"Wait, before you get the wrong idea, here's the opposite of what I said earlier!"
[Comics] The "Let's Bitch about Comics thread!"
- Thread starter Yoshimickster
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BananaHands
Staff member
I'm convinced Marvel is just an intern running back and forth between fellating Dan Slott and Brian Michael Bendis.
Where does Nick Spencer fall in all this?
And by fall, I mean into a running wood chipper.
Gee, I wonder why sales are down.
Hmm
Hmmmmmmmm
Hmm
Hmmmmmmmm
Are those all real? Is that a joke?Gee, I wonder why sales are down.
Hmm
Hmmmmmmmm
All real. All of those were comics that got taken over by Civil War II for entire arcs last year, so their trades all got the Civil War II winning brand. That's not counting the single issue tie-ins for other comics, the mini-series that branched off of Civil War II, the main event, or the extra one-shots.
Marvel went all-in for an unpopular, dismal event. But no, it's the women that have cost them.
And this is all before IvX and Monsters Unleashed--we've already had two more events since Civil War II. Then there's the flagging new series that, despite Marvel's addage "Because you demanded it!" were entirely unasked for, and how Marvel is making comic book stores suffer by overshipping on underselling books and making the stores pay for the freight, and how they look to be making the same mistakes again this summer by roping new series into this next event ...
But no, it's diversity that's killing Marvel. For fucking real.
Jesus Christ, my head hurts just skimming through that list. It's any wonder why I've basically sworn off DC & Marvel. Except for the odd outlier largely unaffected by this nonsense (Omega Men, Hawkeye, Daredevil, Squirrel Girl, Ms Marvel (until Secret Wars)). I used to follow this stuff religiously. Since I stepped away from it for a number of years, it's just confusing as hell and I can't imagine how anyone could follow it and retain any sanity.
I think at this point it comes down to following writers > characters and keeping tabs on industry shit so you don't get blindsided. At this point I'll pretty much read any comic that Dan Abnett writes.
But for the casual reader? No idea. Small wonder that Squirrel Girl gets a load of its sales more in trade form at school book fairs. It's pretty disconnected from the nonsense except to occasionally poke fun at it.
Ms. Marvel has gotten back on track after the election issue. Didn't get involved in IvX and the solicits look like it's staying out of Secret Empire. I'd skip volume 6 if not for the Pakistan stuff. Otherwise that book is safe, even if Kamala herself is off being poorly-written in other books.
But for the casual reader? No idea. Small wonder that Squirrel Girl gets a load of its sales more in trade form at school book fairs. It's pretty disconnected from the nonsense except to occasionally poke fun at it.
Ms. Marvel has gotten back on track after the election issue. Didn't get involved in IvX and the solicits look like it's staying out of Secret Empire. I'd skip volume 6 if not for the Pakistan stuff. Otherwise that book is safe, even if Kamala herself is off being poorly-written in other books.
I just did a long, rambling series of tweets about the events and diversity issue. I don't even know it makes any sense or if I tie the two points together all that well.
So, just like Marvel comics?
ARRRRRGH.
I'm seriously tempted to delete the whole damn thing to save myself from further embarrassment.[DOUBLEPOST=1491149542,1491149189][/DOUBLEPOST]
I deleted the whole thing. The more I re-read it, the less I liked it.
If it makes you feel better, 29 tweets is only, like, two paragraphs in normal formatting.
I'm now caught up on Hydra Cap. I'm both reminded why I dropped Marvel titles a year ago and kicking myself for falling for this again.
And not because of Hydra Cap itself; that's another post entirely. It's because Marvel can't fucking calm down. At least when DC does a crossover now, they just say it's a crossover. Part 1, part 2, etc. Marvel just figures "you should read ALL our stuff!"
So I read Captain America Steve Rogers #14 and Red Skull has taken over Sokovia, and he's demanding to be accepted as a sovereign nation or he'll nuke seven cities.
Next I read #15, and apparently off in some other comic, Red Skull was beaten by a hero team, taken to Hank McCoy, who surgically removes Professor X's brain from Red Skull's, Skull is out in custody, is broken out by his daughter, and returns to Germany.
And I'm reminded of a year ago when I thought it'd be safe to read Spider-Gwen, only for entire mini-events to take place between pages. And even before modern Marvel. Peter David's Hulk vol 3 is almost nonsense because it keeps having to fill the reader in on other comics between issues.
And now I see the wisdom in dropping Marvel as a whole. Because continuing to read comics like Squirrel Girl and Ms. Marvel, where eberything is just in that one title, can trick you into thinking things have gotten better for the rest of Marvel.
But they haven't, and they never will because Marvel thinks the real problem is whether or not Thor has a dorky helmet or Hawkeye has that stupid mask. And now I'm invested and want to see how the story ends, but so many characters have died that I'm pretty sure a cosmic cube is going to completely retcon everything in September, so it might as well have all been a dream. I hope I'm wrong, but like I said, that part is another post in itself.
And not because of Hydra Cap itself; that's another post entirely. It's because Marvel can't fucking calm down. At least when DC does a crossover now, they just say it's a crossover. Part 1, part 2, etc. Marvel just figures "you should read ALL our stuff!"
So I read Captain America Steve Rogers #14 and Red Skull has taken over Sokovia, and he's demanding to be accepted as a sovereign nation or he'll nuke seven cities.
Next I read #15, and apparently off in some other comic, Red Skull was beaten by a hero team, taken to Hank McCoy, who surgically removes Professor X's brain from Red Skull's, Skull is out in custody, is broken out by his daughter, and returns to Germany.
And I'm reminded of a year ago when I thought it'd be safe to read Spider-Gwen, only for entire mini-events to take place between pages. And even before modern Marvel. Peter David's Hulk vol 3 is almost nonsense because it keeps having to fill the reader in on other comics between issues.
And now I see the wisdom in dropping Marvel as a whole. Because continuing to read comics like Squirrel Girl and Ms. Marvel, where eberything is just in that one title, can trick you into thinking things have gotten better for the rest of Marvel.
But they haven't, and they never will because Marvel thinks the real problem is whether or not Thor has a dorky helmet or Hawkeye has that stupid mask. And now I'm invested and want to see how the story ends, but so many characters have died that I'm pretty sure a cosmic cube is going to completely retcon everything in September, so it might as well have all been a dream. I hope I'm wrong, but like I said, that part is another post in itself.
Half of Civil War II takes place between panels in either Hydra Cap #5 or #6. But I didn't mind that because Civil War II sucks.
But maybe everything sucks. :/
I see two things killing Duggan's Guardians of the Galaxy in the near future. One, all the other Guardians books. Two, double shipping $4 title. Marvel says this will be THE cosmic book going forward, but Marvel says a lot of things.
I'm really hoping the writer of Slapstick Infinite doesn't get a sequel, those six issues were torture to my brain as a fan of the original series AND comics in general. SIX ISSUES-of clown bitching about not having a dick, and enough outdated pop-culture jokes to make you puke. Also they kept screwing with his original powers, originally his gloves allowed him to pull stuff from a pocket dimension and change back from human to toon, NOW he pulls stuff from where the fuck ever and can't turn back just because! He was a whacky cartoon hero with a neat sci-fi gimmick, it was fun. Basically its fucking terrible, and I'm glad I didn't pay to read it.
Wish I could get excited about Zdarsky's Spider-man book that starts this week. I'm sure it'll be the best Spider-man has been in many years. My apprehension comes from 1. Marvel being Marvel, and 2. it getting soaked up in a crossover next time Slott decides that's something he wants. Nothing will ever be as bad as the four titles a month for two years crossover of the Clone Saga, but I think I'll always have that wariness about Spider-man comics ... despite that I'm willingly and happily reading a comic that's solely focused on the clones now. *cough*
Okay, something I can bitch about right and proper:
http://www.comicsbeat.com/new-wonder-woman-team-will-focus-on-a-new-man-in-dianas-life/
Was really hoping it'd be Gail Simone after the five issue thing over the summer, but instead it's ... this. James Robinson, dredging up shit from the New 52 while every other series is gleefully retconning away from New 52, often without a story excuse. This is a poor decision and I'm not interested. Guess I'll be dropping Wonder Woman from my pull after #25 next week, which sucks because I'm on such a good kick from the movie right now. Guess that's all the more reason to read the older good stuff I never read before.
I'll still pick up Simone's Wonder Woman/Conan crossover later this year, collaboration between DC and Dark Horse. That sounds like fun.
Okay, something I can bitch about right and proper:
http://www.comicsbeat.com/new-wonder-woman-team-will-focus-on-a-new-man-in-dianas-life/
Was really hoping it'd be Gail Simone after the five issue thing over the summer, but instead it's ... this. James Robinson, dredging up shit from the New 52 while every other series is gleefully retconning away from New 52, often without a story excuse. This is a poor decision and I'm not interested. Guess I'll be dropping Wonder Woman from my pull after #25 next week, which sucks because I'm on such a good kick from the movie right now. Guess that's all the more reason to read the older good stuff I never read before.
I'll still pick up Simone's Wonder Woman/Conan crossover later this year, collaboration between DC and Dark Horse. That sounds like fun.
"Reads Title" SATAN DAMMIT-another fucking love interest?! "Reads Article"...did they have to fucking word it that way? Especially since its her brother.
The article doesn't make it much better. Not caring for who's writing it either.
Apparently DC isn't super thrilled with him either, because he's being hired for six months. That's two stop-gap writers in a row, which tells me they have people they want in mind, but haven't gotten them. It just sucks to have a decision like this, it feels like completely missing the point of Rucka's first two arcs in Rebirth.
I look forward to December when we learn about the March solicits and see who's taking over at #43. I might still read the summer arc just to see how that goes, but after #30, I'm out from Wondy until at least March.
WELL-here's hoping no-one important gets killed off in this clearly limited series.
This writer comes across as someone who's just going to introduce his own cast, so probably a lot of the Wonder Woman mainstays will be safe by not being in the comic for a while.
I haven't kept up with Secret Empire since early May, so any info about it has been coming on whatever waves of reaction cross the internet. The last issue's reverberations focused mainly on Mockingbird's being a Hydra agent, so I guess each issue has to reveal someone is. But that wasn't the end stinger; I didn't hear about that one until today.
Remember a year ago, when Hawkeye killed Bruce Banner?
Well, apparently he's alive now, under lock and key by Hydra Cap. No explanation. So now I feel compelled to keep at least a finger to the pulse of what's happening so I can learn how Marvel fucks over one of my favorites this summer.
Remember a year ago, when Hawkeye killed Bruce Banner?
Well, apparently he's alive now, under lock and key by Hydra Cap. No explanation. So now I feel compelled to keep at least a finger to the pulse of what's happening so I can learn how Marvel fucks over one of my favorites this summer.
I got a headache just reading all of that...not even a complicated paragraph, just the stupidity of it alone assaulting my mental faculties.
They refer to him as "the weapon" so I don't know if this is the real Bruce revived or that Weapon X Thing Marvel teased about, or if it'll even matter.
Almost two months without using this thread, but of course I'm gonna bitch about Marvel again.
They really gotta stop putting only four issues of a run in a book, padding the back end with vaguely related crap, and then selling it as a normal trade. That's some bullshit
They really gotta stop putting only four issues of a run in a book, padding the back end with vaguely related crap, and then selling it as a normal trade. That's some bullshit
Yep. Which is why, even though I'd very much like to buy Ms Marvel, Squirrel Girl, Jason Aaron's Thor, etc, I'll wait until the inevitable Ultimate or Complete Collections.
I think the equivalent is the deluxe editions and omnibuses, but for some reason they still stuff the padding material in those, as if they think people will feel ripped off if the paperbacks have something they don't.
Aaron's Thor is a pain in the ass and I hope they figure out how to collect it together someday. While the deluxe hardcovers are nice and my go-to for getting the series, there's side-stories like the Original Sin tie-in, the Secret Wars tie-in, the Unworthy Thor mini-series, each being part of Aaron's bigger Thor story, but not technically being part of the main series. My shelf currently goes hardcover, hardcover, paperback, hardcover, paperback, hardcover, paperback. So I'm not even sure an omnibus or complete collection will be truly complete just because Aaron seems to want most of his Marvel work to be tied to his grand Thor epic. Which is really cool to read, but not so cool to collect.
To be honest, having read Original Sin recently (it was at the library), Thor's only in it twice. One is "I have a sister!?" and flies off for his mini-series about Angela. The other is the "Nick Fury whispers something" and he loses the hammer. Which IS important, of course, but it's recapped well enough in Jane-Thor's series. Probably Unworthy, too. So it's possible enough to leave that out.
As far as Unworthy Thor, though, they could do like the Brubaker Captain America omnibuses: include both Cap's run when he returned and the Winter Soldier monthly comic that published about the same time. So just publish it in the same volumes as Jane-Thor.
Marvel's pretty good with their Ultimate or Complete collections. I'll hold faith they do it right. I think it'll be a great read from start to finish like that.
I just meant the Original Sin tie-in. I thought all that Angela stuff was going to be pointless fluff, but bringing in the tenth realm is important, and the return of a certain character is HUGE for Jane's time with the hammer. I haven't actually read Original Sin because, like you said, the important stuff gets recapped almost immediately.
I hope you're right about the eventual collections. For now, this is what Thor looks like for me:
Just imagine The Mighty Thor deluxe hardcover (which will have a big 2 on it) wedged between Thors and Unworthy Thor and that's what it'll look like by December.
THAT LOOKS SO WRONG AND I'M SERIOUSLY TEMPTED TO GET HIRED AT MARVEL JUST SO I CAN FIX IT FOR YOU.I just meant the Original Sin tie-in. I thought all that Angela stuff was going to be pointless fluff, but bringing in the tenth realm is important, and the return of a certain character is HUGE for Jane's time with the hammer. I haven't actually read Original Sin because, like you said, the important stuff gets recapped almost immediately.
I hope you're right about the eventual collections. For now, this is what Thor looks like for me:
Just imagine The Mighty Thor deluxe hardcover (which will have a big 2 on it) wedged between Thors and Unworthy Thor and that's what it'll look like by December.
You watch Marvel Legacy is part of this and so I'll have to jam a bag and board past whenever deluxe vol 3 comes out in ... I don't know, maybe 2019.