Much too late for Alex Ross to work on a new Marvel project

Over 3 decades ago, artist Alex Ross worked on Marvels with Kurt Busiek, which was a form of nostalgia. Now, the Hollywood Reporter's announced that Ross is returning to do a new item for them, a few years after he'd worked on another project starring the Fantastic Four:

Comic book painter Alex Ross burst out onto the comics scene in the mid-1990s when he produced a one-two punch of electrifying and celebrated works, Marvels for Marvel Comics and Kingdom Come for DC Comics. For a good chunk of this century, however, he has become known mostly for his lush and colorfully vivid covers for Marvel.

Readers were treated to the full Ross experience when he returned to writing and drawing interiors for his widely-praised 2022 graphic novel Fantastic Four: Full Circle.

And while that was the first Ross book in years, fans don’t have to wait as long for his next opus, one that could be as ambitious and impactful as his classic works.

Ross has written and illustrated Marvel Dimensions, an all-new 112-page graphic novel that Abrams ComicArts, in partnership with Marvel Comics, will release in September.

Much of the story is being kept under wraps, but it’s meant to be both a tour of the classic Marvel Universe and something much more expansive. It’s said to be a work that experiments in both art and form, and could introduce upwards of 200 new characters, or at least that many variations of characters.

“It’s meant to be as bonkers a ride for the reader as it could possibly be,” says Ross teasingly to The Hollywood Reporter. “You’re getting one kind of entertainment, and then it changes on you midstream and then you’re getting a different art style suddenly, and then you’re wondering, ‘Where’s this going?’ And then the format changes within the book itself, a mid-book format change. All these things hopefully seem to unify and combine and come back together, but it’s meant to be a wild ride that is throwing everything plus the kitchen sink at you.”

What if it turned out any and all of the "new" characters they speak of were written for the sake of woke brownie points? Not to mention that, years after continuity was ruined and turned incomprehensible, it's pretty rich to tempt everyone with the claim Dimensions will be a tour of the "classic" universe, even as the modern one desecrates all that and worse. A story dealing with the old universe is no substitute for a respectable tale set in modern times.

Even under C.B. Cebulski, there's been only so much that's remained damaged, it does little good to market a project like this, when a single product alone isn't reason enough to resume reading their output. They vehemently refuse to restore the Spider-marriage and Iron Man's parents as biological ones, or quit producing the mess they've made of X-Men and Avengers, and then they actually think we're going to let go of our principles just because they promote a project based on "nostalgia"? No, it's no simple matter at all.

I do appreciate that Ross firmly and wisely refused any part of DC's Identity Crisis over 2 decades ago. But that's exactly why he shouldn't be associating with the Big Two based on what people run them now, which will not change so long as they're under conglomerate ownership. Why, does he even believe this'll sell millions years after rising prices gave many customers pause? It's delusional to believe Dimensions will be much different sales-wise.