Anyway, from 2005 until 2011, I dipped into various titles, but I found it all so inaccessible. "Infinite Crisis" here, "Final Crisis" there, it was all so confusing - and I speak as someone who had a rudimentary knowledge of the characters. The same character appeared to be different in different books. It wasn't clear what was canonical and what was apocryphal. All this talk of "Crisis" was off-putting (wasn't CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS supposed to 'rectify' things back in '85?). 

So I gave up. I've bought very few DC titles from 2005 until 2011 (when titles were relaunched/rebooted), unless you count SHOWCASE volumes and back issues. If I, as someone with a long-term fondness for characters, found it inaccessible, then Heaven help someone who may have casually walked into a comic store.

When I picked up titles years ago, and I know we've discussed this issue countless times at the JBF, it was almost always accessible. There'd be recap boxes with the origins of the characters; there'd be a standalone adventure; and there'd be no need for me to read up on "Infinite Eternal Never-ending This-Time-It's Final Crisis". All that was required was to pick up the specific book I casually came across. In England, the books were sold in newsagents, grocers, at railway stations and even in pharmacies (my local pharmacy had a spinner rack of limited titles). 

If I were a kid now, I doubt I'd get into comics (the boring character poses on some titles don't help). There is nothing accessible. Not all comic companies are the same, but most are. Had it been that way back in the early 80s, when I got into comics, I'd have never have found this brilliant and enriching hobby.

As for DC, I don't know what they're like now. Did the reboot in 2011 change things and make it all so accessible? I have no idea, but from the time I picked up SUPERMAN #204 until about 2010, it was all so daunting. Who wants to do homework or buy six "This-Time-It's-Really-Final Crisis" trade paperbacks? It all dawned on me when, years ago, a friend of mine wanted to get back into the comic hobby and his question was, "Where do I do my homework? Can you bring me up to speed on the CRISIS and ZERO HOUR events?"

Any views on this, folks?

Any views on this, folks?

***

Forcing a reader to pay attention to continuity or have to do "homework" is one of the biggest mistakes Marvel and DC have made over the past few decades. Had comics been like they are now when I was a kid, I doubt I would have gotten interested in them.

Continuity should be optional. What I mean is: every issue should be understandable by someone who hasn't read that title before. Sure, subplots are fine, but they shouldn't interfere with the reader's ability to feel like they've bought something that can be enjoyed without having to buy anything else or, even worse, look up information on the internet.

When I discovered comics, around the age of 8 (Marvel first, DC a little later), I was able to pick up my first issues of many titles and get a great story out of that one book. I never once felt like there were pieces missing from the experience. There was a certain completeness to each issue, regardless of whether it was part of a longer, serialized story. Now it was also obvious to me that there was history behind these characters. I learned very quickly that there were over 200 issues of Amazing Spider-Man, for example, that came before the first one I read. I learned that there had been a team of X-Men before Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, etc. I knew that the then-current Avengers were not the originals and that many other characters had been there first. I found out that there were fifty years of Superman and Batman stories before I discovered those characters. What those bits of knowledge did was make me hungry for more. But that hunger was never a forced starvation. In other words, there was more out there if  wanted it, which I decided I did...but I never felt that the publishers were forcing me to go out and find back issues or read OHOTMU or The Marvel Saga to find out what had happened before my first issue of each title.

That's how it should be. One should have the option to read the current issues without spending extra money or doing homework. If the stories are told well and the comics are entertaining, I think enough fans will WANT to learn more. But forcing them is a turn-off. This would be especially important if (and sadly they're not anymore) the publishers were going after new, younger readers. But even to this older fan, making us do homework just makes me less likely to buy the current comics.

Buying and reading a comic book should be an entertainment choice. Pay for it, enjoy it, and that's it. Yes, some fans make a more complicated hobby out of it, collecting every issue, learning all the trivia and history. I was one of those more hardcore fans for many years, though I'm not anymore, but that should not be the only option for how to enjoy Marvel or DC's comics.

***

I just have visions of "Extremely Final Crisis" in 2020. You read it here first. :)