10 New Year 2018 Resolutions Marvel Comics Should Make

5. Be More Receptive To Criticism

One of the defining features of comics discourse this last year was the apparent unwillingness on Marvel's behalf to accept and react to criticism, irrespective of its source.

This is a problem, because while yes, there are a vocal minority of fans out there who don't deserve the time of day at all, there are valid and important voices in the medium that deserve to be listened to. When Marvel are faced with criticism regarding their depiction of LGBT* characters, for instance, or even the relative lack of diversity on the page and off it within the company, the initial reaction from Marvel's influencers shouldn't be one of contempt or dismissal. Yet, for the better part of 2017, that's just what the reaction felt like, from Secret Empire, all the way up to the most recent set of comic cancellations.

It doesn't make for a healthy atmosphere at all, and Marvel would do well to alert to that fact and treat concerns from marginalised readers seriously, particularly when they themselves are also the target of abuse from an old-guard that's mobilised heavily across social media over the course of the last six months.

Platforms like Twitter have never really been conducive to meaningful conversation, but a wiser use of social media, combined with a concerted effort to listen to genuine fan concern, would make the milieu a considerably less toxic place to be in.