initiatives has “increased significantly.” Great encounters, comics intertwined with dozens of characters, anthological clashes with (almost) unbeatable villains. Secret Wars, Age of Apocalypse o Civil War have marked the summers of Marvel fans who today have gray hair and children. At the same time, DC has unleashed Crisis very varied (identity, dark, on infinite lands…). and he marketing Both companies pull Epic on an almost monthly basis. HE to sell a mammoth event, until the next one is even more so. And, once finished, often with some relevant death, it serves as the perfect pretext to raise everything from the ashes again.
A new beginning for the heroes, and for readers who felt intimidated by so much chronology. Furthermore, according to Howe, the strategy also appealed to Hollywood, to serve the simplified essence of each character on a plate. There are the box office and the impact on popular culture to say that it worked. At least for a long time. Because the complex web of plots that entangled the comics also ended up entangling the screen. And both Marvel and DC are looking, precisely, for a new era in cinema as well.
“We are in a capitalist world. It’s unfair to say that Marvel is trying to cash in. I don’t think it’s commoditizing any more than any other publisher. All comics must sell, otherwise there is no industry. In the end, anyway, the readers decide,” says Martínez. Now there can be them of all ages. Although few missions seem as difficult as bringing three different generations to an agreement. In many homes it costs its own. It must be that a superpower is needed.