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Comicscape: Five Problems with American Comics

The mainstream American comic industry never fails to alternately enthrall and enrage fans. Big-selling independents like Image, IDW, and Dark Horse offer fresh alternatives, but Marvel and DC still rule the roost. Both companies carry a stable of talented writers and artists. And, both offer a plethora of alternatives to their main lines. DC has WildStorm and Vertigo, while Marvel has MAX, Icon, and Ultimate Marvel. But, the main continuities occupy the top sales slots and set the tone for much of the industry. The decisions made by the editorial staffs at Marvel and DC trickle from the boardroom to the comic shop. Their storytelling ideas ultimately dictate what will hit the shelves, what becomes a movie, and how fans will costume themselves at the next San Diego Comic-Con. But, those ideas often create problems that impact the industry to varying degrees. Some of those problems stem directly from their decisions, and others are merely the result. A few work in the reverse direction, from the bottom up. Though this list is by no means comprehensive—and in no particular order—here are five glaring issues that need resolution.

Find a Maniac that can explain DC’s Infinite Crisis, or the much more recent Countdown to Final Crisis—and explain them without the help of Wikipedia. Continuity has become an albatross hanging around the neck of American comic books. Marvel and DC occasionally violate it in the name of a good story. They do so by either rewriting history in-story or completely ignoring it. Invariably, that annoys longtime fans. But, decisions made by writers and editorial staffs 20 or 30 years ago shouldn’t necessarily impede a good story in the present. Marvel deals with it by selectively observing it, to many fans’ chagrin. DC just rewrites its 70-year-old continuity with cataclysmic crises and convoluted explanations like Hypertime. This annoys everyone but minutiae fanatics that don’t need Wikipedia to know what the Emerald Eye of Ekron is. Thus, one approach alienates the fans, and one alienates new readers. The solution lies in the writing. In order to introduce character, objects and concepts deeply rooted in established continuity, a writer and editor have to ask how they can give the reader enough to serve the story. That shouldn’t take more than a couple of sentences of exposition. Try “Galaxor has been in the Phantom Zone since Superman put him there a few years ago. He can’t return to Krypton, so he wants to enslave everyone on Earth.” Don’t just say, “Oh God, it’s Galaxor!” And, don’t write Galaxor’s return so that the reader needs a flowchart to figure out how it relates to the story.

DC has this great new gimmick called “Sightings,” in which the publisher flags important issues with a masthead. Its universe has become so interdependent that readers can’t follow its events without reading a slew of tie-in issues. Hopefully, Countdown to Final Crisis will go down as the biggest mistake no one will ever make again. Whereas anyone could enjoy 52 as more or less standalone story, Countdown branched out into the DC Universe with innumerable ancillary titles. Marvel and DC both still cross over stories through multiple titles, which couldn’t be a more shameless ploy to con readers. If a Maniac only reads Uncanny X-Men because he likes Ed Brubaker, he shouldn’t have to buy New X-Men to read Messiah Complex. In fact, this one doesn’t—he skips right over the crossover and waits for the trade. But, the two seem to have moved more towards launching an event miniseries with a handful of extra miniseries to accompany it. Check out the launch schedule for Final Crisis, which includes three other miniseries and a bunch of one-shots, along with a slew of tie-ins to regular series. Marvel’s Secret Invasion has a whopping eight companion miniseries, and a bunch of other tie-in issues. Fans don’t have to buy any of this stuff, but both publishers know that many will get it all in the name of completeness. No, thank you.

Delays happen for all sorts of reasons. A creator’s personal circumstances may interrupt his work. UPS could go on strike again. There are innumerable possibilities. But, neither DC nor Marvel does themselves or their fans any favors by hyping an event months in advance, only to pause halfway through. Marvel had to put Civil War on hold for a few months to allow Steve McNiven to catch up, thus delaying all of the tie-in issues that would have spoiled the story. Rather than blame McNiven, Maniacs should ask why Marvel didn’t schedule the miniseries far enough ahead to allow him to finish most of the book. In some cases, the writers may be to blame. Grant Morrison and Warren Ellis are incredibly talented writers, but both men disregard deadlines with reckless abandon. The finale issue of Morrison’s well-received Seven Soldiers project came out months after the last miniseries concluded. The 13^th issue of Ultimates 2 finally came out almost two-and-a-half years after the first part hit shops. One wonders if publishers feel that so many readers will buy popular titles that they will happily wait through lengthy delays. 

Though Maniacs rarely hear these names mentioned alongside effusive praise in Comicscape, Stephen King and Joss Whedon have done a phenomenal service for American comics. Dark Horse’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer—and to a lesser extent, IDW’s Angel—and Marvel’s The Dark Tower—scripted by Peter David, to give due credit—have brought in new fans that likely wouldn’t have bothered otherwise. Regardless of one’s opinion of the writers, the aforementioned publishers caught lightning in a bottle. Licensed comics usually sell based on their source material, and not the quality of the work itself. All three books have been relatively well-received, whether their original creators have written them or not. More importantly, they’ve shown the staying power of comics outside the realm of costumed superheroes. One can arguably call any of the series “hero books,” but there’s a marked difference between Buffy and a cape-and-tights super-heroine who fights crime alongside Spider-Man. The first issue of The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home actually beat New Avengers #39 for sales in March of this year. But, while plenty of science fiction, fantasy, and horror titles share the racks with superheroes, capes and tights still rule the day. There are plenty of incredibly talented writers working on superhero titles right now, but the market needs to diversify if it intends for the medium to rise above the genre. For some people, no matter what they hear otherwise, comics are about superheroes and intended for children. Some of those closed minds will never change. But, the few that might will only learn through well-publicized comics from other genres that have the sales to match their artistic and literary relevance. 

All of the above problems remain because fans allow Marvel and DC to perpetuate them. Those publishers are in business to make money. Certainly, their artists and writers care about their work, but the editorial staff answers to people interested in dollar signs, not originality. That’s fine, but they don’t decide what fans buy. They only see what has sold in the past and try to follow suit. Comic fans often pay to get screwed. They cling to minutiae to justify stories so convoluted that no new reader can enjoy them. They add things like “Countdown—All” to their pull list at the comic shop, just to make sure they scratch that completionist itch. They purchase comics months or even years late. They buy enough superhero comics—well-written or not—to justify an excessive number of Batman, Superman, and X-Men comics. And, the “they” is us. We are the walking dead. Look in the mirror, Maniacs. We do this to ourselves. At some point, fans have to stop thanking Marvel and DC for serving a burger when we ordered steak. Buy good comics. Consider other genres. If a comic is months or years late, wait for the trade. It boggles the mind why DC thinks it acceptable to break Kurt Busiek’s Camelot Falls arc into pieces scattered throughout his run of Superman. But, wait for the trade and there it sits in a single collection.  Marvel and DC listen to your dollar, not your message board tirades. Remember that next time you plunk down hundreds of dollars for spin-offs, tie-ins, or yet another X-Men title. Only we, the fans, can fix the problems by voting with our wallets. 

Next week, Comicscape explores five things the comic industry does right. There is no darkness without the light. Remember Maniacs, comics ship on Thursday this week because of the Memorial Day holiday. 

It seems that Ben’s on the run from the feds again. That, or the vampires moved on from Barrow to his town, where he hides with his family and a dwindling supply of food and ammunition. So, you’re stuck with my lame jokes this week. Just think of it as a reminder of what could happen if Ben went away. Yeah. Let’s get this over with and hope no one gets hurt.

DARK HORSE COMICS

Appleseed TP New Ptg Vol 02 Promethean Unbound (RES) $14.95

Indiana Jones & Kingdom O/t Crystal Skull #2 Fleming CVR $5.99

I actually liked the movie better than I thought I would. It still had problems, but it’s really hard to not like Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones.

Indiana Jones & Kingdom O/t Crystal Skull #2 Struzan CVR $5.99

I should really be getting these, but there’s these things called time and money, and I have very little of either.

Star Wars Knights Of Old Republic #29 Exalted Part 1 (of 2) $2.99

All about the Toyman. Whee.

All New Atom TP Vol 03 The Hunt For Ray Palmer $14.99

I think the last issue of this actually came out sometime this year. Damn.

All right, yeah, we’ll see about this RIP thing. I’m mostly hoping that the story hasn’t been spread too thinly across all of the other Batman titles.

Batman Gotham After Midnite #1 (of 12) $2.99

By your friend and mine, Steve Niles.

Comic Book Cover Portfolio #1 Women Of The Dcu $49.99

Does this come with a letter of apology?

I still haven’t seen this show. 

Cousin Eddie and Bruce Dickinson not included.

Secret History The Authority Hawksmoor #3 (of 6) $2.99

This is supposedly really good, but I don’t know a thing about it. Anyone care to chime in?

Aphrodite Ix Pilot Season #1 Eric Basaldua Litho $29.99

Aphrodite Ix Pilot Season #1 Eric Basaldua Litho Signed $39.99

Robert Kirkman brings us another intermittent issue.

Nearly Complete Essential Hembeck Archives Omnibus $24.99

Studio Space SC $29.99

Reprint of Marvel’s old black and white Hulk magazine.

Giant Size Astonishing X-Men #1 Inked Wraparound Var $4.99

For those that like their comics without words

Immortal Iron Fist Prem HC Vol 02 Cities Of Heaven $24.99

There’s some kind of a joke to be made here, but it’s not coming to me. It could be about the abundance of one-shots this week, or it could be about all the Hulk stuff meant to hype the movie. I don’t know. It’s late.

Mark Millar story about a super-villain invasion of our world. Should be cool, if the series actually wraps before 2085.

Marvel Illustrated Picture Dorian Gray #6 (of 6) $2.99

Bottle feeding begins!

Kind of light and fluffy, but fun.

Good mostly for its relentless bloodshed.

X-force Legacy Of Vengeance One Shot (PP #815) $4.99

That didn’t take long.

Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at comicscape@mania.com.