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Marvel cancellation "blood bath" recommendations

Many of you have noticed that Marvel recently cancelled a ton of titles. Those would be America, Iceman, Luke Cage, Gwenpool, Hawkeye, Generation X, and Defenders. I know it's a sad time if you were a fan of any of these. It's also going to suck for patrons to discover their favorite comic is gone, but here are some recommendations to fill the void (maybe?).

Harley Quinn - obvious replacement for Gwenpool since well.. they hit a lot of the same notes. Insane over the top fun with a female lead who is having too much fun. Harley also gathers up a group of people like her to form her gang. Oh bonus: Harley Quinn is openly bisexual and in a relationship with her girlfriend, Poison Ivy.

The Question by Greg Rucka - an option to read if you were enjoying America, Renee Montoya is an amazing Latina Lesbian who grows a lot as a person and a hero. She comes out in Gotham Central and becomes the Question in 52. But the 2 Question trades deal with Renee trying to uncover the truth behind the mysterious Crime Bible.

Another great alternative to America is to read her earlier adventures (though you may find a slightly different character) in Young Avengers by Keiron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie and The Ultimates/The Ultimates 2 by Al Ewing.


For Iceman? Midnighter and it's sequel Midnighter and Apollo are obviously going to be recommended. It's not the same drawn out coming out story, but it's fun romp with a gay lead. Also Freelance by Jim Zub and Andrew Wheeler is another one with a gay hero. Baring those, if someone really wants another gay superhero coming out, Perry Moore's Hero may fill that void. Iceman and Hero have a lot in common on the coming out angle. You could also just point them to a pile of coming out novels in general if they don't care about superheroes. In my experience, they all read rather similarly (and yes, I've read a ton..).

Hawkeye and Luke Cage, well.. just point them to earlier volumes of the series of the same name. Obviously Kate wasn't Hawkeye in all of the Hawkeye books, but the recent runs have all had her as a major character. She's also one of the few characters to be in every Young Avengers incarnation. Luke has had his own title a number of times and there is also the stories of him teaming up with Iron Fist to start Heroes for Hire.

Generation X - Lovable loser heroes have been done.. a bunch. There are any number of X-men comics from New Mutants to the original Generation X that can fill a similar void. Gen13 has had a few runs that are similar and there is always DC's Teen Titans about a teen group growing up. If they want something a little different but with teen heroes (who are a tad dysfunctional), Young Justice is being rereleased again.

Defenders - Since this wasn't really a Defenders book, I'd say look back at Heroes for Hire, which has MOST of the same members and more of a street feel. Also solo books like Jessica Jones or Alias, Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist could fill the voids if someone just has a favorite character.

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