Watchmen -- the earlier Squadron Supreme story told the same tale and did it better -- the only reason this story was so popular, and the only reason it eclipsed the Squadron Supreme story, and the reason it has endured is the undeniable attraction of the cutely benign, iconic yellow smiley with the bloody bullet hole in its forehead.  Reason it didn't need to be told:  This marked the TRUE beginning of the "deconstruction for fun and profit" trend.  Darwyn Cooke's DC: The New Frontier was a much, MUCH stronger story than Watchmen, but nobody even seemed to notice because despite the fact that it told a DAMN good story, it lacked the inherent kewlness of a bloody smiley -- proof positive that there is no accounting for taste.

I'll take exception to this as well. John, don't take it personal. This is revisionist claptrap more or less, distancing from the truth of the matter about WATCHMEN and its impact on comics. I believe firmly that comics needed WATCHMEN, and DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. Comics as an art form had to have the ability, the right, to tell these stories. You cannot blame the sickening disintegration of the comic book on those books. You blame the heartless pandering to the fans and the loss of integrity within the medium as a result of factors much larger than telling a great, adult superhero story.

I would even go as far as to say it is criminal that Alan Moore be blamed entirely for the results when Frank Miller is assuredly more at fault. Moore was working (purposely) with characters that no one aside from the most loyal Charlton fans would remember (for that matter, forgotten heroes like Swamp Thing as well...who ever would have cared about Swamp Thing again, if not for Moore?), while Miller was working with one of three or four most iconic characters is the history of the medium, reaching a far larger audience because of it. Regardless, Moore and Miller are geniuses and their work isn't something to be sneered at twenty years later, typical of our throwaway culture.

I bought the Absolute Edition of WATCHMEN and I can say conclusively that it is a great superhero story. As if NEW FRONTIER, as is DARK KNIGHT RETURNS.

However, I defy anyone to tell me that James Robinson and Paul Smith's GOLDEN AGE is not a more realistic, fascinating, logiocal superhero story, involving a massive cast and yet allowing every single character their moment, encompassing their entire "lives" in no more than a couple or even one panel. To me, GOLDEN AGE told a seminal story within comic book history, but one reaching hyperreal heights, something none of these other works accomplished.

Siblings are different. Coincidentally, my housekeeper was here today and mentioned her brother and her sister. This was the first time she had mentioned either. Previously, I had no idea she had siblings. But that's real life, and the "rules" of real life are different from those of fiction. In fiction, if a previously unknown sibling is to be introduced, it better be done with caution.

Give us some examples of what you think are "traditional Marvel comics".

But it is a terrible superhero story.

But it is a terrible superhero story.

Why?

Shaman and Talisman are bad examples of taking a side point against JB.  He created both characters, and therefore, whatever he does with them is right.

Adding unknown siblings to other persons' creations is wrong, as they were not created that way, and probably not intended to be used in whatever new way the writer that added the sibling plans.

As for Brubaker, you want to write Captain America, write Captain America, not someone else in his costume.

I was reading Winter Soldier and enjoying it until he turned out to be Bucky (instead of Nomad).  Wow.  Real shocker.  Cool. 

Not.

Haven't read an issue since.

And don't get me started on Civil War...

Funniest thing is, I was OK with New Avengers.  I figured as long as it was based around Iron Man & Cap, it was simply the New Avengers, another roster change, no matter what Quesada & Bendis said.  Now, Civil War has destroyed the characters and that book before Bendis even got around to finishing the story he started two years ago.  The hell is that (pun intended)?  Two years and you can't finish the freakin' story?