| Posted: 25 March 2016 at 7:40am | IP Logged | 10
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So, of course, he loved the "multiverse," which was the ultimate "de-uniquing" of all the characters.
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What I don't like about the "multiverse" concept is that it sort of takes away from adventures I've read about.
What I mean is this: I use the Spider-Man/Transformers crossover as an example. When that happened, I thought it was cool that two of my then-favourite franchises were sharing space. Good! But then years later, I'm told that that particular adventure took place on Earth-whatever-the-hell designation!
No mind, at least Superman and Spider-Man once shared an adventure. That's cool, too. But apparently that took place on a different Earth with a different designation.
It doesn't really detract, if I'm honest. I will never forget discovering that Superman/Spider-Man crossover (the second one) for the first time simply by walking into a railway station store. I didn't even know it existed until I saw it. So I'll always have that enjoyment, just like I did with the other DC/Marvel crossovers. But why was there a need to start designating separate earths for the crossovers with Transformers, Godzilla, etc.
One thing I really like about the shared earth approach is the dialogue it led to. I am not interested in talk of multiverses and barriers between universes. On a shared earth, it allows for comments (maybe paraphrasing here) such as Spider-Man saying, "I always thought Superman was overrated and now I know he is" or Batman saying, "I had a file on the Hulk in my Batcave." Such comments were a little awe-inspiring, it validated the fact that it was all taking place on a shared earth.
Incidentally, the most bizarre comment I came across, pertaining to the Spider-Man/Transformers crossover, came from a pedantic fan I knew. He said something like this: "It makes no sense to have giant robots in the Marvel Universe, why haven't the likes of Jonah Jameson, General Ross or superheroes mentioned them before?" This was nutty, in my view. Are we privy to EVERY conversation a character has? No. I found it acceptable to have Transformers in the same world as Spider-Man. How do we know that, off-panel, Spider-Man or Jameson or Bruce Banner hadn't commented on the Transformers? It sounds like over-thinking to me.
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