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Andrew Bitner
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 7512
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| Posted: 15 January 2015 at 8:24am | IP Logged | 1
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DC and Marvel seem to have adopted the same notion: every comic story has to lead into some universe-threatening danger. There's no more "gotta stop that bank robber" or "time to tangle with the Absorbing Man"-- no, every story is lead in, tie in or exit from whatever is going to end the world. It's exhausting. And by ratcheting up the danger over and over, it leads to event fatigue. I'm about ready to drop out of the Apocalyptic Age of comics.
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Bill Guerra
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 29 March 2012
Location: United States
Posts: 1069
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| Posted: 15 January 2015 at 8:30am | IP Logged | 2
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I already left Marvel and DC behind and pretty much just read Valiant for this very reason.
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Thad Studebaker
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1113
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| Posted: 15 January 2015 at 8:53am | IP Logged | 3
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This is what led me to leave comics behind last summer. It wasn't a conscious decision to just one day stop, I simply realized that it had been several weeks since I last picked up my stack of books from my local comics shop. Most of those went unread. I went back one last time to pick up what I had on order and only read a few of those. A few weeks after that I finally told my dealer to cancel my orders.
Thinking back on it, ORIGINAL SIN was the title that finally broke the stranglehold I had allowed Marvel to put me in. It was a long time coming. The general feeling that the comics were no longer for me probably began with Avengers Disassembled and cascaded from there. CIVIL WAR was, in my opinion, the worst offender. Seemingly monthly news of the "death" of a major character was getting old. Wolverine was the latest example that also added to my growing distaste.
Every now and then I will do a search just to see what is going on with my favorite characters. I see that I'm not really missing anything.
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Paul Simpson Simpson
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 07 April 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 939
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| Posted: 15 January 2015 at 8:59am | IP Logged | 4
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I'm down to Walking Dead,and any Byrne stuff.I buy alot of Twomorrows stuff. I'm going to give the new Star Wars and Darth Vader comics a chance.Something tells me I'm going to miss Dark Horse.Those will be the first Marvels I've bought in at over a decade.
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Robbie Parry
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 June 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 12186
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| Posted: 15 January 2015 at 9:13am | IP Logged | 5
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I agree with Andrew's opening comments.
It does lead to fatigue. It's tiring. And apart from that, it's expensive. Now and again, it might be nice to just spend a couple of quid on ONE issue.
By having issues tied into big events, it gets boring.
I often talk about parallels between comics and US wrestling (specifically WWE). Almost everything WWE produces leads into the monthly PPV events. Similar with comics. Where are the solo stories? In recent years, the only titles that seem to do one-shot stories are the titles directed at very young readers. Everything else is tied into the big stuff.
It's boring. Also, each event is no longer special. It's like having Xmas Day once a month. Instead of something that occurs once a year, and which a lot of people look forward to, Xmas Day would be every month and people would soon be fed up with it. In my ideal world, there'd be events once every 3-4 years. It'd be something to look forward to.
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Philippe Negrin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 August 2007
Location: France
Posts: 2644
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| Posted: 15 January 2015 at 9:53am | IP Logged | 6
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or the No-Buy age
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Andrew Bitner
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 7512
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| Posted: 15 January 2015 at 10:08am | IP Logged | 7
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Thanks for pointing to Valiant, Bill, though it is starting to have its share of crossovers and high-stakes storytelling as well. It's just not quite at the "oh my God, it's Wednesday so it's time to end the world again" stage. My contenders for leading publishers fighting the trend would include IDW. They publish a pretty wide range of stuff and I don't feel wrung out after I read their output.
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Brian J Nelson
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 August 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 365
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| Posted: 15 January 2015 at 10:46am | IP Logged | 8
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I have had conversations about this. There is just no room for Stilt-Man in today's comic books. Heroes are constantly leveled up in terms of their power and in terms of the big boss they must go against. In many ways it is the video game model. In any single game, the levels don't get easier. Its also similar to what can cause many RPG groups to disband as groups become so powerful, there is nothing left to do.
I will admit, this is one of the reasons I am in favor of retiring characters periodically and allowing new characters to take on the legacy. As a little kid, I loved Green Lantern. I thought he had a great uniform and the power ring was awesome. As I got to be teenager, I wasn't so interested in Hal. But Kyle Raynor grabbed me as a character and I came back. I loved the idea of a character who didn't know everything and wasn't perfect and had to figure out how to be a superhero. I like the idea of letting characters ride off into the sunset (they can always come back for a visit) and making room for a new crowd to come in and engage people.
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Steven Legge
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Joined: 28 July 2012
Location: Canada
Posts: 866
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| Posted: 15 January 2015 at 11:08am | IP Logged | 9
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It's not just comic books. TV and movies are all on the same path.
I guess they figured that since effects can do anything, then why not raise the stakes for the protagonists? Unfortunately, the stakes can only be raised so far and then it's the same thing over and over. And "cool" effects aside, it gets boring real fast.
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Steve De Young
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Joined: 01 April 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 3494
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| Posted: 15 January 2015 at 11:09am | IP Logged | 10
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I often talk about parallels between comics and US wrestling (specifically WWE). Almost everything WWE produces leads into the monthly PPV events.
-------------------------------
I wish I could get Marvel's monthly 'events' for $9.99.
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Brad Krawchuk
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Joined: 19 June 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 5819
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| Posted: 15 January 2015 at 11:28am | IP Logged | 11
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I collect a lot of IDW and Archie licensed books (it's how I see beloved characters from my childhood treated with respect), I buy some independent stuff, and I collect all of Valiant's books.
Does Valiant do a lot of crossovers and events? They're starting to, I'll admit. But... they limit their entire line, month in and month out, to about 10 books including mini-series. So I can collect an entire universe worth of books and still be paying less month to month than collecting one event from Marvel or DC. Heck, Marvel and DC sometimes have 5 books from a single series come out when they do that weekly thing for their events. At least with Valiant I know that I'm not going to have to buy 3x the amount of books I'd normally buy to get a story.
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Robbie Parry
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Joined: 17 June 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 12186
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| Posted: 15 January 2015 at 11:32am | IP Logged | 12
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Unfortunately, the stakes can only be raised so far and then it's the same thing over and over.
***
Indeed.
What's wrong with low-key, anyway? Was every issue of vintage titles earth-shattering? No! But they were enjoyable. Let's have routine Batman taking down bank robbers stories or a one-shot tale where Spider-Man tracks Scorpion across town. Not everything needs to be earth-shattering and involving 20 books and 3 months of stories.
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