I don’t think I can do this anymore. Don’t worry – this isn’t some cry for help. No, I’m talking about comics. I’m sure if you go through my archives, you’ll find several posts like this. My life is cyclical and I never read my own archives. All I know is that I’m just not enjoying comics these days.
Growing up, due to limited funds, my interests cycled between comics, toys, and music. I was rarely into more than one at once. Hell, I left comic collecting for a good 5 yrs one time. I feel that’s coming along again, and I fear it might be for good.
How did I get here? Reboots and retoolings. First, it was DC and the “New 52”. All of DC’s characters were being rebooted for a new audience. Oh, and everything you read so far probably didn’t happen. Oh, and Batman and Green Lantern won’t change much because DC put too much work into them in recent years. It has been a year since we were expected to buy a shitload of #1s, and I cant say that any of them wowed me. I dont want to go the “they suck!” route, as I’m willing to say that they’re just not for me. I see people rave over Snyder’s Batman run, but I’m not impressed. It reads like a dumbed down version of Morrison’s Black Glove, neither of which portray “Batman”. Sure, hes called Batman, but all detective work and crimefighting has been replaced by a psychological thriller. I’m not here to read Se7en!
Next, Marvel announced MarvelNOW! yet swore it won’t be a reboot. No, its just a line-wide jumping-on point. Ya know, just like Heroic Age was supposed to be. Most of the books are getting new #1s and creative teams. Here’s my problem: a LOT of these books just rebooted a year ago! Uncanny X-Men JUST restarted, and now it’s gonna be replaced by Uncanny Avengers. There’s no editorial vision at work, and it feels like reshuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Here’s my real problem: I’m an elitist. I like the idea of a meritocracy. I have looked at my comic fandom as something that I have actively pursued. As sad as it is, I’m that issue number quoting fanboy. I LOVE continuity. What alienates newcomers just makes me feel more special. When continuity is thrown out, I feel like an alum whose alma mater just lost its accreditation.
When you constantly reboot your titles, it hurts the legacy. When you reboot your universe, it does even more damage. I don’t have the wherewithal nor the desire to get back on the DC horse. I’d been reading for 20 yrs and experienced several Crises for it to mean *nothing *. Sure, people will say “It’s not about continuity. You should just appreciate a good story.” Well, there haven’t been good stories in recent years. Marvel thrives on loose continuity, as every summer crossover has been built upon the back of the years old Avengers Disassembled. And DC just threw out 26 yrs of worldbuilding (going back to the original Crisis) yet seem hellbent on reintroducing everyone in a fraction of the time. If you looked at this as an urban planning project, a planner would tell you to sit the fuck down and follow the timeline, yet there IS no timeline. Currently, DC’s teasing the return of Vibe. Fucking Vibe! No one wanted him back. Did they have internal conversations as to who even warranted consideration?
Publishers fail to acknowledge that a jumping-on point also serves as a jumping-off point. The only comics I enjoy right now are the Ultimate line and Deadpool. The latter gets a new creative team soon, so I can see that relationship ending. The Ultimate line is taking some real chances mainly because nobody’s watching. It remains as my lone tether to the hobby. I don’t quit things, so I don’t want to walk away from comics. From recent marketing initiatives and revamps, however, it feels like comics have already walked away from me.
Amen! I can’t agree more with you.
You’re preaching the gospel, my man. I haven’t been wowed nor excited by comics in years, and every time I start to slowly come around to the new Spidey, Batman, X-Men or Avengers status quo, they change everything!!! The Ultimate line was a blessing and a curse for Marvel, b/c the radical changes seen there were so popular that they decided to infuse them into the mainstream 616 universe. DC followed suit, as they wrote the book on multiple clusterfucks (also known as Crisis). Granted, Identity Crisis to this day remains one of my all-time favorite mini-series, but I can’t help but think that ushered in the beginning of the end for DC, as everything thereafter was geared towards rebooting and retooling what really wasn’t broke.
And as much as we enjoy seeing our heroes on the big (and soon to be small) screen with Avengers and Dark Knight films, that’s partly to blame for these sweeping money-grab changes as well. Agent Coulson, anyone? How about Marcus Johnson transforming into Black Nick Fury? Or how everytime there’s a new film out, all of a sudden there’s nothing but storylines about the villain from said movie resurfacing in the books (The Lizard has been all over Amazing Spider-Man the past few months– coinkydink?). These transparent ploys to “attract new readers” might be cute for the kids and all, but they’re a slap to the faces of longtime fans and readers of the books who’ve hung in month in and month out through filler issues and terrible writers & artists, only to see the sweeping changes they’ve been clamoring for made to appease toddlers who thought it’d be cool to visit a comic book store right after the non-continuity version movie lets out at the local cineplex!!
I don’t hate new readers, hell I used to be one. But after coming out of 1989’s “Batman” movie, I didn’t demand to see Negro Harvey Dent in that issue of Detective Comics I picked up at Forbidden Planet the following Monday. You’d think in this age of internet where you can read full character histories at sites like Marvel.com that we’d expect our new readers to be able to do a little research. Or did we buy that Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe for nothing all those years ago?
In short, I co-motherfucking-sign all of your sentiments, sir.
Totally agree 100% to what you wrote. I was thinking of writing something simliar (and still may) but you hit everything on the head. I was always a Marvel guy. Never could understand all the “Crisises” in the DC books. They’re continuity always seemed confusing to me. Just wasn’t my thing.
But now with all of Marvel’s relaunches and “summer blockbusters” I just roll my eyes and plow through it. I will admit I wasn’t impressed with MarvelNOW! at first, but now I’m looking forward to seeing what they do. Which is what Marvel wants in the end I know. It’s for new readers but it has me now interested in checking out titles I normally wouldn’t (Fantastic Four, Uncanny Avengers).
For now I’m enjoying going back and reading some of the titles and stories I missed out on when I gave up comics years ago (Invincible, Uncanny X-Force, Runaways, etc.)
Thumb up!!!