I am sure you have seen these guys. They walk around with their pristine copies of Giant Sized X-Men #1 clutched in their hands. The wounds they received from the rush for Superman #75 have left them with a limp and slight incontinence. They are the Comic Veterans and they love the smell of Wednesdays in the morning.
When you talk to a true Comic Vet there is sort of an awkward bitterness in their speech. Comics are a general that have sent them off on so many missions they both hate and respect the genre. They have seen the return of Jean Grey, the second return and the third or whatever. They take long drags of Camel Reds and explain how the Clone Saga broke their heart. They have seen it all and had it all happen. While you will definitely see a Comic Vet every Wednesdays sometimes you are not sure why. They never seem to get excited about anything.
While I dabbled in comic collecting for some of middle school and all of high school it was not until 2000 that I really started considering myself a comic collector. Now eight years and ten long boxes later, I am starting to feel that encouraging sullenness. I am starting to feel that ache in my bones over one too many crossover. I am still picking out pieces of glass and metal from Countdown. I am starting to get tired.
But I do not want to. I still want to believe that the comic companies will surprise me. That they are going to put out the best stories they possibly can with the only thought being on the quality of those stories. Call it forced naiveté. Call it willful gullibility. Call it stupidity. I do not care. I want to be excited about comics again.
So I sit here at my computer on the cusp of the summer of 2008. I think this summer has a real possibility for the amazing. Like decades from now we will tell our children about the Crossovers of ’08. We have Secret Invasion and Final Crisis, two mega-events years in the making – years. After reading Ms. Marvel #26 (that was the issue that got me excited, go figure) and DC Universe #0 I feel like we have two great storylines ahead of us. I look through the May and June Previews and I get almost giddy. It is a nice feeling to have. I am pushing aside worries of false hype and broken expectations. I am merely basking in the wonder of prospect. I am excited about comics again. Who’s with me?
Who’s With Me?
Said like Mel Gibson in Braveheart but without the face paint, sword and creepy religious zeal just waiting to burst from within.
6 comments:
I actually find myself going in the opposite direction anytime an giant company crossover is announced. And nothing Marvel or DC has done lately has done the slightest to change my mind.
DC Universe 0 was just more of the same that Countdown, 52, Infinite *take your pick of Infinite and/or Crisis moniker* have brought forth. At this point I doubt I'll even give Final Crisis a gander. DC's such a convoluted mess now that its incomprehensible to you, even if you followed their weekly printings.
And well, Secret Invasion, has just bored me so far. I don't feel any sense of dread or tension. Something that's genuinely hard to feel in comics with never ending plotlines. Bendis has just become a parody of himself and Yu's artwork isn't really suited to the type of storyline being invoked.
BTW, its great to see you all on this new site. I'm more excited reading about all your musings on comics than I am most of what's published these days.
I'm... not with you. I face "events" with dread. All I want is to be able to read the titles I like, and have them left alone. Events that cross over, or are atleast linked, to regular titles more often than not get in the way. I only read Infinite Crisis to stay up to date with any changes to the DCU. I haven't added Final Crisis to my pull list, which knowing my store, means I won't even see it on the shelves.
I love comics, spend more on them than I ever have before, but the 90's killed my good will for events.
I think that some people take these "summer events" too seriously or have become too jaded. They're meant to be big, dramatic fun. I mean, for god's sake-they're ENTERTAINMENT. There's certainly literary value-but you boil it down and there it is. I think one's expectations need to be appropriately attuned to what the comics will inevitably turn out to be.
and the big 2 have at least tried to give us some quality to the events themselves without trying to over-do the "final crisis" in every comic thing. (altho there's plenty of special one-shots to buy).
I for one agree with Ben. I am looking forward to seeing the universal-wide crisis and the weird Morrisonian spin on Libra and Darkseid and such. The unfolding will be interesting. I look forward to being yanked around-and entertained.I look forward to seeing BIG SPOILER ALERT written in Newsarama every week.
That being said, I think there is just general "super hero" burnout. A lot of people get realy jaded by all of this stuff.
Perhaps for some,it would be good to pursue some non-super hero comic book stuff for awhile. Indies, horror, wild-west..or just NOTHING.
I've gone on trips and been without comics for upwards to 2 months. I appreciate them a lot more when I get back.
Oh what the heck. I've been collecting for thirty years, and have managed to stay starry-eyed for most of it. (I except Civil War of course) Give me a sword and I'll gird my loins and join in the charge.
I honestly feel we have entered a new age for great story telling from both of the big guys (as well as a lot of great stuff from the small guys as well.) I applaud both Marvel and DC for taking huge steps in their universes, setting up new and creative stories that challenge the medium.
I'm just surprised that a year later we still are feeling the effects of Civil War and 52/Infinite Crisis. Because of those events I'm enjoying stories and characters I never thought I would (Herc, Cap, Iron Fist, GL, Blue Beetle, etc.).
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