Does anyone else ever get tired of a shared universe?

[Lead Cenobite]

I mean, it's a world where a quarter of the population wears colorful costumes and has impossibile abilities. Every god and mythical figure exists, every science fiction concept you can imagine is possible, nearly every planet is inhabited, etc. It seems way too crowded. There's no rules for what can and cannot happen, it's just everything goes. I think it kindof hurts the balance between realism and fantasy. What's so exciting about any individual superhero in a world full of such craziness?

I'm not a huge comic lover, most of my exposure to superheroes is through movies and shows. And in most of them, you have a superhero debuting in a normal world, amazing people all over. I'm not saying they're all great or portray the characters correctly, but I'd like to see more of that in comics, where a hero gets to be unique and doesn't have to contend with a thousand other heroes for recognition.

I do think shared universes can work though, but mostly if it's all planned out with the characters all being made for that universe and not just thrown together because it's so kewl to see Batman, Superman, the Flash and Wonder Woman all teamed up.

 

[Kitsune]

Yeah, those planned universes where everyone was created to be in the same world like Comics' Greatest World by Darkhorse are so much more successful than DC.

 

[Lead Cenobite]

I'm not sure if that was sarcasm or not, but I'm not talking about what's more successful, it's just a personal preference.

What I'd do is give every character who has their own comic atleast two comics. One is written in the shared universe, and the other is an out of universe title where that character is the only hero of their world. So you have a Batman title set in a world where there are no aliens and metahumans are a much less common occurrence, or a Superman who comes to a world that has never seen a superpowered being or an alien before. I suppose Superman and Batman Earth One sortof follow that concept, but they're yearly rather than monthly, and they're the only two Earth One titles I've heard of.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

A very large part of my enjoyment of the characters comes from their interaction with each other. So nope, I can't say I'm tired of the shared universe at all.

 

[yenaled]

But no-one bought First Wave. These things don't sell.

 

[Kitsune]

I actually get annoyed when you have stories that seem to ignore things happening in the other comcis, like Magneto destroying Manhattan, but everything being fine in Spider-Man.

 

[Lead Cenobite]

Yeah. You have one event and it's far reaching effects and all the other comics have to acknowledge it, even if it possibly infringes on whatever stories they're doing.

 

[Cosmic]

I get annoyed with "shared universe" continuity. If it's an occasional team-up, or self-contained team book, then it's all good. But in general, when I'm reading about Flash or Firestorm, I don't want the stories to be limited to whatever current events elsewhere in the DCU will allow.

 

[Primal Slayer]

Only time it really gets on my nerves is when they have an event and they force titles to incorporate it to the point of ruining the storyline anyway. Now if writers and editors actually planned things out in good enough time for each writer to incorporate parts of the shared story into the books instead of just dropping everything to jump into it, it would flow better.

But in the long run I like my shared universe when used right.

 

[Tron Bonne]

I mean, it's a world where a quarter of the population wears colorful costumes and has impossibile abilities. Every god and mythical figure exists, every science fiction concept you can imagine is possible, nearly every planet is inhabited, etc.

Interesting that you use Alan Moore's reasoning, almost to a tee, for why a shared universe is incredible for why you dislike it.

But anyway, I throw in with Moore on the subject. I think what you just said here makes a shared universe pretty incredibly rich and viable for any kind of storytelling. Why you'd you want to take that away is, frankly, kind of boggling to me. It seems to me the problem is that everyone just assumes that everything has to be up everything else's ass in a shared universe. It really doesn't. There's no real reason to castrate one of the most interesting aspects that's come from superhero comics in recent years.

 

[Lead Cenobite]

What's so boggling about it? There's nothing wrong with the characters being independent from each other. That's the way a lot of them started out. Superman and Batman weren't written to be a part of shared universe when they were created.

Don't get me wrong, I like fantasy, I like sci fi, but there's such a thing as overdoing it. To me, what makes characters like Superman special is the contrast between the normal and the fantastic. The DCU's Earth isn't exactly normal, and I have trouble imagining it ever having been normal. There's always some super secret civilization of super-intelligent gorillas or super strong Amazons tucked away somewhere.

 

[Anubis]

Bull.

 

[Lead Cenobite]

What exactly are you calling bull? An actual post might be nice.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I like a shared universe to a point. But when they get too crowded, yeah, it does get tiring. Though DC is still doing better than Marvel (thanks mostly to not having X-Men and its gazillion mutants).

I do think a limited shared universe is a good thing to have. As long as there is a good distance between the heroes' turf. So yeah, I agree with you.

 

[Anubis]

What exactly are you calling bull? An actual post might be nice.

I think "Bull" is more than adequate a response to this rubbish.

 

[Cain]

I think "Bull" is more than adequate a response to this rubbish.

I concur.

 

[RoughNTumble]

we like our the DCU IOO (in our opinion)

would we like to break it up?

no thanX

 

[storyteller]

My biggest issue with shared universes in both Marvel and DC is simply. Why is their poverty or like why isn't it Star Trek? Why aren't people more shocked that aliens exist? Where are the flying cars? Fossil fuels and cancer? A recession in the Marvel and DC universe is bs.

 

[Kurosawa]

It really is-the damage caused by superhero battles should be sat off by the rescues that they do. I don't mind a shared universe, it's all in how it is handled. I liked the multiverse better because it kept the Earths from being too crowded, and I'm glad they are bringing it back, although I don't trust them with the JSA.

 

[Anubis]

My biggest issue with shared universes in both Marvel and DC is simply. Why is their poverty or like why isn't it Star Trek? Why aren't people more shocked that aliens exist? Where are the flying cars? Fossil fuels and cancer? A recession in the Marvel and DC universe is bs.

How does the fact that their are guys and girls in tight spandex outfits flying around beating the crap outta each other somehow make it so greed, apathy, and disease no longer apply?

Ever read that Squadron Supreme where the little midget guy died trying to cure Cancer? Some things simply can't be solved. Just because you can build an inter dimensional gateway in your basement doesn't mean you can tackle something as complicated and progressive as Cancer.

Besides, all that has nothing to do with a shared universe and more to do with the suspension of belief. The fact that Superman and Batman exist in the same universe has nothing to do with that. That's more of a by product of science fiction storytelling in a real world setting.

I will say this though, I would prefer if the major universes had stayed separate. Fawcett, Charlton, Earth 2, Wildstorm, Milestone. Not because it's unbelievable for them to be in the same universe as the main DCU but because it lessens them in one way or another to be crammed in with the rest. The Authority can't be the Authority if the JLA is still running around. Instead characters get neutered and changed so much from what they were originally like in order to fit. Like Stormwatch or Grifter.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Well, you can't really compare these universes to our own. For example, by the time a comic starts, people have presumably had years to get used to crazy things, like aliens, robots and vigilantes with superpowers. In Marvel, mutants have been around for decades, and presumably people noticed them over the years.

Look at DC, just consider how many damn aliens are running around on Earth at any one time. And then there is mythology... whole other can of worms.

I do think that that, does retract from stories, because it gets so far out there.

 

[Anubis]

Then why do you read comics?

 

[Thundercrack85]

Then why do you read comics?

Not for shared universes, I can tell you that much. Granted, sometimes it works well, within limits. But a shared universe with too many franchises turns into a jumbled mess. And then you need story lines were tons of people die or get de-powered. It also creates serious story problems, or just oddities.

Sometimes characters just work better in a self-contained universe, or a universe shared by a limited number of characters. Especially if they are supposed to be unique, or the first of their kind. I also like comics somewhat grounded in reality.

 

[Cain]

I also like comics somewhat grounded in reality.

Then don't read DC Comics. Or even Marvel for that matter.

 

[The Batman]

I feel that Marvel, for the most part, does the shared universe nicely. The Marvel Age was built on it, so it often feels more organic.

DC, imo, had a mediocre shared universe until this new 52 initiative. Heroes were made lesser due to them cramming everyone on the same planet.