Marvel's new 'Strange Academy' could be a great series but aren't superhero schools getting a bit old?
Once upon a time, The Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters was the only school in the Marvel Universe that taught children to risk their lives fighting bad guys. Since then, there's been a whole host of weird and wonderful 'superhero schools' across the world of Marvel Comics, from Avengers Academy to The Latverian School of Science, and it doesn't look like they're going to stop any time soon.
Marvel announced back in December 2019 that a new series by writer Skottie Young and artist Humberto Ramos called 'Strange Academy' is in the works and a preview for the series' first issue was included in a number of the publisher's January 29 releases. The upcoming series focuses on a school for the magically gifted, created by Doctor Strange and staffed by some of the biggest magical powerhouses in Marveldom including the Scarlet Witch, Magik, and Daimon Hellstrom.
Judging from the preview pages, it certainly looks like there's potential here. Ramos' artwork is on point and the fact that the Academy is situated in New Orleans, a city that's practically synonymous with magic, is a pretty nice touch.
For all we know, this series might end up telling some really good stories but the thing is, at this point, superhero school stories have practically become a genre of their own and it's not just Marvel who are going heavy on these stories.
DC has its own twist on the 'school' format going on in the pages of 'Red Hood: Outlaw', where the titular anti-hero is currently training the next generation of supervillains. The genre isn't even restricted by language, with 'My Hero Academia' currently standing as one of the most popular manga/ anime series in the world.
Again, 'Strange Academy' might still end up being a compelling coming-of-age story with some cool magical action. We're going to reserve final judgment till after the series hits shelves in March and we would recommend that you, the reader, do the same. But that said, we can't help but ask, aren't all these 'Academy' stories getting a little bit tedious?
'Strange Academy' #1 is scheduled to be released on March 4.