I know that I love them. I know this much is true.
It's just that I don't treat like I used to. I still look forward to the next issue of 100 Bullets like no one's business but as I was reading the latest issue, it dawned on me...The comics that made me a fan all over again is coming to an end.
And likely, I won't ever find anything that good ever again. Better yet, I probably won't find that book that blows my mind, makes me reconsider what the comics format can do and has me hold it up in the air like a infant Kunta Kinte anytime some asks me, "What's good?"
The fact of it is that lately I just don't look forward to my comics like I used to. I am sitting here, typing and wrestling with the realization that the belief "that a man can fly" ain't what it used to be.
Today's comics market is filled with flying men and women talking loudly and not really saying anything. What it comes down to is this:
We should not be shocked when our superhero comics are actually, you know... good.
As I sit here typing this I realize my comics, overall, haven't been that great, much less that good, in a loooooong time. The exceptions usually a critically acclaimed and reader-shunned. For every Blue Beetle or Manhunter, there will be four more unnecessary X-titles and mini-series that will outsell it by the tens of thousands. This is and always has been the state of this industry.It's not going to get any better any time soon. As DC Comics continually trips and stumbles towards Final Crisis, we've been promised... something. No one knows what it is, though and really, I just don't care. If it's has any of the promise of a Countdown or a Trinity, no thanks.
On the Marvel side of things, for the first time since Secret Wars II, I did not bother with their big "event" book, Secret Invasion. I'm just over events that will rock universes down to their very foundation being done once a year and over multiple $3.99 books.
As for Secret Invasion's sequel, Dark Reign?
To Marvel, again, no thanks.
I miss having something to look forward to in my comics. I am tired of being shocked when I put a comic down and thinking, "That was good." We should not be shocked when our comics are good. This should be our standard.
Individual comics storylines are continuously being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the "event" and the spirit of "the good comic" is the unintended victim.
In all of this, my good will is spent. Squandered by the companies I counted on to entertain me. I want no more crossovers. I don't feel like going on any more journeys with you. I should not have to work so hard to enjoy my comics. I simply want more good in my comics and I'm just not getting it like I used to.
I want comics I can recommend. I wish there were more coming. The event horizon tells me otherwise.
3 comments:
The thing that alarms me is that the DCU has always been this weird roller coaster of boom or bust periods. And during the bad times, you would just grit your teeth and trudge through it, because you knew that sooner or later, the boom part of the cycle would start up, and everything would be great again.
But now, it feels like we've been in a bust period for a really long time, with no end in sight. And DC's response is...what? Bringing Barry Allen back?
There are still individual books I'm enjoying, but the outlook for the whole line seems about as bleak as I can ever remember it being.
I hate to say it but DC needs regime change form Didio on down.
Their numbers & sales are down, enthusiasm is down and you have to point the finger at someone.
And it ain't the boy in the mail room.
I'm feeling kinda the same owing to the cancelling of Blue Beetle. It was one of the few bright lights. I learned my lesson in the 90's with events, Infinite Crisis was probably the first one I've bothered with since then, and it just reaffirmed my position. I've only bought issues of Countdown and Trinity that have Firestorm in them. Same with Final Crisis and it's seemingly 9 million one-shot tie-ins.
I'm satisfying myself via back issues. Just picked up the full run of The Demon ('90s series) on ebay, which has been fun so far. There's a stack of 80's Justice League waiting for me too. It's so nice to be reading books with no hint of decompression, you can sit down with an issue and know that you're going to get a decent story, even if it's not a self contained issue. They take longer to read too, which is a bonus.
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