So, I sat down today and re-did everyone who writes a comic for either Marvel or DC. This week, you’re getting the full list of Marvel’s line. The only rule was no writer could work on a book on which they’d already had a run, and no one could be kept on their book. I tried to keep Marvel writers on Marvel books and DC writers on DC books, since I couldn’t find a list of who’s exclusive where. Here’s the list and some commentary.
Amazing Spider-Man – Roger Langridge. Roger Langridge’s first issue of Thor, Mighty Avenger is all it took for me to begin dreaming of his own Spider-Man book. He gets human characters and interaction, as well as wonderfully witty dialogue. This one is bound to happen sooner or later. This would be Peter Parker life focused book.
Spectacular Spider-Man – Jeff Parker. In my world, Jeff Parker gets high profile assignments immediately. Parker wrote Spider-Man Noir, way better than it had any right to be, and had a blast with Spidey proper in Hercules: Assault on New Olympus. I want him doing a high adventure, fun Spider-Man, focusing on in-costume exploits.
Spider-Girl – Brian Michael Bendis. Sure it’s a little selfish, but if my one of my favorite books won’t sell, this should give it the kick in the ass it needs to get going. And Bendis writes awesome Spider-books.
Black Panther – Dwayne McDuffie. Full creative reign on the character like he never got on anything in DC. Mix the Preist run with high adventure.
Captain America – Zeb Wells. I’m almost done with dark Captain America stories, so I want Zeb Wells, who has shown through the best pure Spidey story in a decade, Shed, and his new New Mutants work that he can hold a dark tone without a necessarily dark book. Honestly, Wells might be best cast on Spidey, but since he did that in real life, he’s disqualified. Still, this dude has masterpiece’s in him, and Cap is a tough write, so this should work.
Black Widow – Greg Rucka. Spymaster please meet Spymaster writer.
Thor – Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. The cosmic kings have to leave the cosmos sometimes and, well, if you can’t play in space, at least you can play with Asgard.
Iron Man – Joe Casey. If Iron Man is going to steal his Wildcats 3.0 plot anyway, we might as well let him write it and get credit for his brilliance.
Avengers – Matt Fraction. Fraction is, for my money, the best of Marvel’s new crop. He needs a showcase, and, thanks to Bendis, Avengers is that showcase. Besides, he writes the hell out of Thor, Iron Man and Wolverine.
Mighty Avengers – Jason Aaron. Jason Aaron writes batshit crazy, awesome stories. Avengers need more of that after years of Bendis’ safeness. Between Aaron and Fraction, that’s what we’d get.
New Avengers- Peter David. One of the very few franchises to get three books, the street level Avengers aren’t something I particularly want, and they’d need a roster shakeup, but enough people like them that they should exist… and Peter David deserves a top seller.
Young Avengers Academy – Peter David. Toss Young Avengers and Academy together, mix with David’s Young Justice, and you’d have a new killer franchise.
Runaways – Mark Waid and Sean McKeever – Runaways is all young people and romance, perfect for McKeever. With a hiatus and Waid’s help in re-building the brand, this would be amazing.
Nick Fury and the Secret Warriors – Ed Brubaker – Brubaker does awesome spy stuff and I kind of want this to transition into a super-awesome Nick Fury book.
Thunderbolts – Kyle and Yost – This isn’t far from their X-Force comfort zone and they’re too talented to simply not use.
Guardians of the Galaxy – Kieron Gillen. My favorite underutilized writer couldn’t sell this book, but via plenty of Nova crossovers, the GLC of the Marvel line would work wonderfully. Gillen’s absurdly cool huge ideas would really fit here.
Nova – Brian Michael Bendis. Since Bendis is going to sell anyway, he might as well be used to establish a great book, and, admit it, you’d love to see Bendis doing dialogue between Nova and the Worldmind.
Daredevil – Dan Slott. When we get DD back to normal, it’s time to do some lawyer focused stories as a change from the darkness, and Slott is the go-to guy for that.
Punisher – Marjorie Liu. I like Liu and I’d like to see what she can do with Punisher after everyone going full on absurd (Civil War and Franken-Castle) or straight Ennis for so long.
Deadpool – Fred Van Lente. I will only have one Deadpool book so the character stays hot and in demand and doesn’t go the way of Carnage. Fred Van Lente has the humor to make this really work and deserves to grow with a character.
Wolverine – Greg Pak. As the old saying goes, or should go anyway… if you can do an awesome Hulk, you can do an awesome Wolverine.
Dark Wolverine – Victor Gischler – Not a huge fan of giving this guy X-Men #1 right off the bat. Let him earn it on Dark Wolverine, which will sell and get his name out there.
X-Men – Jonathan Hickman. I’d love to see what Hickman can do with the world of mutants. His stories are all about the hope for humanity to achieve more and become better. Well, X-Men seem to fit that theme perfectly.
Uncanny X-Men – Brian Michael Bendis. Bendis needs one commercial book and Uncanny would immediately be #1 or 2 on the sales charts with him added.
X-Force – Christos Gage. Strong team dynamics, a dark tone, and smart plots are Gage’s thing, so, X-Force is perfect. The second a big title opens up, Gage is getting the call, too.
X-Factor – Ed Brubaker . Sure, his X-Men didn’t work out… nothing he does without a slightly noir tone does… but… noir mutants! It’s perfect!
Fantastic Four – Fred Van Lente and Greg Pak – They work too well together to be broken up. They really get how people relate to one another as seen through the relationships between Amadeus Cho, Hercules and Athena, and bringing that and their trademark high adventure to Fantastic Four is almost too easy.
Atlas – Mark Waid – Give Waid a shot at making the most fun team in comics more commercially viable.
Incredible Hulk – Mark Millar. Sure, it wouldn’t last long, but Millar’s love of core superheroes with his huge ideas would make Hulk everything we wanted from the Loeb run and more. And Gage is ready to pick it up when Millar’s gone. Perfect.
Incredible Hercules and the God Squad – Jeff Parker. This one seems like it’s going to happen. Thank god. The God Squad, that is!
Ultimate Spider-Man – Matt Fraction . The Ultimate franchise was new creators’ takes on the classics. Well, Matt Fraction’s Casanova frenetic energy on Spider-Man would be a dream.
Ultimate Avengers – Jonathan Hickman. Hickman has big ideas. Let’s take those for a spin without worrying about consequences, shall we?
Ultimate X-Men – Jason Aaron. See the last entry, but replace Hickman with Aaron.
She Hulk – Jim McCann – He’s really good and I’d bet, with some support, could build this title pretty well, especially if they let him crossover with Millar on Hulk.
X-23 – Rick Remender – Look, I know they want to humanize girl-Wolverine-for-the-fanboys, but come on. Let’s go over the top. Rick, if you will?
Mi-13 – Garth Ennis. Because I get cranky when books I love get shitcanned. I want Ennis writing British John Constantine Superspy for Marvel Superheroes, Pete Wisdom, and taking the piss out of absolutely everything. Ennis needs a sandbox and Marvel UK is a good one.
SWORD – Warren Ellis. Another book that was great that then got shitcanned. This one has an almost Nextwave energy that Ellis can blow out of the water.
Ms. Marvel – Daniel Way. Honestly, I’m not a Way fan, but he deserves a book. I’m also not a Ms. Marvel fan, but she deserves a book. Here we are.
Dr. Strange – Mike Carey. Dr. Voodoo was a bad idea. Strange is a core concept of Marvel and deserves his own book. There’s a lot of big, crazy writers out there who would make this a joy, but instead, why not go with the tight plotting and great understanding of how to use magic of Mike Carey?
Silver Surfer – Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. I figured out how to keep them in space, after all!
Comments? Arguements? Changes? Ideas? Leave ’em in the comments below, and remember to check back next Friday for DC and everyday in between for tons of news, reviews, and spoilers!
