I noticed that there’s a Red Goblin comic coming out, apparently Norman Osborn has a symbiote. Well, he may as well have one, everyone else appears to have a symbiote. I’m sure Aunt May will have her own symbiote soon.
Is anything unique in Marvel now?
When I think about the history of DC and Marvel, well, of course DC did away with unique decades ago, with the debuts of the likes of Supergirl, Batgirl, Ace the Bat-Hound, etc. Then the likes of Kid Flash, Speedy, etc. All of those were fun, though. At least for me, I know our mileage varies. And as for the Marvel Family, I couldn’t get enough of them, I enjoyed reading back-up strips featuring the likes of Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel.
With Marvel, though, and I’m struggling as usual to articulate something properly, it feels like they can take something unique - and completely destroy and devalue the concept of unique. It feels like they do it in a way that DC does not. There’s something - I don’t know - more earnest and fun about DC spreading its concepts wider, whereas with Marvel, it just feels like a cash cow. I know companies exist to make money, but there’s profit - and then there’s a cash cow that bores me.
Like I said, our mileage varies. I like the Marvel Family, but there may be people who don’t. I hate this “everyone has a symbiote” idea, but there could be readers out there who really like it. It just seems less fun and less earnest with Marvel (just a theory, I have no proof).
It also feels more excessive. Didn’t Supergirl (as in Kara) debut a good 21 years after Superman? Didn’t Batgirl (the Barbara Gordon iteration) debut 29 years after Batman? Even at Marvel, I like Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) and She-Hulk, but they appeared a good while after the originals. It seems modern Marvel is all about stretching out every conceivable concept; I suppose we’ll get Spider-Wolverine soon, or a Super-Soldier Serum Team-Up Corps book or something.
Does it take away from the originals? It may do. Personally, I think that the likes of Supergirl and Batgirl are a great part of the Bat-mythos. Even Marvel did it right for me at times, e.g. Jim Rhodes as War Machine, or Spider-Woman. I just feel they’ve gone too far now. I suppose - and I know this stuff does sell so I’m shouting at the wind - we’ll get Symbiote Wars soon, or MODOK will get a symbiote. Or perhaps Hulk-Wolverine or Wolverine-Hulk. Or maybe Red Goblin 2099. While people’s mileage does vary, there surely has to be a limit to what you can do with a concept, right?
Have some franchises avoided it? Maybe. I’m not always up to speed. I felt my iteration of
Masters of the Universe was unique. When something is unique, it’s special. I just wish
less could be more at times. I enjoyed it in
Thundercats when some survivors of Thundera showed up and joined the Thundercats. I don’t enjoy it when I read that yet another Marvel character has a symbiote. The cash cow is ready to keel over, if you ask me.
I guess it’s human nature to try and keep replicating success. Wrestling is no different. We had the initially great New World Order angle featuring Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, but within 1-2 years, we had a roster that was too much (I’m sure even my mother was probably a member at some point). And when you keep adding to, and “diluting” a concept, it feels less special; with the symbiote, when it was just Venom, that was great. When Carnage was added to the mythos, that was great. Nowadays, it doesn’t interest me.
As per usual, yours truly has failed to stay in one lane (a serious flaw in my writing), so take what you want from that post if you wish.