Marvel and events go hand in hand. The 2000s saw the publisher create its event cycle, where each event would be built up across the line. It made readers rabid for what was coming next, driving sales and engaging fans. Even before that, Marvel had still created great events and crossovers, ones that have gone down in history as fan-favorite tales. They helped redefine Marvel for many.
Not every event can be a winner, though. Sometimes, they overstay their welcome, turning off fans as they go on. Some of them have been massively important to Marvel history, but that doesn’t change the fact that most fans realized they aren’t exactly good reads.
10/10 The Inhumans Push Ended In An Event That No One Wanted: Inhumans Vs. X-Men
The Inhumans are important to Marvel history, so the publisher must have thought they could successfully push them as a mutant replacement in the mid-10s. Suddenly Inhumans were everywhere, and multiple books — Uncanny Inhumans, Inhuman, All-New Inhumans, and more — were released. However, sales were never great, and X-Men fans vocally rebelled.
The whole thing ended in a big versus event — Inhumans Vs. X-Men by writers Charles Soule and Jeff Lemire and artist Leinil Yu — that no one really liked at all. Time hasn’t been kind to the entire push, with the Inhumans put on the shelf because of its failure.
9/10 Civil War II Barely Got A Welcome At All
It’s hard to say Civil War II got welcomed by fans, but regardless it definitely overstayed what it got. Written by Brian Michael Bendis and artist David Marquez, the book revolved around the Inhuman Ulysses, who could see the future with a hundred percent certainty. Captain Marvel wanted to use his powers to stop villains before they attacked, and Iron Man was against that.
Civil War II was essentially Minority Report in the Marvel Universe, and fans were turned off from nearly the beginning. The story never had the impact of its predecessor and didn’t really come together. Beyond laying the seeds for The Immortal Hulk, there’s nothing about the book anyone likes.
8/10 The Return Of Wolverine Got Multiple Miniseries That Led Into A Mediocre Pay-Off
Marvel kept Logan dead from 2014 to 2018, which is longer than most people expected. However, starting with Marvel: Legacy #1, the published started the run-up to Return Of Wolverine. Thus began Hunt For Wolverine. Kicking off with a titular one-shot, it led to four miniseries — Weapon Lost, The Adamantium Agenda, Claws Of A Killer, Mystery In Madripoor — and another one-shot, Dead Ends.
Very few of these actually had anything to do with Return Of Wolverine. They were pretty much just books that took advantage of Logan fans who wanted actual clues as to what was going on with their favorite. Then came Return Of Wolverine, by writer Charles Soule and artists Steve McNiven and Declan Shalvey, a book with great art but mediocre writing.
7/10 Secret Empire Really Dragged In The Middle
2010s Marvel has some low points, like Secret Empire. Written by Nick Spencer with art by Steve McNiven, Leinil Yu, and Andrea Sorrentino, the book paid off the Hydra Cap storyline. From the beginning, fans weren’t into it. However, Marvel decided to add more issues to the main series for some reason.
Adding these issues didn’t actually make Secret Empire better at all. The middle of the book suffered from being dragged out, as Hydra and the heroes hunted for Cosmic Cube shards. Adding to that was a strange choice, as it made the book even more boring for readers who were already tired of it.
6/10 House Of M Is A Slog
The Marvel Universe has seen terrible catastrophes, with House Of M ending the power of the mutant race for years to come. Written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Olivier Coipel, this one occasion made HoM very important to Marvel history. However, it’s basically the only worthwhile moment in the entire series. The rest is a long, boring slog.
Bendis’s world-building in the House of M reality is terrible, so most of the issues there are bad. It’s made even worse that everyone basically says the same thing when they get their memory back, a variation of the phrase, “I’m going to kill Magneto,” who they blame for the whole thing. It’s eight issues that should have been five, and even that’s being generous.
5/10 Age Of Ultron Jumped Around Way Too Much
Marvel is known for cool alternate dimensions, but most stories only introduce one. Age Of Ultron, by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artists Bryan Hitch, Brandon Peterson, and Carlos Pacheco, has two. It starts in a dystopian future ruled by Ultron. Then, after Wolverine and Invisible Woman kill Hank Pym, it shows readers a different Marvel Universe.
Age Of Ultron is not a bad story, but it’s pretty complicated and also very long. It’s a ten-issue event book. While it’s not as boring as many of Bendis’s other event books, it becomes a chore as it goes on. A lot of readers don’t give it the chance it deserves because of its length.
4/10 The X-Cutioner’s Song Is ’90s X-Men At Its Worst
The ’90s were an interesting time for Marvel, with the X-Men being especially fertile. The books were massively popular, but there were still a lot of problems. The X-Cutioner’s Song is endemic of the worst parts. The 19-part storyline crossed through X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, X-Force, and X-Factor, with the X-Men going after Cable and X-Force after Professor X is shot by someone who looks like the renegade mutant.
19 parts is a lot for a story, but The X-Cutioner’s Song went overboard with the whole thing, eventually even bringing Apocalypse into the mix. It often felt like the creators were padding the whole thing out to tell a long story instead of it being a story that needed to be long.
3/10 The Clone Saga Seemed Like It Was Going To Last Forever
The Clone Saga is infamous among Marvel fans. Spider-Man’s clone returning isn’t a bad idea and was actually pretty cool in the beginning. However, sales were good, so Marvel decided that the Clone Saga should keep going. And going. And going. It got to the point that the writers who originally came up with the idea were long gone by the end.
The Clone Saga lasted for two years and encompassed all four Spider-Man titles and multiple miniseries. It was easily over a hundred parts. Fans started to get tired of the story after the first year, which still left another year of stories to tell.
2/10 X Of Swords Was Terribly Paced
X-Men history is full of long stories, so it wasn’t too strange that X Of Swords was twenty-two parts long. The first event of the Krakoa Era, it crossed through every book in the line, pitting the mutants of Krakoa against the forces of Arakko and Amenth. A twenty-two-part storyline is doable, but XoS was terribly paced.
The first half of X Of Swords was slow-paced and boring, with some outliers. The second half was better, but it still didn’t set the world on fire, with many fans angry about the bait and switch with the contests between the champions of Krakoa and Arakko. The story has gone down as rather disappointing overall.
1/10 The Infinity Trilogy Lost Steam In The Last Part
Infinity Gauntlet was a game-changer for Marvel. Written by Jim Starlin with art by George Pérez and Ron Lim, it chronicled the universe’s battle against the Infinity Gauntlet-wielding Thanos. Its success meant that it got a sequel, Infinity War by Starlin and Lim, which reintroduced Adam Warlock’s dark side, the Magus. While this one wasn’t as successful as its predecessor, it also warranted a sequel.
Infinity Crusade, again by Starlin and Lim, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The book revolved around the Goddess, Adam Warlock’s good side, as she enthralled the heroes of Earth and pitted them against each other. Fans weren’t into it at all, ending the trilogy on a low note.
