Except for trying to grab some of the market glory that DC's New 52 achieved, I'm not really sure of the reasoning behind this hullabaloo from Marvel.
But the main thing to take away from it is that this current makeover is having more of an impact on storylines than Marvel's much-heralded "Heroic Age" the other year - which came to nothing.
Here's some quick soundbites on the titles I've read one or two issues of:
GOOD
Fantastic Four (Matt Fraction, Mark Bagley): Very impressive, great art and the Fantastic Four doing what they do best - exploring the unknown. My favourite title from the relaunch, as it segues smoothly from Jonathan Hickman's incredible run.
Thor: God Of Thunder (Jason Aaron, Esad Ribic): While I'd like to see Thor have some solo adventures on modern-day Marvel Earth, this is a gorgeously illustrated, massive epic embracing three different ages of Thor - which is a very clever touch.
Uncanny Avengers (Rick Remender, John Casaday): I'm not really an X-Men fan, only really picking this up for Casaday's art, but this first story arc, with a totally bonkers Red Skull, is mindblowing. If Remender can keep this level of insanity going (see my review of Captain America later though) I'm along for the wild ride.
FF (Matt Fraction, Michael Allred): Allred's art does nothing for me and that had made me slightly wary of this title, as well as adverts suggesting a particularly odd approach for the comic, but the first issue has helped put my mind at ease. It's too early to tell how FF will unfold, as this issue was just about putting the team together, but I think this is going to be another strong title. Still not sold on the art though, sorry.
INDIFFERENT
Avengers Assemble (Kelly Sue DeConnick, Stefano Caselli): Very forgettable Avengers fare. Decent art, good mix of characters. Will stick with it and see where it goes.
Iron Man (Kieron Gillen, Greg Land): Another title I picked up primarily on the strength of the art. However, I'm not a big Iron Man reader and - although this relaunch is presumably to attract new readers - I felt this story was still very enmeshed in the Iron Man mythos which I'm not au fait with.
BAD
Captain America (Rick Remender, John Romita): All the story logic of a Silver Age Superman story but without the naive charm, this is another gonzo plot from Remender but unlike Uncanny Avengers this doesn't work. It just feels like a massive leap backwards in Cap's credibility after Ed Brubaker's run.
Journey Into Mystery (Kathryn Immonen, Valerio Schiti): Again a title that suffers in comparison to what has just preceded it, this is a really boring story about an uninteresting second-string character in the Thor titles. The art's nice, but the story is total snoozefest.
I suppose I really should give these latter two titles at least two issues before I pass final judgement, but both were so tedious to read just a single issue that I'm torn about whether to waste my money on them a second time.
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