Comic Series I Stayed With Too Long

I think a common complaint from long time comic readers is that at some point in time, they find themselves buying a comic series that they no longer enjoy. I hear this sentiment echoed on podcasts presently, and it has been true for me at several points in my history with comics. Here are a couple of examples of comic runs I continued with, but really should have dropped.

First up - from the Bronze Age: Marvel's Werewolf By Night

What happened was I was a huge fan of the Mike Ploog era of this series. I also have a soft spot for horror/adventure stories that feature characters that don't fall in the standard mold. So, initially, I found a lot to like with WBN. Ploog's stylistic storytelling approach was just a huge bonus.

Unfortunately, after Ploog left, I think the series started to stray from its creepy core. By the time Moon Knight showed up, I was pretty bored with the series and was just buying it out of habit.

But I hung in till the bitter end...

Looking back, I can excuse this by remembering that I was more of a completist when I was younger. Also, most Marvel and DC were less inclined to shift from their thematic axis as WBN had. Marvel Team Up at issue 98 was pretty much the same as any other Marvel Team Up prior to it. The gradual tone shift in stories sort of snuck up on me.

I took a break from most mainstream comics around this time, delving into more of the independent publishers that were cropping up (Comico, First and Dark Horse being the main ones I was reading at this time.) The one mainstream DC series I managed to follow during this time period was the Giffen/Levitz Legion of Superheroes. I dropped off a bit around the Late 80's (it was probably the continuity mess caused by Crisis on Infinite Earths which caused me to lose interest in the series.) However, when I heard about the premise of the 5 Years Later story line I jumped back in the game. It was just the thing for a lapsed DC fan like me.

Those first few years of the 5YL stories were amazing. I didn't always understand some of the references or know who the characters were, but my experience with the more mature stories in Independent comics had taught me not to worry about such things.

Alas, after a few years of stories where you reveal just how much everything has changed, you sort of run out of stuff to show changed, and end up with generic superhero stories. And the solution to this problem (introducing the SW6 batch of LSH Silver Age duplicates) was not way to solve the problem, imo.

Still, I hung in there with this series, buying all the issues right up until they decided to reboot the Legion with Zero Hour. After the Zero Hour reboot, the Legion has never really regained its prominence in the comics market. At one time, LSH was a huge seller, but countless attempts to reboot it back into relevance have just resulted in skeptical old school fans like myself and apathetic younger fans who are intimidated by the history of the series.

Finally, the most recent series I just couldn't stop buying was the 2000's era JLA. Like most comic fandom, I loved the Grant Morrison and Howard Porter's run on the book:

...but the series quickly lost steam after Morrison left (despite a few good stories by other writers.) I think the problem here was, Morrison was telling huge, fantastic stories that the JLA happened to appear in. Other writers tried to tell big stories with the JLA. They sort of begin the project with a handicap off the bat so to speak. I remember barely being able to get through some of the later storylines (Busiek's Crime Syndicate storyline being a real chore for me iirc.) By the time Byrne and Clairemont had a shot on the series, I was well and done. I remember liking their arc on principle but not on merit.

 

So, what about you? Have there been any series you just kept buying long after you stopped enjoying them?

- Jim

Paul Kirk Manhunter 100 Page Super Spectacular

Continuing my series of Lost 100 Pager Super Spectaculars from the 70's, I present this edition featuring the Archie Goodwin, Walt Simonson version of Paul Kirk, Manhunter.

The main artwork was created by the incredibly talented Jan "Reno" Maniquis, a name some regular visitors may recognize as Reno is a longstanding commenter on the FBU. In order to get the illustration to fit in my 100 Pager format, I had to crop it in such a way that some of the cool details Reno provided are missing, so below, I present the uncropped version for everyone to enjoy. (Click to enlarge)

 You can check out more of Reno's art at his website: http://capsulezone.wordpress.com/

As we were working on this art, Reno picked the Irv Novick version of Talia's costume to use for this illustration - a costume I only vaguely remembered. I tend to think of Talia as always dressed as she was on the cover of Detective 444 (another 100 Pager). I think Reno's choice was the better selection as purple costume has a more Eastern flair.

As to why I chose Paul Kirk, Manhunter for a 100 pager - I must admit to wanting to read more of his adventures. I've talked about my love for that series before, but it's far better that he remain dead. I don't think the current editorial climate at DC is quite the right place for a comic like the old Archie Goodwin, Walt Simonson Manhunter.

On the flipside, I will say that Dynamite's current The Shadow series has done a good job of capturing some of the old Bronze Age Manhunter feel. While the artwork is not as exciting as Simonson's, the exotic locales and intrigue often remind of what I enjoyed so much in the old Manhunter stories.


Feel free to post a suggestion for another Lost 100 Pager in the comments section!

- Jim

I Can Prove It With Charts!

Last week Diamond released their list of the Top 500 Graphic novels sold in 2012 which resulted in a lot of commentary about what a bad job Marvel is doing in the book market (considering how successful their movies are.)

While several commentators had good analysis on the numbers, I felt the data could have been sliced up a bit better in some cases, so today, I've got charts galore doing just that.

First up - DC Trade sales vs Marvel Trade Sales



As you can see, DC leads the way pretty much 2 to 1 ahead of Marvel in the Graphic Novel market.

Now, is that all Watchmen and Kingdom Come trades flying off the shelves you ask? Well this next chart shows the breakdown between old stuff and new content.

For DC, Reprinted material is a clear winner. Not so much for Marvel. I think that can be attributed to two things. One, DC does a much better job keeping their old stuff available for reprinting. Marvel tends to let books go out of print at the drop of a hat. Also, DC has a broader base of material to reprint (Covering Golden Age to Vertigo)

Which begs the question: How important is Vertigo in the scheme of things? I've always been one of those people who sort of felt Vertigo lost its relevance when Sandman stopped coming out on a regular basis. Looks like I was pretty well wrong.



As it turns out - Vertigo Graphic Novels make up over 12% of all Graphic Novel sales at DC. That's a good bit higher than I would have thought.

Still, it's easy to see that Superhero Graphic Novels are the bread and butter, so which of those are selling the best? The answer might surprise you:



Looking at this chart, I'm struck at the huge disparity between Superman and Batman! Now some people might say that can be due in part to Batman having had several successful movies in the last decade. However, why isn't the same true for The Avengers?

I'm also impressed to see the X-men brand remaining so vital in the Graphic Novel market as it languished in the comic market (until the recent Marvel Now revamp.) What is also interesting is just how close the smaller guys all are. The X-men are the only other group with a two digit percentage point and even they aren't out of the teens.

Finally, in comic shops, the dominant sales strategy is Events. But how does that play out in the trades? Not too good it would appear!



This was another one that sort of surprised me, as I think I would have said Event trades probably sold as well as non-event trades, but that's clearly not the case. Apparently the trade market is much less enamored with events than the Wednesday Comic Shop crowds.

Looking at all this, I can't help but think that 2013 will bring some big shakeup in the Marvel Trades publishing side.

- Jim

Spinning the Web of Tedium

Editor's Note: Last Week, Dan Slott raised the ire of many long time Spider-man fans by seemingly killing off Peter Parker. Matt Linkous today explains why fans got mad for the wrong reason. - Jim

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You know even as much as we love the Bronze and the Golden ages here at FBU we like to think that we're not entirely opposed to what modern comics do so much as expressing some disatisfaction with the overall direction the industry and the genre has moved in over the years. We often point out what we feel are some of the inherent problems with it. I guess you could say we at least TRY to keep an open mind. Not always easy for us we admit, but we try.

Then something like Amazing Spider-Man 700 happens.

..yeah.

So, Spidey fans are currently getting Deathjerked. Again. Here we go round and round with same cheapheat gimmicks and grimdark that is turning this genre into an ongoing exercise in joylessness. Now Spider-Man's nemesis is wearing his body like a cheap suit so he can go around being the asshole version. You gotta love how the “everyman” thing always gets trotted out as the defense for this kind of stuff no matter how outlandish it is. Peter Parker is "us" therefore it makes it complete sense that Norman Osborn had sex with Gwen Stacy or Peter makes a deal with the devil. The everyman experience! In other words, it really seems like the everyman thing is Marvel's coded excuse to crap on the characters head in whatever way they feel like it no matter the long term consequences. So long as there's the short-term sales fluff.

There's also something else, it's a body swap plot! This is something that would be tepid for even a single issue story let alone as the next multi-part event gimmick meant to be drawn out for god knows how long (probably the next movie I would imagine). Also on a very basic level why would anyone reading Spidey's book want to spend a year reading about Doc Ock in Peter's body? Where does this even come from? It's only function is to service the death and return gimmick without having to do a replacement characterlike Azbats or Bucky Cap. How do we take Spidey out for a year without taking him out of a year? Ah hah! But it still boils down to the same thing.

Seriously how many more times do people who enjoy a time-honored hero like Spider-Man have to endure this long, tedious cycle? If every single popular superhero gets the big bloated death/return event it cheapens the very concept of death itself. In the process it makes that characters back story convoluted to a degree that is ridiculous even by the fantastic standards of comics and the dream logic superheroes ideally work on. "Oh, then there was the time he was dead. No the other time. But that was long after the time he became a giant spider and gave birth to himself."

Besides, if the creators working on Spider-Man are that tired of writing Peter Parker then maybe it’s time to change the creative team instead of the protagonist? Or even create a new hero entirely?

Amazing Spider-Man 700 is really the kind of insulting thing that makes a reader feel like  
Well, clearly Marvel doesn't respect or give a damn what they do with Spidey in his book so really why should I?"

..and why should you? When you don't like a storyline, do not buy it. I cannot stress that enough. Except the hard part about that is even when you decide not to buy the book the love for the character remains. I also realize that in the era of advanced ordering it's hard to predict when even something that seems stupid on the surface is going to actually be stupid or might be great. Yet it's so vitally important that you do it.

Why?

It's the one and only way you have to influence anything that Marvel or DC does. Or any comics company for that matter. They could care less about your opinion no matter where you comment or blog especially when the numbers are telling them the something else. Don't buy just to keep up or to complete your collection or because you've been doing it every Wednesday of your life and can't conceive of being without it. I love Spider-Man but it is exactly *because* I love Spider-Man I will not spend one single dime of my hard earned money on a book that treats the character like crap. Do I miss reading Spidey comics on a monthly basis, yes. God yes! Of course I do! But I'm not going to let Marvel or DC use my love of the characters as means to abuse my loyality by doing whatever insulting stunt they want. Yes, stories need to create drama and conflict but there is also a very basic trust that both companies have repeatedly violated and continue violate knowing that fans will show up anyway.

This Deathjerk is a prime example of that.

- Matt

Best and Worst Comics of 2012

2012 was the year I bought all of my comics completely in digital format via Comixology which actually resulted in me buying more comics this year than I have in almost a decade.

Here's my take on the Top Ten Best (followed directly by the Top Five Worst.)

10: Coming in at the bottom of this list is Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang's Wonder Woman.

While I've cooled off a bit on this title during the last year, I still love the artwork and the supporting characters (Hera and Zola) keep the book fresh. With an upcoming arc featuring the New Gods, I'm looking forward to another year with this comic.

9: Tie - Synder's Batman and Morrison's Batman Incorporated.


It may be a bit of a cheat to "tie" these two titles, but if you had told me three years ago I would be reading two Batman comics in 2012 and loving both of them, I would have thought you were crazy. While I enjoy Batman as a foil for other characters in Morrison's Justice League, I've never been a big fan of his solo series. Even when Morrison started writing his solo series a few years back, I was just never compelled to try the title. (Though I did pick up a few of the first volume of Batman Incorporated, but I think the publishing schedule and my old erratic comic shop caused me to wander away from the title.) I tried the first couple of Snyder's New 52 run on Batman and it didn't quite grab me (though I did like the visuals and the idea of the Court of Owls.) It wasn't really until Batman Inc. was relaunched and Snyder started in on his Joker arc that I really started buying either of these on a regular basis. For the time being, I'll continue on with both series. Batman Inc. is fast paced and imaginative. Batman is refreshingly scary.

8: Rick Remender's Captain America.


Of all the Marvel Now comics I tried, this is the one that felt like it tried to do something different - by doing something old. I've always been a big fan of the Jack Kirby eras of Captain America (Silver Age and after he left DC) Something about the way Kirby would just throw Captain America into a wild science-fictiony story always work struck me as a good way to go. It allowed Kirby to show us some neat concepts and visuals (his strongsuit) and then have Cap fight his way to a solution (Cap's strongsuit) with an occasional bit of heroic rhetoric. (Kirby's Omac worked a bit this way too, didn't it?) Well, Remender's Cap has our hero stranded on hostile alien world ruled by Arnim Zola populated with strange and dangerous bio engineered creatures. The first issue was a bit of wonky setup, but the second issue delivered on the premise in spades. I was afraid it was going to be a bit like Planet Hulk starring Captain America (not really a bad thing albeit...) but so far it hasn't gone that route.

7: Darwyn Cooke's MinuteMen


I was one of the people curious about how some of the Before Watchmen mini-series would turn out (some good, some bad, as I thought) but the real winner was Minutemen. Of all of the series put out under that banner, only Minutemen feels like a true spiritual companion to the original story. Regardless of your feelings on the matter Watchmen ownership, I would say that Cooke's series does everything comic fans ask of a great comic. His artwork on this series is every bit as good as anything he's done in his Parker series or New Frontier (I actually think it's better than New Frontier.) Check out this page:

And as I said, the storyline Cooke has come up with is the only one that seems a worthy addition to the original mythos. (Amanda Connor's Silk Spectre series is also good in many ways, but it's a bit light on content.)

6: Valiant's XO Manowar relaunch by Robert Venditti and Cary Nord.


Yeah, this was another surprise for me. Like a lot of people, I had my doubts about another Valiant relaunch since the last one under Acclaim had been so bad (and Dark Horse's dalliance with Dr. Solar and Samson seemed to go nowhere) but I'm happy to report that the new XO Manowar is a fitting revamp for fans of the original series. Venditti's take on the character jives perfectly with Jim Shooter's original version and Cary Nord is killing it on art. If you were a fan of the old series, then try the first couple of issues of this relaunch.

5: The Lookouts by Ben McCool and Rob Mommaerts


This is an independently published series that I picked up for my daughter but ended up enjoying myself. I've reviewed it in depth on this blog before. It has a sort of Asterix and Obelix feel to in in both tone and pacing, so if that is the sort of thing you enjoy, you'll like this as well.

4: Eric Shanower's Oz Series


This is actually an older series that came out from Dark Horse between 1986 and 1992 (A time when college and economic hardship was cutting into my comic reading quite a bit.) Fortunately for me, Dark Horse re-released the series on Comixology where I discovered it while casting about for cool kids comics. I was amazed at the quality of the art and how true to the spirit of the old Oz books these comics are. I initially bought them for my daughter but don't let the kid-centric nature of the story material fool you. While the stories are fanciful, the characters come across as very real. I would hardily recommend to anyone of any age.

3: The Only Living Boy by David Gallaher and Steve Ellis

Some people might see this as the third "kids" comic in my list but I would say that's a bit like calling Kamandi or Runaways kids comics. The Only Living Boy is the story of Erik Farrell, a 12 year old boy who runs away from home, sleeps in a cave and then wakes up on a much older earth where he finds himself fighting in an alien gladiatorial arena alongside a blonde haired insect princess and a mermaidian amazon. It's a hodge podge of fantastic and compelling characters that reminds me a bit of Marvel's Micronauts and of Neil Gaiman's Sandman. The exotic cast of characters allows Gallaher to really stretch is legs as a writer. He gives each character a distinct voice not shying away from attempting alien dialogue like so many modern writers do these days. Steve Ellis also is allowed to shine in this series as he gives us some innovative designs and fun creatures. Check out this page sample:



I see stuff like this and I'm like, That is what the New 52 should have brought us! So far, only one issue has been release, so this is a good time to jump on to the series if you haven't heard about it. Issue 2 should be coming out in January.

2. Garth Ennis' The Shadow

Man, I really had my doubts about this series, mostly because in recent years, I have felt like Ennis has strayed away from the things that drew me to him in the early days (his grasp of complex characters) and was sort of coasting on Grand Guignol bombast (especially in some of his recent Marvel work and The Boys) so, I passed on this series when it originally started up this year, but as time went on, I kept hearing good things about it on various comic podcasts, so during a .99 cent sale from Dynamite on Comixology, I tried the first couple of issues and was surprised to find myself really enjoying it. Ennis has tried very hard to capture not only the vibe of the old pulp comics, but the history of the era. The level of historical detail in the art and the story is well welcomed! The first storyline ran a bit long (6 issues) but it gave Ennis time to show us a fully fleshed out Lamont Cranston (and Shadow) who is far more than just Batman's inspiration.

1. Jason Aaron's and Esad Ribic's Thor

Like Ennis above, I had sort of lost faith in Jason Aaron. My wife swears by Scalped, but I found it got a bit over the top and had seen nothing in his Marvel work to date to separate him from Fraction or Bendis in my mind. (That is to say, a guy writing by the numbers stories that don't really do much besides punch a few fanboy buttons with a token reference to older continuity and lax characterization.) It was really because of Esad Ribic's artwork that I considered picking up the first issue of this Marvel Now relaunch. Ribic has a painterly style that makes all of his characters distinct. His Thor looks mythical but not in an overly cartoony way (which is how a lot of artists seem to go with bigger characters now days.)

And while it may have been the promise of seeing more of Ribic's Hela that got me to buy the comic, it was the story by Aaron blew me away. Here he presents three stories told at different times in Thor's life: As a younger, pre-Majolnir Thor, A modern space faring Thor and and older, Odin successing Thor. All three stories are tied together by battles with a being known as The Butcher of Gods. As the issues unfold, we see Thor battle this creature while we are giving hints to how one battle's aftermath may have set forth a horrible pattern of events afterwards. The writing is top notch. Shunning the conventional take on Thor started by Bendis, wherein Thor talks pretty much like any other 21st century male, Aaron is embracing the more traditional faux-Shakespearian speaking Thor. While it may not be completely realistic, I feel like that approach lends the comic more verisimilitude. Overall, I'm not normally a Thor reader, but this storyline has me hooked for now.

So, that's the top ten, here are the bottom five.

5. DC's 52 Amethyst relaunch

I had big hopes for this series as I'm always on the lookout for anything that might be something my daughter and I could enjoy, but as it turns out, DC has found a way to make a magical jeweled princess adventure comic that no one of any age could enjoy. Imagine the Disney Channel trying to make a young teenage version of Game of Thrones but without distinct characters or a good plot hook. Rumor has it this series will be cancelled soon. What is most disheartening is that Renae De Liz actually proposed a much more interesting looking Amethyst relaunch prior to this series.

4. Marvel Now's All New X-men

I read the first two issues of this series (enough to see it's basically Back to the Future fanfic staring the original X-men) before giving up. Bendis just really doesn't seem to care who says what how. Check out this dialogue from Emma Frost (who has always been written with an English accent.)



3. Earth 2 by James Robinson


Wow, did I have high hopes for this. Robinson's The Golden Age is one of my favorite takes on the Golden Age DC heroes and his Starman is legendary. Unfortunately, so far this series has just been another run of the mill superteam book with nothing to really distinguish it. It might as well be the umpteenth relaunch of Alpha Flight (or Freedom Fighters)

2. Space 1999

Here's a little known fact about Jim Shelley: He want's to put out a 1970's styled Science Fiction comic some day. Something along the lines of Logan's Run or Land of the Giant's. So it was with great expectations that I picked up this Space 1999 comic from Archaia. Bad move. At first I thought the the comic had a lot of exposition it had to dispense with, but as I kept reading, I realized it was just flat out overwritten. It felt like they had adapted a radio play verbatim. Check out this page as an example.


On the flipside, this may be just a case of European comic style not jiving with my American Sensibilities.

1. Geoff John's Justice League

It may seem unfair to single out this series as being any worse than any other modern superhero series, but with this book coming in at the number one spot on Comixology's top ten list so often this year, it feels like the badness was amplified by comicdom's acceptance of it. This should be DC's flagship title not only in sales, but in quality, and as it is, the storylines John's has been dishing out have really been horrible. First the anti-climatic climax to Darkseid's first appearance, then a villain who attacks you with your worst fears (or something equally cliched) and finally a battle royale between the Justice League and...wait for it...The Cheetah. Yep. You read that right. I think something like three issues were devoted to the Justice League taking down the Cheetah. Not exactly epic fare is it?
Anyway, that's my list for the year. I hope next year brings us more amazing comics and less bad ones.
- Jim

How Santa Got His Red Suit

Today I'm presenting an early Holiday gift as I won't be posting next week. A festive public domain comic illustrated by the wonderful Walt Kelly (of Pogo fame)

[ How Santa Got His Red Suit ]



Have a Happy Holidays!

- Jim

Adam Strange 100 Page Spectacular

Today I continue my series of Lost 100 Page Super Spectaculars with this entry featuring a Mystery In Space themed issue:

The Adam Strange illustration comes from the very talented Adam Moore who is known as Laemeur on deviantArt.com. You can see more of his artwork on his website:
http://laemeur.com/

While I've never had the pleasure of working with Adam on a Flashback Universe project, he and I were both contributors to Trey Causey's Weird Adventures (a highly original RPG setting guide.) Adam provided several fantastic illustrations for the guide and I was the layout/typesetter for the the project.

I'm still open to suggestions for Lost 100 Pagers, so if there is a classic DC character you think deserved their own 100 Page Spectacular, but didn't get one, let me know!

- Jim