Blame it on Season Affective Disorder but I'm kind of depressed by what DC's offering me with their April solicitations. I think I may be repeating myself. I believe I went through a similar crisis last year around this time. But this year it actually seems worse. My enjoyment level in the DC-at-large has diminished to the point where I have a hard time maintaining interest in the geeky conversations that kick in at my comics shop. He's just not that into you.
My comics list from the big two superhero universes is dwindling. At DC, I gave all the lead in to Blackest Night a pass and the main event is on "wait for trade" order, which means all this "Brightest Day" hullaballo is lost on me. I can't even feign interest right now. I'm almost hopeful that over the next 3 months there's something in the marketing that will make me care, if only 'cause I'm grasping at straws as is.
I'm still annoyed at the "necessity" of bringing Barry Allen back, but letting it go to the point that I can now just ignore the Flash altogether since DC seems rather keen on ignoring MY Flash (fanboy logic).
"The Rise of Arsenal/The Fall of Green Arrow"? Does ANYONE really care?
Superman is sorely missing Geoff Johns already. James Robinson has not been a favourite writer of mine since mid-way through his Starman run and nothing he's done of late has restored my faith in his abilities (I'm convinced Starman was a fluke, or else heavily reliant on Tony Harris to make it good). Putting an entire event under his purview is a dangerous proposition.
The JSA got too big for its britches, and I lost interest.
I haven't even had the heart to go near Wonder Woman since its tragic relaunch.
Doom Patrol is slated for the drop from my pull list, I'm giving it one more issue to change my mind.
Criminally DC editorial have decided to pull Batwoman from headlining Detective Comics and forcing her into her own title. This is, I think, a demotion. ‘Tec is the tentpole series at DC (it’s what the company is named after, after all) and it’s a testament to the strength of this new Batwoman iteration that for seemingly the first time since Issue #27, another character other than Batman is carrying the book. Plus, it was really great having Rucka's Question as back-up, making it the most estrogen heavy comic on the stands, and the world was better for it. The two really shouldn't be separated, at least not yet. And I'm not paying $3.99 to keep reading her adventures, not that I don't think David Hine isn't a good writer, but his debut on 'Tec spins out of some other one-shots and mini-series he wrote leaving any new reader behind already. Bad move all around.
My pull list for the DCU in April (judge me as you will) consists of:
Batman and Robin #11
Nemesis: The Imposters #2
Secret Six #20
The Shield #8
I'm also now considering giving the First Wave titles a go, even though I don't have any interest in them, just to try something different.
Marvel, with their neverending event, their isolated and impenetrable X-universe, their Deadpool overkill, and now virtually pointless Ultimates universe, has alienated me as a reader for years now, with my pull list for Marvel Universe titles limited to:
Captain America #605
X-Factor #204
Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers Unleashes #2 (don't you judge me)
S.H.I.E.L.D #1 (Jonathan Hickman does his thing with Marvel History)
Now, as a "DC guy", it's odd that I have a tendency to buy more Marvel in trades with Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy, "Realm of Kings", Incredible Hercules, Spider-Woman, The Marvels Project, Daredevil, Secret Warriors, Astonishing X-Men, Strange and Thunderbolts all on my trade watch list, whereas it's only Greg Rucka's Action Comics and Blackest Night I'm holding out for.
But in all this mainstream dispair, I'm not actually abandoning comics, with books like Oni's Stumptown, Images' Chew and a whole bunch of Vertigo titles nicely filling some of the void.
But superheroes are truly what I love and kind of miss. I'm hopeful that with "Brightest Day" and the end of "Siege" that the big two will return to a more Four-Color world full of awe, wonder and excitement that makes their universes more accessible and more entertaining.
/kvetch
2 comments:
I'm oddly optimistic. I'm seeing flashes of what the comics future could look like and if The Big Two don't screw it up with mega-crossovers and such, I think we'll all be just that much happier.
I'm on the fence. I definitely see where Graig is coming from; DC's April solicits far from wowed me, too, for pretty much the same reasons. But, the BoP return and Return of Bruce Wayne has definitely piqued my interest and DC still has yet to make its publisher announcement, meaning we may be seeing some shaking up soon. So I'm in wait and see mode.
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