A Refreshing Dose Of Honesty

So, Marvel announces yet another Avengers mini-series, Avengers Prime: Siege Aftermath, by Bendis and Alan Davis. And if you read through all the blah blah blah and get to the final line:

This five-issue limited series ships bi-monthly beginning in June

Wait a minute. Bi-monthly?!?

Wow. When is the last time that one of the Big Two actually admitted that some touted project wasn't going to be a monthly? The usual modus operandi for the past decade is that Marvel and DC knew Project X couldn't possibly make it out every thirty days, but they just pretended that it could--and were subsequently shocked by "unexpected delays."

You know, admitting that a project is bi-monthly isn't the end of the world. Throughout the 1970s, plenty of comics were bi-monthly, and the universe survived just fine. At some point, though--I'm not sure exactly when (or why)--a project being bi-monthly was seen as a mark of failure, a stigma...and so everything from the Big Two became monthly, no matter what. Even if the creative personnel just couldn't do that much work in a month. Even if it meant insane delays (so the project became effectively a bi-monthly, just not in name), or having to fill issues with insane hodgepodges of guest pencillers and inkers just to keep the thing from being too damn late.

So kudos to Marvel, for having the balls to say up front, "This ain't gonna make it out every month." It's better for realistic scheduling, it's better to prevent fan frustration, and better than lying about that scheduling. Let's hope Marvel keeps it up, and some other companies learn from this.

P.S. Marvel, you guys really have to get Steve Rogers out of that black turtleneck. Yuck...