Marvel’s NOW! Has brought significant changes to the company’s books. All new number ones, new teams, character changes, new titles and so many Superior books it’s baffling. It leads one to ask “Now What?” Well Marvel has the answer in this new one-shot full of humorous stories. But are they that funny? Major Spoilers has your answer after the jump!
SUMMARY
Pros
Marvelpocalype NOW! story
Majority of the book is funny
Cons
Not all stories work
Some art is too simplistic
READER RATING!
[ratings]
MARVEL NOW WHAT?! #1
Writer: Various
Artist: Various
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Colorist: Various
Editor: Tom Brennan
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Previously in Marvel Now What?!: So many changes to characters and titles it has pissed a lot of people off.
WOW, THIS IS ACTUALLY FUNNY
When I read the solicitation for this book, I wasn’t expecting much. I rarely find books parody stories funny and ones with multiple shorts tend to miss the mark. The only thing that made me want to check this out was the promise of Captain America getting Cat Fished. As it turns out, much of the book is hilarious.
It definitely starts strong, with a page of Skottie Young yelling at the Marvel Babies about being his bread and butter and them going on strike. Even better is “Marvelpocalypse NOW!” written by Elliott Kalan that had me laughing out loud. In what’s the best short of the book, Kalan takes sharp jabs at Marvel NOW as “The High Evolutionary Geneticist” shows the reader Marvel NOW’s greatness. Every panel has something hilarious in it such as how the old Marvel printed nearly an infinite number of X-Men comics but has evolved to printing nearly an infinite number of Avengers comics. Jokes are made about characters being either an X-Man or Avenger (poor Stilt-Man. Always picked last.) and how changes to characters will last forever. So many funny statements on the current universe are packed into two pages it’s incredible and it begs the question “If Marvel is aware of these problems, for lack of a better term, then why do they continue to do it?”* The rest of the stories are hit and miss but the misses are few and far between. The Cap short was good as well as the “Ladies Who Brunch”. Wyatt Cenac and Elliott Kalan had too many and with Kalan helping write, most were surprisingly not funny. I intended to just read this at work, but it was so good I shelled out the $3.99. Thankfully, it’s a one-shot as well so readers don’t need to worry about a series that would probably wear out its welcome.
*Secret: Because it makes money.
VARYING STYLES, VARYING OPINIONS
It’s hard to rate the art on the book because the styles vary so much. All are light in tone and I enjoyed the majority of them. Jacob Chabot nails the look of the 90’s X-Men in his section and Skottie Young is as always wonderful. Some color the stories in the style from the 50’s and 60’s, giving a vintage look. None of the art is bad per se, I just didn’t like some as much as others. It all comes down to personal preference and readers will, as usual, have his or her own opinion affecting their enjoyment.
BOTTOM LINE: SURPRISINGLY WORTH A BUY
I couldn’t believe I liked Marvel Now What?! #1 as much as I did. The majority was funny and I liked most of the artwork. As expected there are a few misfires but Marvel succeeded in getting me to buy a $3.99 book, which is a feat itself and I felt like I got $3.99 worth of enjoyment. Those looking for a fun way to kill fifteen minutes (and maybe those mad at Marvel NOW) should pick this one up. Marvel Now What?! #1 gets 3.5 out of 5 stars.
