User blog comment:GrnMarvl14/Axel Alonso Named New Marvel Editor-in-Chief/@comment-1671874-20110110231529/@comment-61371-20110110233029

The .1 initiative is an effort to get more people on board by providing a clear jumping on point. They're not annuals (I believe the entire thing's Quesada's idea, or it certainly comes from his tenure, as Alonso's has only just started), they're basically a way of more easily pointing out that THIS story is one you don't have to have any prior knowledge to read. And, unless I'm mistaken, they're all stand-alone stories. .