After
last year’s DC Rebirth, Marvel Comics may also be bringing legacy back to
their characters in 2017. In April Eddie Brock will return as Venom as the
series celebrates its #150 issue in May. The first issue came in 1993 with Venom:
Lethal Protector.
Following
Spider-Man: The Clone Conspiracy, Peter David and Mark Bagley take on
Ben Reilly as the Scarlet Spider and return the clone back to his original
costume by the end of the first arc. 
In May
Marvel brings Secret Empire #1 which kicked off with a zero issue in
April. The series promises to be the final political social commentary for the
foreseeable future as Marvel plans on bringing legacy and heroism back to the
forefront in September following the conclusion of the series. Last year Marvel
released Civil War II which dealt with profiling in the Marvel Universe
using an Inhuman to predict crimes.
While
Marvel plans to bring legacy and heroism back, they are also teaming up with
Archie to bring comic digest collections. The digest will ship six times a year
with four in 2017. Marvel is planning on reaching and exposing themselves to a
new audience with more digestible collections instead of the monthly series or
trades which could be harder to collect and follow.Marvel Comics also released a teaser by Alex Ross showcasing the classic Marvel heroes and their inspired counterparts titled Generations. Marvel has announced by the Fall of 2017, the classic Marvel Universe will be back in full swing with Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, and Odinson back as Captain
Whether
bringing legacy back to the Marvel Universe will help sales depends on the
story associated with it. DC Rebirth brought the Watchmen into
the DC Universe which propelled the story forward until 2018 when everything
will come together. Marvel seems to building a stronger foundation as the Avengers movies in 2018 and 2019 concludes the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Last year comic book stores ordered 0.3% more in comics and graphic novels than in 2015. Overall there was a 1% increase in comics or a million more comics (99 million in total according to Diamond) and 2.1% increase in graphic novels.
Last year comic book stores ordered 0.3% more in comics and graphic novels than in 2015. Overall there was a 1% increase in comics or a million more comics (99 million in total according to Diamond) and 2.1% increase in graphic novels.
