Marvel and DC Crossovers

If there is one thing that comic publishers like to do it is hold mega-crossovers. Why? Money. People buy lots of comics to get the whole story. This can cost almost $100. Why are we spending this much? Is it worth it? No.

DC Crossovers. The half-stories.
Let me explain that subtitle to you. DC advertises that all of these books tie into Death of the Family, yet when one reads them they only get 2 or 3 pages of story about Joker. DC sucks us into a trap of thinking that we need to read these, don't let them! One thing that is especially hard for me is dropping subscriptions. Shortening my Pull-List isn't easy because every time I read a lousy issue I just think "Maybe next issue will be better." Spoiler alert. It isn't. No matter what title, if the first tie-in is bad the second will be complete crap too. This takes $2.5 dollars out of future comic buying endeavors. We should no longer submit to this torment, here is my advice. Stick to 2 or 3 tie-ins that you think will be great. If they don't meet your expectations, drop it. Now I just have to try that...

Marvel Crossovers. The core driven events.
Marvel has one thing that DC will never catch onto, core-issues. In AvX the were the Avenger Vs. X-Men issues, in Civil War there were Civil War issues, now in Age of Ultron there are Age of Ultron issues. Why does Marvel do this? For readers who weren't planning on reading the storyline to go "Hey I might wanna just read the core-issues and no tie-ins." Now the reader is sucked in. Enter ads for tie-ins. Now the reader wants to know everything about the storyline because the core-issues are just so good. The reader is now caught in a web different from DC's but equally as deadly.

I hope you have learned a little about the buying habits of us comic readers when faced with a succulent looking crossover. I hope I have inspired you to be less willing to purchase a whole event, be it Marvel or DC. I also hope that I can practice what I preach and not buy everything that has the words "Age of Ultron" on it...But they just look so good.

3/6/13

This week was the first week that I felt that I was really a Marvel fan, instead of a DC fan who got a Marvel book here and there. My Pull-List was four-fifths Marvel. Let me also say, that this week was a phenomenal week for comics.

• All-New X-Men #8

What a truly wonderful story arc. rarely do I find a comic series that has such a surprisingly strange conceit that turns out to be entertaining and understandable. The issue starts of with Archangel and his past self flying around and trying to grasp the fact that they are actually meeting each other. It was a touching and human moment. This moment didn't last long as the Angels fly over to Avengers Tower where Hydra's troops are burning the building to the ground. They work together to stop the destructive forces until Thor comes and bails them out. The Avengers part in this issue was brief and consisted of Cap and Beast talking behind the X-Men's backs while Iceman and Kitty Pryde try to guess exactly what the pair are saying. This turns out to be a funny and clever scene. I will not ruin the last part of the issue for those who are yet to read it but will end with saying that it was a terrific issue.

• Age of Ultron #1

I bought this book on a whim. The cover looked awesome and if it was going to be a big deal I didn't want to miss it. It is a big deal. This was the only post-apocalyptic comic I have ever enjoyed. Even though Hawkeye is a pretty dull character he was portrayed perfectly and the fight scene was amazing. This whole book just screamed bleak. It was so pathetic to see what humanity had become with this Android takeover. The dialogue between the survivors, who were well selected except for Tony Stark who would in reality be the first to go, was really natural, and again, super bleak. I am super pumped for #2.

• Deadpool Killustrated #1 (second printing)

As soon as I saw the cover of this issue a month a go I was sure I wanted it. Too bad that the comic store had already sold out. The wait for the second printing has been grueling, but it was so worth it. This really shows Deadpool at his funniest. As he fights Moby Dick he just spits out one-liners making the scene just that much more ridiculous. I really liked how this issue summed up everything that I missed from Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe in only a couple pages. Deadpool has an awesome encounter with a character whom he dispatches with haste, I won't spoil who though.

• Deadpool Killustrated #2

I think that the other of this book just wants Deadpool to fight as many people as possible in the allotted pages. He finishes of Moby Dick, Dracula, The Headless Horseman, and my favorite, Little Women. He kills all of these fictional beings in only the funniest ways. The plot is also great with Sherlock Holmes thinking about how he might stop the Merc with a Mouth before he hurts the time continuum beyond repair. This is one of my favorite books in print and I am looking forwards to next month.

• Before Watchmen: Rorschach #4 of 4

I can't write a full review about this comic because I didn't understand a page of it. It was awful.

Why Marvel Can Change the Universe and DC Can't

From my brief knowledge of Marvel Comics I have noticed one thing in particular. They like to change the universe, a lot. Take for example Civil War a giant mega-crossover that changed the course of every series it touched. My argument here is not that this kind of strategy is a bad thing, just that is a pain in the ass to catch up on. I haven't been reading Marvel for hundreds of years so I don't know what they mean when they mention a reference from Secret Invasion in a Marvel NOW series. I don't think that this is fair for anyone who wants to read a quality comic without having to buy every single comic that preceded it. I am however, enjoying how most have the Marvel NOW series have been based off of AvsX. I am not saying that AvsX was at all decent (it wasn't.) It's just kind of neat to see how the X-Men are dealing with Scott Summer's being so changed. That being said I don't think they should stop putting out big Marvel events (Mostly because I want to be able to read them as they come out, now that I have a better sense of the Marvel Universe.) I just think that Marvel should think through what will happen before they write the story. I say this because now with Marvel it seems like all of the writers who are writing about the aftermath of AvsX have to compensate for their co-workers lame story by writing about something that was minor but interesting in the event.
This is a problem that only Marvel has to deal with (Enter DC Comics.) It seems as though DC is scared to ever change anything in their universe. What was their latest event? Flashpoint? All we got from that was an origin reboot. If anything I would have DC do a what-if story. Take Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe even though I haven't read it, it seems like a fun story that would never actually happen but is cool to read about. May I suggest Lord Grayson, an alternate universe where Dick gets so drunk on power when he is Batman that he decides to kill Bruce when he returns and disbands the Justice League, making him the king. And what if Jason then challenged him for the throne? The main question is why not?
What I want to summarize about this post is two things. Marvel is too ambitious and needs to work on the actual content of their mega-events and DC needs to be more ambitious and throw a curveball sometimes. Please tell me what you think about it and if a Lord Grayson storyline is a good idea.

Marvel Digital Attempts

As I begin to explore the world of Marvel I am loaned a bag of comics from a Marvel fan who wants me to read some Marvel NOW materiel. Being an owner of a tablet if I enter the digital code into my computer so they will be with me if I have my tablet. Aside from being a very convenient way to read comics it is a very good way to be able to loan comics to friends. If I share my password with anyone they can all read the same comic without having to pay $4.00. This way I can acquire many comics without having to spend the amount I would have to pay without the digital comics. I feel that this is an extremely beneficial perk but just don't see how it could possibly work with Marvel's business model, if the goal is to sell more copies why are they giving a free one away with every purchase? I will continue to enjoy and use this great app.

With the borrowed comics aforementioned in this post I began spotting the Marvel AR emblem which I have never payed much attention to. Using my IPod Touch I downloaded the app passing a suspicious 2 and a half star rating. My first attempt with this app was on Thor: God of Thunder #3 on an awesome picture of Thor riding a bloody horse. The app gave very few directions on how to use the almost empty interface and when I finally figured out how to work it the whole thing just refused to work. So, I was standing over my comic double-tapping the screen repeatedly (capture image button maybe?) and yet nothing was happening. Despite all of the negativity and bad reviews of this app I was pretty excited to see an image of Thor floating in my bedroom, because that's what AR is anyways, right? Wrong. Once the image was finally done loading the screen showed a black and white image of the panel in front of me. At the slowest possible speed the screen scrolls down the page of the same comic I was just looking at and slowly gains color. Already bored to death I am appalled when the app stalls and freezes. Upset but still optimistic, I give the app another try on a different panel. This time it shows me a barely understandable video of the illustrator waving around a toy Thor hammer and giving me advice on how to smell like a Viking. This app is clearly a waste of time and a failed attempt at a fairly interesting concept.