In my family, we read comics. Okay, we don't really read them--well, I do, and my oldest is a fan of them--but it isn't a major pastime. Okay, so there's some reading but not a lot of comic books. But one thing we are? Comic book fans.
The distinction is an important one, I think, especially since the comic book industry as an actual market force is pretty slim. (This report, from June 2017, explains that there really aren't a lot of single issue sales going on. And, admittedly, comic books have always been a niche market. But comics don't just sell books…) Though there is some top-tier talent at both of the major houses, DC and Marvel, there is also a saturation issue to deal with. The question of "Where do I start?" with any comic book series is an almost impossible one. Bats in the Belfry For my money, DC's take on the multi-universe, constant rebooting the entire line M.O. is a joke. It's too complex, it's too unreliable, and I've never been a fan of the Infinite Crisis, Flashpoint, New 52, or, most recently, Rebirth events and continuity-tweaking events. Self-contained stories are more enjoyable than company-wide connections and events, in large part because there's too much to keep track of in order to get the full story. This particular criticism is leveled at both houses, but I bring it up here because I'm thinking of the Azzarello run on Wonder Woman in the New 52 continuity. While the story itself was a bit of rubbish (and I was very disappointed that they took some of the elements that Azzarello introduced and put them into the movie), it was enjoyable on its own level because it focused on one thing, one character, and the trades made the story easy to keep going. The continuity of the art, also, was a boon, as it made the story feel more cohesive. But picking up any single comic that isn't a part of a specific storyline? It's a crapshoot if you can understand what's going on or not. On the other hand, I understand the logic of why things become entwined more and more often. After all, in a world where Shazam and Black Adam and Superman all reside means that these three basically-identical metahumans are bound to bump into each other. And when you get into the nitty-gritty, street-level stuff, that tendency is even greater. I mean, the superhero subculture is likely pretty small, and DC does that feeling of people-in-a-niche-business-meet-up-with-others-like-them well. That being said, the constant interweaving of solo-titles and group work gets tiresome, and the complexity of the DCU makes my head hurt. Of course, there are exceptions to this--and Marvel isn't exempt from the criticism--but I feel its effects more when I think of jumping into DC. Another issue (haha pun) that I have with DC currently is their endless obsession with Watchmen. Now, I love that comic--it's a great example of a series that tells a story in a way that only comics can tell it, the story is phenomenal, and though Alan Moore hates that he ever wrote it, I'm always impressed with it. In fact, nothing makes me simultaneously more inspired to write, and hopelessly convinced that I ought not to ever write a word again than remembering that Watchmen exists. Though I think Maus is a more important comic, I don't disagree with TIME for putting Watchmen on one of its lists of 100 best novels. And DC knows that Watchmen is good. It knows that Dr. Manhattan's bright blue butt will move units. It knows that putting the blood-streaked smiley face on a comic book cover is going to bring a lot of attention to whatever that comic is doing. And, with the Rebirth event, it's clear that the world portrayed in Watchmen is actually a part of the world in which Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman also reside. It's…a dumb idea. I mean, even if it's executed flawlessly, the problem is the same one as what DC had to deal with when they released the Before Watchmen prequel comics: They were playing in a world that didn't need more exploration. It's much like how Harry Potter and the Cursed Child felt hollow*: The story that's being told doesn't fit into a story that has been finished. In my humble opinion, I'm less inclined to touch anything relating to Dr. Manhattan being involved in Earth 2--or whatever their "main" Earth is now--than otherwise. Invoking Watchmen to get fans buzzing is good PR but horrible storytelling. Where I go with their work remains to be seen. I haven't subscribed to comics regularly since…I don't know, 2010 or so. That means that I'm not the kind of reader who buys the singles on a regular basis anyway. I prefer to wait for the trades to come out, so the entire story is put together in something resembling a logical way. That's part of the reason that I read so many comic book novels as a kid: The whole story was there, even if it was split up among three books. And the fact that I can't get fully behind the House that Batman (or Superman) built is a sad one, since I've always thought that DC brought some excellent characters to the table. Except, of course… The Spider's Web …Spider-Man. The webhead has been my constant companion since the sixth grade, and though I'm a Ravenclaw about 90% of the time, when it comes to loyalty, I'm pure Hufflepuff.** I'll never not be a Spidey-Fan. And I haven't purchased a Spider-Man comic since…um…I canceled my subscription. I was around for the end of the "One More Day" arc. Then Marvel did the same thing that bugs me so much about DC and did a massive continuity shift, erasing the marriage of Peter Parker and Mary Jane through an act of demonic will. Like, the Marvel version of Satan, a character called Mephisto, does a Control Z on Spider-Man revealing his identity to the world as part of the Civil War mega-event. Spidey's upset because his world is going to trash--essentially proving he was right to never reveal his secret identity for however many decades--and Aunt May's dying (again) and all these issues…so Spider-Man/Peter Parker decides to do a deal with the devil to get things back on course. The cost is his marriage. As the "Brand New Day" series launched with the newly unmarried--and never was married? I wasn't clear on that, and stopped reading before it was fully revealed--Spider-Man returning to his time on the streets, my own family started having some financial pinches and I decided to let the subscription lapse. Sure, individual comics aren't expensive in and of themselves, but getting three of them a month becomes pretty pricey pretty quickly. So I haven't read a lot of Spider-Man comics since they ruined his marriage (which bugs me on lots of levels that I'm not going into right now), and though I'm really interested in Spider-Gwen, there aren't any other Marvel comic characters that I want to read about. Daredevil had an interesting run I read when I was a kid, and I dabbled with the X-Men when the cartoon was popular--and, of all the properties in Marvel that I like, X-Men is probably number two--but I never really gelled with anyone else there. I was all Marvel, all the time…unless it didn't have Spider-Man. Then I didn't care. It's an interesting thing for me to consider myself a fan of comic book characters and less about comic books, though the current abundance (or, if you're feeling pessimistic, glut) of superhero movies is pretty satisfying. I saw almost all of the big ones of 2017 (except Atomic Blonde, which I didn't know was a comic book movie), and I'm looking forward to much of 2018's cinematic offerings. Though I'm a Marvel fanboy (I guess) because they own Spider-Man, I'm more interested in seeing continued exploration of themes that superhero films are best at exploring, regardless of who owns the characters. Oh, and if you're wondering who would win in a fight, Batman or Spider-Man, let me break it down really quickly: Spider-Man can bench press 10 tons, plus he can sense danger coming in the form of his spider-sense. There's nothing that Batman could do*** against the wall-crawler. Bat versus spider? Spider all the way. --- * The Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them might turn out okay. Without Hogwarts, I don't know why we would have a story set in the Wizarding World. What's different here is Fantastic Beasts is already in-canon, and it's focused on a separate (though similar) issue than what the original series devoted 4,100 pages to. That being said, I'm neither excited nor angry about the next film. Except Johnny Depp. That guy's a creep. Ew. ** If you don't get what that sentence is saying, then I'm sorry. We can still be friends, but I'll be quietly disappointed with you. *** And don't come at me with the "If Batman could prepare for the fight…" garbage. Batman's smart--and it's likely that Peter Parker is smarter. Batman's a good engineer; so is Spider-Man. Look, if Bruce gets time to make a spider-sense jamming device, then Peter gets time to make an anti-spider-sense jamming device. And he can. If you still don't believe me, check out this video. It is just and true. Amen. |
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