Whats the state of Marvel and DC right now?
This is more of an opinion question.
From what I here 'House of M' was stupid (whatever it was about I have know Idea), and 'Infinite Crisis' is winding down and the hype from that is starting to dwindle a little. Are excited to find out what happens in the next 20 years?
I guess my question is: How happy are you with these 2 mega franchises right now?
Yes. Search long enough and you'll find characters and or comic series' that you really enjoy. The big-name "events" don't have to be spectacular (though it helps), each reader just has to find their area of interest and stick there.
I disliked HoM, but have been loving my Amazing Spider-Man subscription that I got about a half-year ago (in addition to my already extensive SM collection). DC lets me down pretty often (haven't started Infinite Crisis yet though) but I'm loving stuff in Wildstorm (Authority, Mr. Majestic, etc.). I've also gotten into the smaller titles recently like Teen Titans and the Outsiders, because the big names (Supes, Bats, JLA, etc.) have dropped the ball for me. And the Ultimates are 10x better than the 616 Avengers ever were for me.
So yeah, I'm happy. Not with everything, but who is?
HoM was a big old mess. It's just ****ing over the entire Marvel universe with no real reason. I don't feel for these characters, I'm just annoyed.
Infinite Crisis is a tremendous mess. It makes no sense. The only thing I am right now is ****ing confused. It's either terrible writing, or a failure to link it together by spreading it out over 300 goddamn comics.
Or a mixture of both.
The writers are getting too clever for themselves. It's impossible to contain something to just 12 issues anymore. The original Crisis was bloody confusing too, but it was still understandable if all you read was the crisis itself. Without reading all the prep story arcs and tie-ins, I get the feeling this current one will be nigh-unreadable.
Even regular runs need to be in a long series. In the old days, 1-issue-arcs were the norm. Drawn-out stories were rare, and only took 3-4 issues max. Now everything, even things like my ASM subscription, are all "Part 1 of 5" or something like that.
So yeah, there's something to be said for simplicity.
The state of the 2 franchises.
Marvel: Preparing for Civil War. It's looking like this one will be an improvement over House of M. However, there are worries with the true believers, because of Bendis' past failings (ripping Carnage in half, House of M) and Miller's past failings (enemy of the state, Marvel Knights Spider-Man) we don't know if it will be good or not. We've all got our fingers crossed.
DC: Infinite Crisis has a great storyline, but is unfortunately blaming all of their past writing mistakes on Superboy Prime. Good ol Retcon Punch, I guess. Despite that, we're seeing new sides to old heroes, and an overall good story.
House of M ( i haven't read) is supposed to be pretty sucky. Basically screwing over the marvel universe to get more characters in . Basically think heroes reborn but on steroids.
Infinite crisis can be confusing , but if you have a decent knowledge of the original crisis then it kinda makes sense. If not search for my 'Infinite crisis is bloody confusing thread'
I've read the whole House of M saga. To be honest, it's a big Wolverine endorsement. While it made sense why he was the one who retained his memories, I still wish someone else would have remembered what was going on. However, House of M Spider-Man was interesting, and where he was featured in Son of M #1 was amazing. I also got something that you might find interesting, Fox. Take a look:
http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/4545/newavenger2012801sr.jpg
Originally posted by Marcus4600
I've read the whole House of M saga. To be honest, it's a big Wolverine endorsement. While it made sense why he was the one who retained his memories, I still wish someone else would have remembered what was going on. However, House of M Spider-Man was interesting, and where he was featured in Son of M #1 was amazing. I also got something that you might find interesting, Fox. Take a look:
http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/4545/newavenger2012801sr.jpg
Nice...wait i thought he was de-powered ?
What's their state right now?? Hell, what's their state gonna be in another 30 to 50 years? By then, the Big Name characters will be at least 100 years old. What kinda nonsense are the writers gonna try pulling between now and then, what kinda one-upmanship? How they gonna keep PIS and CIS down, especially with their top tier characters? Damn, the writers and artists of the future haven't even been born yet--are they just gonna re-invent the wheel while patting themselves on the back?
Oddly enough, I see characters like Batman, Daredevil or Spiderman remaining relevant and entertaining much longer than the likes of Superman or Silver Surfer.
Comic superheroes--the whole genre-- will need to evolve. IMO, good stories are gonna demand quality, literary writing, rather than going for the Big Thrill. Superheroes are already saving the multiverse, many times over. 50 years from now, what are they gonna do?
I agree with you, I think that some of the characters that are essentially based on just "let's see how powerful we can make this guy", like Superman, are just gonna start getting less popular. Batman is a character that is always cool cause his story dominates, and like you said, Daredevil and Spider-Man are driven by their stories a lot more than others like Green Lantern.
In the old days, 1-issue-arcs were the norm. Drawn-out stories were rare, and only took 3-4 issues max. Now everything, even things like my ASM subscription, are all "Part 1 of 5" or something like that.
Well, in the old days, individual issues were longer then they are now.
The state of Marvel and DC now is that they're not even trying to make comics that people other than hard-core comic fans can read. Also, DC needs to let dead characters stay dead. Seriously.
Marvel = 616 a mess but some outstanding mini's like Sentry and Moonknight.
Ultimate Universe = Very Good
MK = Good
DC = a mess but some gems if you look hard. Out of continuity mini All Star Supes and Justice are awesome.
Wildstorm = disjointed and continuity problems some good stories though, e.g.Capt Atom.
Vertigo = getting dated and to much aimed at gothic angst ridden student undergraduates.
DC was a mess thanks to the Crisis but I think OYL is/was a huge sucess when it comes to storylines. It's very back to basics. I think people would like DC more if they gave lesser known stuff like Outsiders, Robin, Manhunter and Catwoman a shot instead of the usual Superman and Batman stuff.
Marvel would be a lot better if they cut down on the crossover/event stories. Civil War, Annihilation, and Planet Hulk running all at the same time is a bit much. I pretty much stick to the Ultimate universe and whatever self contained stories I can find like The Sentry or Thunderbolts though that's probably about to jump into Civil War mode.
