Legendary comic writer and New York Times best-selling author, Neil Gaiman, is returning to Marvel Comics. His most recent books were the now-classic Marvel 1602 and Eternals. But that raises a few questions for every single one of his fans, both new and old alike.
First and foremost: When? According to Marvel’s own Joe Quesada, it will happen in the pages of Age of Ultron.
Which leads to the second question: How? Well, that much is unclear so far, but we do know that he’ll be coming over to Marvel with a character he created (albeit for another company, Image): Angela. This fan-favorite but quite underutilized heroine (or villainess, depending on your interpretation of the character) has been a spark to many debates of recent times, what with the whole “Todd McFarlane likes to do to his co-creators what Marvel did to him not so long ago when he formed Image Comics and started writing Spawn thing.” So your guess is as good as ours in terms of how Angela will factor into the Age of Ultron storyline. Or the Marvel Universe, for that matter. But it will surely be on an epic scale.
But the third and possibly most important question that some people are maybe to afraid to ask: What? More specifically, what exactly does this mean for the future of comics? And that’s where things get interesting. Gaiman announced just this last summer at the San Diego Comic Con that he would be making his triumphant return, with another creation of his own, the Sandman, to DC Comics. So that means something very special for the comic book industry as a whole. A top talent will be working for both of the two biggest companies, at the same time. Yes, some freelancers do that from time to time, but it hasn’t really ever been done by someone who is a household name. This can mean only one thing for the future of the industry: Healthy competition. Both companies win when both companies are competing. And as of late, what with DC’s shuffling around of their creators and Marvel’s lackluster relaunch, this is a great time to be Neil Gaiman. His return to both companies, ironically with two Godlike creations, just could herald a new age of comic greatness.
We here at Comic Booked are excited to formally welcome back Mr. Gaiman to the medium that loves, values, and very much needs him.
Neil Gaiman is my hero!!!
Mine, too! He's great!
This is fantastic news. Good article!
I am beyond excited. This is EXACTLY what Marvel needs to be doing right now to get old fans (like me) back as well as new fans!
I would argue that Marvel would probably blow this opportunity, but I don't think Neil will let that happen.
I'm sure the initial "Hey, it's Angela!" scene in Age of Ultron will be dumb, but anything afterwards that actually involves Gaiman should be interesting (and hopefully amazing).