I love it, it feels like Marvel is attempting to return to the days when there weren't so many big events, one right after another, and comics were more like... maybe the Avengers would have a big event but not really a massive thing like Secret Invasion or something. It feels like they are trying to bring the fun back or something, not that Secret Invasion and the other events didn't have its fun stuff too. I like it is what I mean, and its potential.
It's not an event or even a story-arc like Brightest Day is. It's just, as other people have said, the state of the Marvel Universe.
The biggest event Marvel have right now is Shadowland. Which, while I do have some issues with it, has been the best Marvel event I've ever read. Including Civil War, though McNiven's art makes that a close call.
I like it, I'm glad to see the heroes being heroes and the villains being villains. I'm glad that not all of the books are connected to some huge storyline and are separated to tell their own story instead of trying to support a big crossover. But overall since Marvel's taken the Heroic Age banner of most the covers of their comics, like Captain America and Iron Man, I kinda forgot it was the Heroic Age xD
The "Heroic Age" is by far Marvel's weakest "staus quo". There's no real concept behind it to explore and tell unique stories with. Think about the 2 that came before it.
The Initiative
The Super Human Registration Act is in full effect, all 50 states had a super-hero team and there were still anti-SHRA heroes (New Avengers etc) still running about.
Dark Reign
Norman Osborn now has the "keys to the kingdom" as America's top cop, head of a new peace keeping agency (H.A.M.M.E.R) and the 50 State Initiative while secretly letting Marvel villains (secretly) join in. Basically the vilains were in charge.
Looking at these examples there are 2 things a new status quo needs that the Heroic Age lacks.
1) What is the central premise or concept? I think it's safe to say that there wasn't one and the proof lies in the Avengers books. In the past there was a central premise that tied the books together and you felt it's presence (in varying degrees) in that series, like with New/Mighty Avengers during "The Initiative" or New/Dark Avengers during "Dark Reign". Sometimes a book would do it's own thing while, at times acknowledging the new status quo, but eventually come back in later story arcs to focus on that premise like Mighty Avengers during "Dark Reign"
2) Where is the status quo book? A strong SQ has a new ongoing book that directly ties and (more or less) defines to the new status quo, a book that wouldn't exist without it. For The Initiative it was, naturally Avengers : The Initiative and for Dark Reign it was Dark Avengers.
Yes we have Avengers Academy now but looking at the stories in the other Avengers books, Avengers Academy has little to no impact on them let alone a central concept to widely shape the Marvel U.
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