This Week's Comics: Supernatural, Metal Men (plus DC commentary)

Two months ago, I bought six comics the first week of the month. This week, two. What happened? I dropped Countdown (the biggest dud DC's had since John Byrne's Genesis minseries). I dropped Nightwing, which went from pleasing to dull in about three months. I skipped Detective, since Paul Dini didn't write the current issue. I dropped Dark Tower after issue 5 (though it didn't come out this week, late for the first time). And Buffy came out last week.

Which leaves one carryover from last month in this slot, and one new miniseries. Folks, it is just not a great time to be a DC fan. So many comics, and so much bad or bland storytelling. And with news that Darwyn Cooke is leaving The Spirit after issue 12, and concerns that Mark Waid's new job as editor-in-chief for a small firm named BOOM Studios will lead him to quit his writing jobs with DC, it doesn't seem like it will get much better. (For the record, Mark has said he's not leaving Flash or Brave and Bold any time soon, but fans like to worry.)

And yet, I still prefer DC to Marvel, as I just don't find the idea of spending all my money to watch the Hulk smash everyone and everything for five months appealing. Am I being too optimistic in thinking that Booster Gold will save the day?

Anyway, as for what I read, there isn't much to say. Supernatural 4 gives us more background about John Winchester's first days as a hunter, and we also learn about another hunter we met on the series, but without Jeffrey Dean Morgan actually playing the role of John, everything is a bit static. I appreciate that Peter Johnson helped create the backstory for the show, but maybe we would be better off having an established comic book writer do the script. Still, it does hold us over a bit till season three.

And Metal Men? Well, a lot of fans online seem to like it, which is rare for a DC book these days, but I found it a bit scattershot. Writer-artist Duncan Roleau has some interesting ideas here and is wisely trying to have fun with characters who should never be played too seriously. But Doc Magnus and cast are not nearly as engaging as in their appearances in 52, and I really had no idea what was going on. I might get the second issue to see if things get clearer, or I might not.

My Only Post on the Topic

innerbrat posted this link to a post that explores both why SixApart is acting the way it is and what fandom ought to consider in its reactions and its actions. I don't agree with everything that is said, but it pretty much says a lot of what I've been thinking but that would come out all wrong if I posted about it. This isn't to excuse SixApart if they are really being as dumb as they seem, again. But sometimes it's good to have some perspective.

As for me, I am not going anywhere. I will get accounts at other blogsites if need be to keep up with friends, but LJ is still home to me.

And don't think that every last blogsite won't have to do what SixApart is doing, given the current climate.

As for my day's supply of anger, I plan to direct it at Delta Airlines...

The Joys of Travel

It's been five days since my flight from Pittsburgh to JFK was canceled. Time enough to have calmed down. But Now I am wondering what, if anything, I should do next.

Here's the tale: when a flight is canceled due to weather, Delta does not offer the passenger a refund or any help with accommodations. They will do their best to get you to your destination on the next available flight, and that's it.

On the one hand, I can understand their point of view. Air travel is difficult even on fair weather days. Airports like JFK are overtaxed all the time - our flight to Pittsburgh sat on the runway for an hour, waiting for its turn. When bad weather hits, things get that much worse, and it sort of makes sense to cancel some flights proactively in order to prevent delays and scheduling chaos from overwhelming the airline's capabilities. Never mind that given how many weather delays occur in this literally stormy time, it would be hugely unprofitable to refund thousands of tickets and pay for hotel rooms and food.

However, it's hard to entirely understand the rush to cancel. JFK was suffering long delays last Sunday, but other airlines did fly into there, albeit quite late. So while Delta can say that this was beyond their control, it's not the same as a snowstorm or a hurricane, as something that make travel dangerous or impossible for some time. They CHOSE to cancel my flight and not to delay it. SO it sort of feels like Delta was seeking the easiest path. They get what they want - order in their schedules - and never mind the passenger. Which is to say, the paying customer.

I looked online and found that not every airline treats passengers this way. JetBlue - who else? - either reimburses passengers or offers a future ticket for ALL cancelled flights, and also offers vouchers for any delay over an hour. (I suspect, to be fair, that this policy came after the big JetBlue PR fiasco last winter, when some passngers were stuck on the runway for 11 hours in a snowstorm in NYC.) So it's clear that Delta, despite using the weather as an excuse, also has clearly set policies that could be changed if enough passengers gave them a hard enough time and took their business elsewhere.

But that now leaves me wondering what my next move should be. I am not likely to get any money back. Would a letter of complaint to the CEO of Delta do any good? Or would I just be venting? Is there any organization I should offer my complaint to?

What do you think?