Friday, August 22, 2008

The Drop Zone

Things have been a little hectic here at the Second Printing Cave.

We've all had life kinda do a little unsolicited fondling and things have kinda suffered here.

That said, things are gonna change a bit, soon and I think, for the better. Vacations are being taken, people are coming back from vacation and Carey just checked out of rehab. (No. No. No. I keed.)

I shuttered my previous blog, Seven Hells!, for the simple fact that I realized Second Printing is where my heart now lies.

I'm personally working on a post that I think is pretty good and will get you thinking so yeah, we're back on track and raring to go.

That said, in honor of parachutist Great Friend Nate's big dirty canoe ride down the River Thames (or something) let us, once again, enter...

THE DROP ZONE!!!

After nearly a decade of collecting, I finally dropped Birds of Prey.

This book has just been cursed for nearly two years now. After gaining stability and a rabid fanbase under writer Gail Simone, BoP has been suffering from lack of cohesion.

First, the title loses its marquee character Black Canary to The Justice League.

Second, it was announced that BoP Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane would be coming on as writer and it seemed a perfect fit. Before McKeever could come on to write there would be fill-in issues by writer Tony Bedard.

Bedard stepped in and wrote some of this title's best issues, not only keeping Bird's unique "voice" intact but seemlessly weaving Birds into the greater events of The DC Universe. Having done that, Bedard moved on stepping aside for McKeever, who almost as soon as he arrived announced he was leaving. Under McKeever, they fought a giant robot and Lady Blackhawk fought a man in a cave, resulting in a wearing down of my patience.

Enter Bedard again, who is doing his same more-than-capable work but something happened. I just can't seem to shake the fact that he still fills like the fill-in writer.

Coupling that with one of Birds of Prey's main draws, artist Nicola Scott's departure rejoining Simone on the upcoming Secret Six series and the title just sort of collapsed in on itself for me.

Also, I hate to say, the new rushed looking, manga-esque art style is doing absolutely nothing for me and despite the promise of Oracle (formerly Batgirl) taking on her crippler, The Joker, this book is unfortunately... dropped.

It makes me sad.

WHAT'S ENTERING YOUR DROP ZONE?

8 comments:

Bill D. said...

This current issue of Brave and the Bold is my last. The Wolfman fill-ins just didn't sound appealing to me, and I don't typically enjoy JMS comics (nor do I care about the return of the Archie heroes unless they're the Impact versions), so I'm leaving with Waid.

SallyP said...

I'm still hanging in there with Birds of Prey. I keep hoping against hope that Fire and Ice will join.

I am dumping Checkmate however. But apparently so is DC, so I suppose that isn't as shocking as it could be.

And I'm awfully close on dropping the whole Rann/Thanagar war. I keep thinking something is going to happen, but I'm just not feeling it.

Unknown said...

i'm dropping alot of stuff except maybe like batman and invincible ironman. most stuff i'm switching to trades on. like X-force..i enjoy it but its a bit too unrelenting with the gloom and misery to where you just look at it and go 'enough i get it you're edgy' so as of issue 6 i'm done with that for the most part..maybe a trade or whatever..but blah..

i've been dropping alot of books..too many to count really. partly because the finances have been bad, partly that i'm a creator of comics and don't want to be too influenced and sometimes get that crushed feeling of seeing something i wanted to do done poorly in another book making me go and write shit out. and partly because alot of the books really became continuity porn. i drop in and out every few years because of the afore mentioned reasons and i come back and i'm lost in some books to where i just don't care anymore. don't even get me started on the mess DC editorial is..the weird jumbling and continuity fuck ups have made it far too confusing in alot of books. i'm not much of an event guy either..though i read final crisis..which baffles the shit out of me..but it's grant morrison..he is going somewhere with it all that i feel is enjoyable..despite not knowing 80 million things about every nuance..and i wasn't tainted by countdown.

madman continues to be excelent and i'm a grant morrison mark. so thats what i stick with for the most part. oh and i'm finishing up some minis i've been reading..but most things..DROPPED.

Michael Bailey said...

Just about anything that doesn't involve Superman, the word Justice in the title and is written by Geoff Johns.

I'm hanging on to FINAL CRISIS because it's DC event book and I am an addict.

Unknown said...

i hear you man..final crisis is good and its led to me seeking out bits of older grant morrison work and the old kirby forth world stuff..so its like an awesome treasure hunt for me. though i'm not bothering with most of the tie ins. like the superman beyond book..i'm into that,revelations..awesome..but rogues revenge..nah..i love the structure of it where i can skip some things and be cool..unlike secret invasion which kind of pushes the tie ins as they never explain shit in the main book..like how the runaways and young avengers got out of the battle in new york proper..forcing one to read the mini with blah writing and cute manga art...then having explanation of character bits in the books i already dropped long ago. at least final crisis leaves enough up there where you get naturally curious and go hunting for stuff you missed if you want to or you can enjoy the awesome of sonny sumo without much background and everythings cool..at least by me..i had no idea who sonny sumo was until this..last i knew mister miracle was a goofy white guy..even without the back story i can follow and enjoy it.

though..i'm admittedly a morrison whore and used to his batshit insanity.

ASK said...

Although I heard it was getting canceled (mercifully), I just canceled my subscription to Checkmate. It went from being about superheroes, spies, and international intrigue, to being about giant warthogs and the women who love them.

Jon said...

3 titles are getting cut on my next store visit:

Justice Society- it's been treading water for a while, and going by the solicits, it seems the current story will NEVER END. This does my head in, because JSA was a brilliant run, and this is just so BORING. Also, too many team members.

Booster Gold- it was fun, but the novelty has worn off, and with the impending writer changes, it's a good time to go.

Iron Fist- has only remained on my list since the creative changes due to me being too lazy to drop it.

I think I'm going through a period where I'm just generally down on comics. None of my favourite characters currently have major roles anywhere, much less their own titles :(

KENT! said...

Batman and the Outsiders - just as I was starting to get used to it, and, in fact, enjoy it, they sh*tcan Dixon and drop their fantastic artist.

To tell the truth, it's my wife that bought it (had I been buying it, I would have dropped it by issue 3) and is now dropping it, but I digress.