Weekly Update 8/24/19

Surprise, it's a Saturday update! Got to balance out for the last few being late!

With the premier of Jungle Action this year, I've been thinking of how Marvel is a shared universe composed of small ecosystems. This may be a really obvious point, but I think we take it for granted and I want to explore it a bit (and we'll find out together if I can tie this into a cohesive thought by the end of this letter!).

Jungle Action feels unique to Marvel. The culture and look of Wakanda, the character motivations, the themes of the stories, the color palette and writing style... all these feel  distinct from other comic series. But that's also true for The Amazing Spider-Man vs. Thor (although maybe a bit less so). Man-Thing is concerned with telling a much grimmer timbre of story than the Fantastic Four's pulpy adventures.

Sometimes it's hard to imagine such disparate characters as Dr. Strange and Namor meeting. But when those two worlds combine in a way that keep the core identities of both intact, while also creating a fresh dynamic, it can create magical moments where both worlds feel more expansive for having met. The flip side of this is the feeling that a writer is smashing action figures together, which makes every property involved feeler cheap (just wait till 1975's Champions for a primo example).

The Marvel U is getting wider and deeper each passing year, and it'll be fun trying to nail down exactly the ways in which that alchemy feels like magic, and when it feels like lazy, cynical writing.

This week's episode is Marvel Year Twelve: 1973 Pt. 2, out Monday, 8/26/19. Please get any 1973 feedback for us to discuss on our next Variant Cover episode by 8/27/19. You can send it to mymarvelousyear@gmail.com

THE COMICS COVERED FOR 1973, PT. 2 ARE:

Avengers #113
Tomb of Dracula / Vampire Tales #10 / #2
Defenders / Avengers #8 to #11, #115 to #118
Jungle Action #6 to #8
Special Marvel Edition #15

UPCOMING PODCAST SCHEDULE:

August 26:  Marvel Year Twelve: 1973 Pt. 2
August 27: Feedback for 1973's Variant Cover Due
September 2: Marvel Year Twelve: 1973 Variant Cover
September 9:  Marvel Year Thirteen: 1974 Pt. 1
September 16:  Marvel Year Thirteen: 1974 Pt. 2
September 17:   Feedback for 1974's Variant Cover Due   
September 23:  Marvel Year Thirteen: 1974 Variant Cover

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You can find all the My Marvelous Year reading lists here and check out the rest of what Comic Book Herald has to offer here.
Thanks for joining us on this journey through Marvel comics!