Comics 2008
Dec. 31st, 2008 09:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sdelmonteMeh. What a messed up year. Not a terrible one, given that there really seem to be a lot of readable things out there. But there is nothing on my weekly purchase lists that screams "Buy Me! Review Me!" And there is so much that makes me wonder just where the super-hero comic is headed.
I am, with two exceptions, off Marvel completely. I suppose that there is room for a super-hero universe of the sort that Marvel is giving us, where the heroes are too busy fighting with each other to do their jobs, and where the bad guys seem far more capable. But it's not what I want to see from my heroes, and it's not really what I want to see from the established Marvel line. (Why couldn't they just use the Ultimate books for such things and leave the original versions a bit more heroic). Add in the price hikes on a lot of Marvel books, the prominence of writers I don't usually care for, and a big event that was essentially a massive set-up for the next big event, and at this point there is little that Marvel can do to get me buying its wares.
The exceptions? One is X-Factor. I'm still buying it only in the collected form, but it's worth the wait. Even with the double demands of Marvel continuity and X-Men continuity, Peter David tells a great story every time out, with a cast I care about, especially Madrox. I suspect that when I get up to the Secret Invasion tie-in, I might be a little put off, but PAD has learned how to handle such intrusions much better than he used to.
The other is Ultimate Spider-Man. I've never actually bought an issue of it, as for three years early on it was online for free at Marvel's website, and as currently I can find not just collected story arcs but individual issues in my library. But I can see why it's a best-seller. It's fun. Really. Yes, it gets dark sometimes. Yes, it's written by Brian Michael Bendis, whose other work I cannot stand. Yes, some of the reworked characters fail badly. But there is a sly sense of humor here, and BMB has, for more than 120 issues, developed a modern version of Peter Parker is likable and who is very much the same character we know and love from the original continuity. There are worse ways to get a dose of Spidey than this still-entertaining series.
Meanwhile, I still pay far too much attention to DC. You've seen me scratch my head more than once about Final Crisis. You've seen me note an overall frustration with the company's direction under Dan Didio. What you haven't seen is that there are so many books that should grab me and don't quite do it. They aren't bad comics. But things like Geoff Johns' Action Comics and Green Lantern and Gail Simone's Wonder Woman just don't engage me. Given the writers, they should. Yet something is missing. Call it wonder.
The crazy thing is that for its shortcomings, Grant Morrison's overall work the past year has wonder. Final Crisis might not work at all for me, but at least it's painted on a huge and weird canvas. So was Grant's run on Batman, which didn't make a vast amount of sense but which seemed to be built on the idea that Batman's world is a wild and grotesque and fun place, and that Batman is a hero the likes of which we've never seen. Or would be if we didn't read the last few issues of All-Star Superman and go "wow" at the Man of Steel. Remember that I said nothing I bought made me want to say "Buy It NOW"? That is currently true, but the week that All-Star Superman 10 came out, I was saying it to everyone. Which means that there is still something special within the DC universe.
It's just too bad that the other comics I still buy - Booster Gold, Robin, Detective - seem to lack that wonder as well, though they still engage me. I recommend them, but not with the energy I'd like. I will also say the same for Fables, which has gone from Must Read to Should Read, though the last issue was actually surprising and bodes well.
Outside the Big Two, we lost the Gargoyles books as Disney got greedy and increased the licensing fees beyond what Slave Labor could afford. Greg Weisman promises we will see the rest of the story arcs he started, but only with collected versions of what already came out (so I will have to pay twice for some content). Thus do we lose what were really good and really fun comics. The good news, at least on the Greg Weisman front, is that he plans to write new creator-owned comics for Slave Labor in 2009. Still, it's sad when quality comics end and when fans are left without new canon.
Fans are not, of course, left without Joss Whedon canon, though. If I had to pick one comic I buy every issue as the best of show, it's Buffy. Of late, it hasn't been quite as good as the recent Fray arc was a little flat, but Joss and his cadre of writers are having a ball and I will say that if nothing else, things are never predictable. The same goes for Angel, which is a lot darker and has only one additional writer and does seem to be stretching things out too much, but which is as true to the original show as is Buffy. If only Joss would stop the gratuitous deaths. But he's Joss.
And that's my personal buying year in review. Yes, there are things I have read that were good that I don't mention...all those TPBs I have found in the library, and a few current series I plan to get later in collected form. Yes, there are a lot of good things out there. But it doesn't seem like it once did. It seems like it's all about selling the next event, about the next unnecessary death, about getting in the papers instead of getting the story right. Never mind that fandom on the Internet is snide and rude and seems determined to ruin everyone else's fun.
And so I end 2008 wondering about the fate of the super-hero comic (and genre comics overall). But even with things the way they are, I am not giving up. Maybe the next great comic is just around the corner. Maybe it's the return of Barry Allen, or JMS writing for DC, or something we didn't expect at all. Maybe Brian K. Vaughan will announce his next project, or Neil Gaiman's Batman two-parter will be really good. Maybe we'll even find that the fate of Batman and Gotham City will not be a mass of cliches. Am I being too optimistic? Maybe. Check back with me in a year.
I am, with two exceptions, off Marvel completely. I suppose that there is room for a super-hero universe of the sort that Marvel is giving us, where the heroes are too busy fighting with each other to do their jobs, and where the bad guys seem far more capable. But it's not what I want to see from my heroes, and it's not really what I want to see from the established Marvel line. (Why couldn't they just use the Ultimate books for such things and leave the original versions a bit more heroic). Add in the price hikes on a lot of Marvel books, the prominence of writers I don't usually care for, and a big event that was essentially a massive set-up for the next big event, and at this point there is little that Marvel can do to get me buying its wares.
The exceptions? One is X-Factor. I'm still buying it only in the collected form, but it's worth the wait. Even with the double demands of Marvel continuity and X-Men continuity, Peter David tells a great story every time out, with a cast I care about, especially Madrox. I suspect that when I get up to the Secret Invasion tie-in, I might be a little put off, but PAD has learned how to handle such intrusions much better than he used to.
The other is Ultimate Spider-Man. I've never actually bought an issue of it, as for three years early on it was online for free at Marvel's website, and as currently I can find not just collected story arcs but individual issues in my library. But I can see why it's a best-seller. It's fun. Really. Yes, it gets dark sometimes. Yes, it's written by Brian Michael Bendis, whose other work I cannot stand. Yes, some of the reworked characters fail badly. But there is a sly sense of humor here, and BMB has, for more than 120 issues, developed a modern version of Peter Parker is likable and who is very much the same character we know and love from the original continuity. There are worse ways to get a dose of Spidey than this still-entertaining series.
Meanwhile, I still pay far too much attention to DC. You've seen me scratch my head more than once about Final Crisis. You've seen me note an overall frustration with the company's direction under Dan Didio. What you haven't seen is that there are so many books that should grab me and don't quite do it. They aren't bad comics. But things like Geoff Johns' Action Comics and Green Lantern and Gail Simone's Wonder Woman just don't engage me. Given the writers, they should. Yet something is missing. Call it wonder.
The crazy thing is that for its shortcomings, Grant Morrison's overall work the past year has wonder. Final Crisis might not work at all for me, but at least it's painted on a huge and weird canvas. So was Grant's run on Batman, which didn't make a vast amount of sense but which seemed to be built on the idea that Batman's world is a wild and grotesque and fun place, and that Batman is a hero the likes of which we've never seen. Or would be if we didn't read the last few issues of All-Star Superman and go "wow" at the Man of Steel. Remember that I said nothing I bought made me want to say "Buy It NOW"? That is currently true, but the week that All-Star Superman 10 came out, I was saying it to everyone. Which means that there is still something special within the DC universe.
It's just too bad that the other comics I still buy - Booster Gold, Robin, Detective - seem to lack that wonder as well, though they still engage me. I recommend them, but not with the energy I'd like. I will also say the same for Fables, which has gone from Must Read to Should Read, though the last issue was actually surprising and bodes well.
Outside the Big Two, we lost the Gargoyles books as Disney got greedy and increased the licensing fees beyond what Slave Labor could afford. Greg Weisman promises we will see the rest of the story arcs he started, but only with collected versions of what already came out (so I will have to pay twice for some content). Thus do we lose what were really good and really fun comics. The good news, at least on the Greg Weisman front, is that he plans to write new creator-owned comics for Slave Labor in 2009. Still, it's sad when quality comics end and when fans are left without new canon.
Fans are not, of course, left without Joss Whedon canon, though. If I had to pick one comic I buy every issue as the best of show, it's Buffy. Of late, it hasn't been quite as good as the recent Fray arc was a little flat, but Joss and his cadre of writers are having a ball and I will say that if nothing else, things are never predictable. The same goes for Angel, which is a lot darker and has only one additional writer and does seem to be stretching things out too much, but which is as true to the original show as is Buffy. If only Joss would stop the gratuitous deaths. But he's Joss.
And that's my personal buying year in review. Yes, there are things I have read that were good that I don't mention...all those TPBs I have found in the library, and a few current series I plan to get later in collected form. Yes, there are a lot of good things out there. But it doesn't seem like it once did. It seems like it's all about selling the next event, about the next unnecessary death, about getting in the papers instead of getting the story right. Never mind that fandom on the Internet is snide and rude and seems determined to ruin everyone else's fun.
And so I end 2008 wondering about the fate of the super-hero comic (and genre comics overall). But even with things the way they are, I am not giving up. Maybe the next great comic is just around the corner. Maybe it's the return of Barry Allen, or JMS writing for DC, or something we didn't expect at all. Maybe Brian K. Vaughan will announce his next project, or Neil Gaiman's Batman two-parter will be really good. Maybe we'll even find that the fate of Batman and Gotham City will not be a mass of cliches. Am I being too optimistic? Maybe. Check back with me in a year.
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(no subject)
Date: Dec. 31st, 2008 04:11 pm (UTC)Thank you for this lovely long analysis.
(no subject)
Date: Dec. 31st, 2008 06:32 pm (UTC)I loved All-Star Superman, love Action Comics when Gary Frank is drawing it, Booster Gold is pretty good and has fun with time travel, Jonah Hex is a title with the same writing team and variety of guest-artists.
On the Marvel side of the fence, I pick up Captain America, Ultimate Spider-Man (miss Bagley, but Immonen is growing on me), Marvel Zombies 3, etc. The price hike to $3.99 will have me cutting back on their output, and focusing on back issues.
From IDW, I'm picking up Doctor Who: The Forgotten
(no subject)
Date: Dec. 31st, 2008 06:36 pm (UTC)I was into Cap till his death. I don't like Bucky that much, and I felt that killing Cap served no real purpose.