The irony is that an event got me back into comics in the first place: The Death of Superman.
No, what bothers me is that some of the best, most well-known stories that are always high on people's recommendations...are not giant crossover events. The stuff that's actually sold in the long-term have been stuff that's mostly (or entirely) self-contained, sometimes even free of continuity in general. Batman: Year One, Dark Knight Returns, Long Halloween, All Star Superman, etc. Hell, look at all of Alan Moore's stuff. Swamp Thing, Watchmen, etc. Grant Morrison's run on Animal Man. James Robinson's Starman. Even if they reference events or even if it's an ongoing title that's in the middle of events (Brubaker's run on Captain America), they can still be read on their own without interruption.
The average reader picks up trades because they want just a full story. Doing these stupid events where not only does it change within six months so it doesn't matter, but where you need to read half a dozen other titles just to understand the full story is ridiculous.
Idiot fanboys who eat up this crap out of some psychological, Pokemon-like need to "get it all" is what's selling these comics. That's why comics are struggling: because the average person can't say "Huh, I want a good Superman story" and can't just pick up a random Superman issue because there's stupid amounts of continuity.
The problem is: continuity means crap. New creative teams ignore previous ones. Deaths are forgotten. Changes are forgotten. When they're not forgotten, someone just hits the reset button (this new DC, Crisis, Spider-Man's One More Day).
Yet, the stuff most enjoyed and recommended are the self-contained stuff that simply tells a story with a clear beginning and end. No spin-offs or crossovers (some sequels, like Long Halloween's Dark Victory) where you need to buy twenty other books to understand it. I'm not talking about an event that pops the sales chart for a month. I'm talking about long-term longevity where you the casual reader can pick up a book in the bookstore and go "Huh! This looks interesting!" without needing to buy six other books to get the full story.
The funniest thing is, as I mentioned at the beginning, The Death of Superman was what got me back into comics. Hell, it even had a brief crossover with the Justice League. But I read the trade, which got the whole story in one volume. Someone could still, today, read the Death, Funeral and Return trades and feel satisfied without being confused.
What maddens me the most is that, while these giant, mainstream mythological characters get all this goddamn spotlight, there's dozens (if not more) of comics out there that are so much better. They're creator-owned, self-contained and much more accessible. Invincible, Chew, Atomic Robo, Kabuki, Elephantmen, Northlanders, DMZ, Queen & Country, Fables, Y: The Last Man, Godland, The Unwritten, Criminal, Sleeper, Incognito, Walking Dead (though the TV series has REALLY given this a boost), Sweet Tooth, Astro City, The Goon, Parker. Cripes, the list goes on and on. These are seriously some of the absolute BEST comics out there, both in terms of writing and art, and yet this rebooted, mainstream crap gets the news just because it's DC hitting the reset button...again.
They did this in the 80s, already, after Crisis on Infinite Worlds. Silver Age elements and extended Superman and Batman families were wiped clean from existence. Yet, eventually, we got Supergirl, Superboy, Krypto, Batwoman, etc, all back. And it's going to happen again. Which means NONE OF THIS SHIT MATTERS.
Sorry for the rant (call it nerd rage if you will), but I'm just tired of it.
