I joke about it repeatedly on our podcasts and the innernets, but when it comes to fandom, change is always perceived as bad. Hal Jordan’s heel turn was received as the worst thing ever, then Kyle Rayner’s debut was the worst, then Hal’s death, then Kyle being replaced by Hal, ad nauseam. Still, many of the best parts of comics came from such “in with the new” moments: Captain America’s addition to the Avengers; the satellite and ‘Bwah Ha Ha’ eras of the Justice League; the existence of Kamala Khan. It’s not a 100% surety, as Teen Iron Man and the creation of Triumph clearly show us, but many of the best things in pop culture come from a willingness to do something wild and unpredictable, leading us to today’s New Year’s Eve query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) still resents any Next Generation episode with Dr. Pulaski, despite the fact that the season also bears some of my favorite episodes, asking: What’s the best All-New All-Different “in with the new” moment in all of pop culture?
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To me, its probably the then new X-Men team with Cyclops, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Storm, Wolverine and short-lived Thunderbird. I count Kitty in that team “originals” as well because she just joined when I first started reading X-Men. Recent example of well received all-new is The Force Awakens, it seems pretty much universally well liked.
To piggyback off of Malone_Hasco, his post reminded me of the creation of the New Mutants when the X-Men were thought dead. I really enjoyed that run of New Mutants, it was an eclectic group of misfits that behaved a bit more like people thrown together than a well oiled team, which played into the stories well.