Bought/Thought for March 9, 2011 - SPOILERS!

[JewishHobbit]

Emerald Warriors really is the crappiest GL comic since Rebirth when I started buying. I'm expecting it to end after War of the Green Lanterns and replaced with the already announced Red Lanterns series. If it isn't canceled I'll likely drop it.

And yeah, I wish it'd go back to the classic 1 title per character or team approach. There might need to be a few exceptions like with X-Men or Avengers, due to how many characters there are now, but as long as there's two set teams with set reasons for being separate it's fine. But when you get 3 and 4 books for a team or even one freakin' character then it's just stupid. 4 X-Men books now and 3 of the 4 focus on the same characters (Cyclops, Emma, Wolverine, Namor, Magneto) and those characters guest star in the other title as well as other X-titles. That's just pointless!

I think all of this lessons the books and industry because how often do things happen in one of these titles and nothing comes of it becuse of it just being one in a bunch of things happening right now? How hard is it to jump into, say, Green Lantern when there's 3 titles going on all tieing together?

Can anyone keep track of what the heck is going on with Wolverine anymore? He's currently trying to kill Scarlet Witch in Latveria, while fighting Superia with the New Avengers, while trying to find an Infinity Gem in the old X-Mansion, while dying of a disease on Utopia, while fighting lizard people in the New York sewage system, while dealing with leading a team that just murdered a child Apocalypse, while stuck in an alternate reality without powers, and while his dead body runs a rampage with his mind trapped in Hell. AND THAT'S JUST THE ONGOINGS THIS MONTH THAT HE'S A REGULAR IN!!! I'm not even including guest cameos and mini series (other than Children's Crusade, which isn't much of a mini).

How about a little tight continuity for freakin' once!!!!

My favorite time was when if Wolverine was a regular in Uncanny X-Men. He'd leave or mention having left and not show up again in the issue and then appear in an issue of Alpha Flight. Then after that story was over and he left, he'd return again to the Uncanny X-Men title. Or when Juggernaut took on Spider-Man in his book and the next time he shows up, say, in Avengers, there's a mention that that was the last thing he did. He wouldn't be fighting people in 4 titles in a single month, none of them having anything to do with the other! Every character in one place at a time. An occassional guest star without a mention would be fine as it could fall between issues, but being in tons of titles in tons of teams with no cohession between them turns me off BIG TIME!

 

[Dread]

That makes a lot of sense with

Spoiler

Legion coming back in full swing in the most recent issue of New Mutants prior to this event. It just feels a bit obvious though since he just came back in New Mutants, he brought about the big altnerate universe for the X-Men (Age of Apocalypse) already. Also, if this was still Zeb Wells writing it'd feel a natural direction but this is Mike Carey who had nothing to do with Legion prior to this arc.

Not necessarily this but I'm betting something more along the lines of someone messing with Danger and running a huge Danger Room sequence on Utopia, but somehow it effects their minds along with the suroundings. Still Utopia, but different in visual and mental.

But I don't know... it really does seem like a plausable reasoning for what's going on. I guess we'll just have to see how it's been playing out.

Spoiler

It has been over ten years since AGE OF APOCALYPSE wrapped. The tenet of the Joe Q era has been "anything that happened before doesn't count". Thus, Joe Q shipping for cross promotional media play via a soap opera and so on for a ham fisted wedding between T'Challa and Ororo was perfectly viable, but the Parker marriage in the 80's was a travesty. CIVIL WAR was a miracle of brilliant story-telling, but I imagine nobody at Marvel would admit that it was basically ACTS OF VENGEANCE with modest re-writes. Thus, Legion being the focal point of another X-Men alternate reality crossover thingie is fair game. He hasn't been the focal point of one in this century. He also wasn't involved in a slew of X-Men events.

The bottom line is that Marvel has to do SOMETHING to keep Hope from just undoing M-Day and getting the franchise proper again. They would literally rather bring in zero dollars on the X-Men then dare admit internally and outwardly that Joe Q was wrong about something, and thus abruptly fix it and move on. M-Day is Joe Q's version of the Clone Saga - a sweeping franchise changer that is really just a storyline with finite potential but is treated as an eternal status quo. Unlike Bob Harras, Joe Q didn't have the insight to end it and cut his losses. It remains to be seen if Axel Alonso has the stones to do so, either.

One, at the recent DC Panel at the Comic Con I attended, a nice round of applause was met when a gal question three books that were being cancelled, and she asked, "When can we expect other titles like that; because, I could really care less about another Batman, Superman, or Green Lantern title to fill their void?" This led to my second thought, where I know we've been talking about the decline in sales in another thread; and, I wonder, how much of this decline is due to there being so many titles for one character or group. Would more people be buying Thor, Hulk, or other titles if we were back to just one title for each of them?

Well, fewer titles for the A and B list guns would lower costs and, in theory, aid profits. To a degree, both companies are simply moving too many units for this period of time. Marvel has cut back, but, the market cannot support extra Iron Man, Capt. America, Wolverine, or Hulk material. The more you stretch a franchise, the less important each cog of it seems. Once upon a time NEW MUTANTS was merely the first spin off of UNCANNY X-MEN. Now, X-Men has a whole library of titles. Superman hasn't been a hot franchise in a very long time, and even Green Lantern and Batman may reach critical mass. In economic theory, the less you spend on product, the more profit you make because your production costs are down.

Now is the time when Marvel and DC should focus on making their long term titles stronger, not stretching them with needless spin offs, mini's, one shots, etc. It used to be a joke that whenever DC thought a franchise was struggling, their answer was to give it another series. TEEN TITANS and JSA come to mind. Since the Disney deal, Marvel has shown equal signs of desperation. WOLVERINE's struggling? Given him more books. DEADPOOL's struggling? Give him more books. Marvel envisions films boosting comic sales, but what they fail to learn, because they're frankly arrogantly ignorant, is that the only comics whose sales are boosted by films are comics in which their serialized story has either already been completed in one (uno, 1) trade paperback, or whose trade paperbacks are easily numbered and not excessively long, and are around one franchise. There are only six volumes of SCOTT PILGRIM, and the film made sales EXPLODE. There are far more trades of WALKING DEAD, roughly about 10-12 or so (not counting hardcovers), but there is only ONE Walking Dead series. Meanwhile, there is an entire library of Thor, Batman, Iron Man, Green Lantern, Spider-Man, etc. material. None of it numbered, all of it different in tone, era, and creative team. It is not the same.

Besides, to a degree, I think audiences are not stupid and know how truly old a lot of these characters are. The idea that audiences are so misinformed that they can't tell the age difference between INCREDIBLE HULK and KICK-ASS as concepts/franchises proves that those who work in comics are so old and sheltered, they no longer know what their audience is anymore, and thus are less able to appeal to them.

On the other hand, if Marvel can get a film or better yet, a TV series, out of RUNAWAYS, audiences would find a fairly short and clear run of 3 volumes of material (or less trades than WALKING DEAD). It is a newer, fresher franchise. It could work. But that doesn't mean you have to rush out and create more trade material. Marvel, and DC, should simply call attention to the items in the back catalog that already exist and are good. Rather than spam out 1500 needless, useless, worthless THOR spin offs that Martians wouldn't use to line their cages, just call attention to the THOR material that has already been printed that is actually good, via reprints or a BEST OF sort of banner. Marvel, and DC, make things harder for themselves than they need be. Selling comics is hard enough.

 

[JewishHobbit]

It makes it hard on a person who has a collector's mentality like I do. If there's multiple titles in a character or team line but I'm not enjoying half of them, though they influence each other... I'm more prone to drop the whole line than just the issues I don't like. I'd rather get none of the story than part of it.

I hate Emerald Warriors (save the art), only mediocrely like Green Lantern Corps, and love Green Lantern. I'm curious about Red Lanterns but after War of the Green Lanterns, I'm considering just dropping the whole line if they continue to cross over like this. If I can't read the title I want on it's own, I don't want to read it.

Same with Wolverine. At one time I read all his books but then I grew to hate Wolverine Origins because of continuity issues. I dropped it but continued with Wolverine proper but then Origins began influencing Wolverine proper and after a while I just dropped it. I like X-23 and almost skipped it because it launched off of Death of Wolverine and was influenced by it. I didn't start buying it until the 4th issue when it stopped tieing in. If it was a long term tie-in, like Green Lantern has been, I would never have started it.

 

[Phaedrus45]

I don't mind two Green Lantern titles; because, while I'm not a huge Hal fan, I do love the Corps. In fact, I LOVED the whole Weaponeer storyline, and can't wait to see more of that character. I do hope they get back to some basics, though. Killowag (sp?) is so much better when he's not moping around about dead newbies.

EDIT: Also, seems like DC is now trying to follow Marvel's example by having all these little events. Doomsday, Flashpoint, and War Of The Green Lanterns (OH, GOD....doesn't that just sound TOO much like the recent War Of The Supermen?). Obviously, these little events haven't done much for Marvel's sales.

 

[JewishHobbit]

I think the mini events are a good approach... better than the line-wide events that are often spread too thin.

Personally, I miss the time when a major event was a 6 issue storyline in one title over the summer. Like, when I first started in the 90's, stories often were between single issue stories to 3 issue stories. Then occassionally there'd be a 6 issue storyline and it'd be a pretty big deal! With fewer issues per story you'd get more packed into a year (stories and characters) and then the 6 issue deal fealt huge without busting the wallet. then when there was a mini-event crossover like Maximum Carnage or Fatal Attractions... it was huge, though again, without breaking the bank.

These events with hundreds of comics... I'm growing very bitter toward them myself. I miss the simple days of parts 1 through 6 (or whatever) with no side stories to influence those parts.

 

[Tron Bonne]

EDIT: Also, seems like DC is now trying to follow Marvel's example by having all these little events. Doomsday, Flashpoint, and War Of The Green Lanterns (OH, GOD....doesn't that just sound TOO much like the recent War Of The Supermen?). Obviously, these little events haven't done much for Marvel's sales.

Flashpoint is actually a company-wise crossover. They probably aren't interrupting ongoings for it, but it has something like 15 minis and one-shots to accompany it.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Flashpoint is actually a company-wise crossover. They probably aren't interrupting ongoings for it, but it has something like 15 minis and one-shots to accompany it.

I was wondering about that; but, I wasn't too sure. I know Flash is consistently late; but, maybe they are just making sure Johns has enough time to get his part finished. The lateness, though, does make this event feel less important. (Plus, people haven't been exactly going ga-ga over Flash lately.)

Anyway, I've been catching up on my reading, and here are some more reviews.

Incredible Hulks #624

I've already made mention that while the book isn't bad, I'm just not that jacked about Hulk's family any longer. Sure, this Savage Land storyline did drop the AWFUL A-Bomb; but, it just feels like Pak is dipping into the same old well by bringing back Miek and the whole Planet Hulk storyline. I just want something more. (Also, while I love the Savage Land, I long for a day when Ka-Zar and Shanna get a more substantial storyline..or series.)

A mild .

Onslaught Unleashed #2

Oh, boy, is this art hard to look at. And, is it me, or did this issue just seem not to go anywhere? The plus is that I LOVE that McKeever's take on the Secret Avengers doesn't just rely on Cap-Steve. (In fact, I think we've seen more Moon Knight in these two issues than Brubaker has used him in his entire series! Or, it sure feels like it.) Anyway, it's a mixed reaction. Maybe I'd be more excited if this book was only $2.99.

Another mild .

Justice League Generation Lost #21

Yeah, we KNEW they weren't going to kill off Blue Beetle. Thankfully, his coming back from the dead isn't the highlight of the book. It's seeing Winick get back to the interpersonal dynamic of the teammates that makes this issue a gem. Seriously, for about ten issues, this book has veered off course by focusing too much on other crap; and, the fun had completely been drained from this title. With the end in sight, we FINALLY get a little character advancement, and we can see the payoff in site!

A big ! Huge improvement!!!

Superboy #5

This title is growing on me. Lemire doesn't take anything too seriously, and the reader can just have fun reading it. I liked the Superboy/Kid Flash race; and, got a good chuckle at the ending. What I don't like is Lemire showing a teenage girl smoking. I'm hoping this plays into some storyline later; but, I seriously don't like the message it sends. It took me out of the story; and, while I KNOW this stuff goes on with teenagers, I don't need that level of reality in my comics. (And, seriously, most teens tend to a) do it with other teens around or b) so others can see them smoking. It's all an attempt to appear cool...and, if you have to try and be it, you're not.)

Uggg. I liked the story; but, the more I think about the smoking scenes, the more turned off I'm getting. It should possible be rated higher, but I'm giving it a mild because of my disappointment.

Batgirl #19

Yeah, this issue was not nearly as cute as the previous two. (I really like Supergirl's dynamic with Damien...and, Witch-Boy was fun to read, also.) Yet, the book still had it's moments. The problem is that 19 issues into this series, I want a bit more that commits me to Stephanie's life and adventures. I feel like things just aren't advancing that much. If I left the book next issue and came back a year later, would I really have missed anything?

Just a . At least Steph wasn't taking a drag off of a cig.

 

[Dread]

EDIT: Also, seems like DC is now trying to follow Marvel's example by having all these little events. Doomsday, Flashpoint, and War Of The Green Lanterns (OH, GOD....doesn't that just sound TOO much like the recent War Of The Supermen?). Obviously, these little events haven't done much for Marvel's sales.

In the comic book biz, there are so few ideas that no idea is unworthy of duplication. Even, and especially, lackluster or bad ideas.

Example: DC will do ______, and in every aspect, it is a failure. Marvel will look at ______ and decide that they will do _______, but their version will be better because they're Marvel, and then be stunned when the effect is the same.

Big events, small events...just give us good comics, damn it.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Hawkeye: Blindspot #2

Mccann was so good with Hawkeye and Mockingbird, that I'm a bit surprised this book isn't that enjoyable. (I forgive him for Widowmaker, as it was co-written comic.) Of course, most of my problems with this title comes from the soap opera-ish storytelling of Hawkeye losing his eyesight after getting a bump on the back of the head and then his brother coming back, looking very much like Connor from DC comics. Also, the flashbacks on his life haven't done much for me.

izombie #11

You can have a soap opera-ish comic and make it good. This one is just that comic. We've had so many dramatic twists and turns with the first 11 issues, and I don't mind it in the least bit. I love how various things are happening with different characters through each chapter...and, it's all made better by Allred's artwork. After Sweet Tooth, this is my second favorite Vertigo title.

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

What the hell happened to MA SUPERHEROES? This issue was tripe. It was extremely basic, almost like elementary-level reading. This issue makes every issue I didn't like from Tobin's runs seem like pure gold. I sincerely hope this is filler, because if this is indicative of MASH from hereon out, I'M out. Know what I really miss? The opening arc of the original series. The buddy-comedy between Iron Man, Spidey and Hulk was genius. I'd LOVE a return of that team-up, but only with the same writer.

Speaking of crappy all-ages books, THE KORVAC SAGA is THE worst of these dumbed-down event retellings yet. To sum up the full effect of this series, I need only point to the cover of #4. That's right...Cap decking GA-FREAKIN'-LACTUS pretty much says it all. I like the idea of making convoluted events more accessible to new readers, but for crissakes at least make it a GOOD effort!

iZOMBIE hits it out of the park again. Lots of things building, and it's all interesting. Glad I gave this book a shot, despite being initially put off by the "i" in the name (kinda sick of the whole i-something craze).

TITANS brings us back to the disappointing books. Dunno why I stuck with this as long as I have. The HERO version of the book wasn't all that great, but the VILLAIN one has just been sucking the last of the life that may have been left in the title. The Atom STILL hasn't been avenged. Roy is STILL a druggie with no redemption in sight. Deathstroke ISN'T as impressive as every story he's in tries to make him out to be. And frankly, I'm sick of Osiris and Isis. It was good when it happened, but now it's beating a dead horse.

And NEW AVENGERS isn't much better. More retcons, more story non-progression...Honestly, at $3.99 a pop I want a better read than the supposedly main Avengers books have been offering. Like Dread always says, Academy is THE best Avengers book currently. None of these teams feel like the real Avengers, and none of them are playing to any real effectiveness. Either the price drops or the quality improves, otherwise I'll drop them all and not look back like I did prior to Siege.

JENNIFER BLOOD, I'm still on the fence on. It's basically the female Punisher with a housewife twist. The $4 price isn't real attractive (and neither is being unable to find the best covers out of each batch), but I'm giving the book a chance to sway me in either direction.

 

[Tron Bonne]

iZOMBIE hits it out of the park again. Lots of things building, and it's all interesting. Glad I gave this book a shot, despite being initially put off by the "i" in the name (kinda sick of the whole i-something craze).

It was originally titled I, Zombie. Why they changed it, I don't know. I guess iZombie was more hip to the youth that may read comics in trades from bookstores nowadays.

 

[Dread]

And NEW AVENGERS isn't much better. More retcons, more story non-progression...Honestly, at $3.99 a pop I want a better read than the supposedly main Avengers books have been offering. Like Dread always says, Academy is THE best Avengers book currently. None of these teams feel like the real Avengers, and none of them are playing to any real effectiveness. Either the price drops or the quality improves, otherwise I'll drop them all and not look back like I did prior to Siege.

Glad you agree. I imagine with Paul Tobin starting to do more work for "mainstream" Marvel, that effects his ability to write the Marvel Adventures stuff. To be honest, I see the MA line as a "minor league" sort of thing for proper Marvel writers. A slew of very good writers have come up through MA, such as Jeff Parker. While it sucks for the MA books to lose that talent, I am glad to see it going to other places.

AVENGERS ACADEMY has Hank Pym, Jocasta, Tigra, and Justice as actual Avengers members (along with Speedball as an Avengers sort of tag-along; you apparently aren't considered a real Avenger unless Steve Rogers recruits you). They're as good a "real" Avengers team as I may get right now. While it isn't the big three written by someone decent, we won't get that until Bendis decides to retire or relinquish the title(s), since he isn't entering an editorial position due to not wanting such a position. He's John Bryne, only with a much shorter glory period and a less obvious chip on his shoulder (there was no debate that Bryne was a bit arrogant), IMO. Without the "importance" factor, I learned Bendis Avengers books never offered much, and that was when it was still $2.99. I left before the price hike, which is rare.