Secret Invasion Var #1(2008).
© Marvel
Don't Believe the Hype
By: Kurt AmackerDate: Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Who do you trust? Whose side are you on? What would you do with one more day? This summer, everything will change. Do you even care anymore? Public Enemy once said “Don’t believe the hype,” Maniacs. I’m here to follow in the footsteps of Chuck D and Flavor Flav and remind you of that as Marvel, DC, and the sequential art scholars at Wizard inflate us like a punctured tire for another season of event books.
Consider this week’s Comicscape a wet blanket on the flames of advertising for the forthcoming Secret Invasion from Marvel, in April, and Final Crisis from DC, in May. I don’t think either of these miniseries will fail abysmally, either from a storytelling or sales perspective. And, I mean no discredit to either Brian Michael Bendis or Grant Morrison, particularly for miniseries that haven’t arrived yet. That would just be unfair. They might be the best comics ever. And, Marvel and DC have shareholders to answer to, so I don’t blame them for advertising the hell out of their products. The free market reigns supreme, and Marvel and DC have to eat. Consider this more of a warning to you, the reader, about what you – hell, all of us – will buy into when you plunk down your $4 at the comic shop for an issue of the next hot summer events, and, hopefully, some of their many variant covers. I just want everyone to keep in mind how these things work. Crossovers and event-books are, for the most part, editorially driven collaborations. They reach the very pinnacle of art-as-commerce, and will likely never attain the status of those handful of comics we’ve collectively designated “the best ever written.” Seriously, try to remember the last crossover or drawn-out mega-event that belongs in our comic book equivalent of the Western canon – Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, Maus, and name-your-favorite sequential art masterpiece. Crisis on Infinite Earths still holds up pretty well, but even that becomes painfully convoluted at times. I realize that every published comic experiences some editorial oversight, and I value that. Every work needs another set of eyes on it. Only Anne Rice thinks she doesn’t need an editor, and look how that turned out. But, publishers will hawk their wares and nothing can – or should stop them.
I expect to see so many Marvel heroes depicted as Skrulls over the next few months with the slogan, “Who Do You Trust?” below them. At this point, I can’t muster much excitement. I realize that Marvel has built to Secret Invasion for the past few years since New Avengers #1 and Secret War. Likely, Marvel sees this as Bendis’s great contribution to its history, and I wish them both well. But, the first 24 issues of New Avengers failed to grab my interest, and Secret War had far better art by Gabriel Dell’Otto than it did writing. And while we’re at it, House of M did little to justify the hype storm that preceded it. I don’t mean to take shots at Bendis personally, because I thought his work on Daredevil was amazing. I’ve also read the first 78 issues of his run on Ultimate Spider-Man, which I really enjoyed. Hence, while I’ll have to read Secret Invasion to write the inevitable review column in November or December, I can’t say that I anticipate it more than Warren Ellis’s upcoming run on Astonishing X-Men.
While we’re at it, DC may have a better writer in Grant Morrison on Final Crisis, but this has too-many-cooks written all over it. In trying to iron out its painfully messy continuity, DC has rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic a couple of times already. In fact, the publisher’s been trying to fix things since Crisis on Infinite Earths. Zero Hour didn’t do it, and neither did Infinite Crisis. As good as 52 was in its own right, it just brought back the Multiverse and knocked down the house of cards that was DC continuity. I like Morrison’s writing a lot and I think his work on Batman has explored some really fascinating territory. But, please forgive me if I doubt that we’ll remember Final Crisis as his definitive work. DC didn’t come to Morrison and say, “Grant, work your magic. We’ll give your book a once-over and then back you up.” That might endanger the sale of future iterations of action figures. I don’t think Thelemic Superman and the Scarlet Wonder Woman would sell very well, or translate very well to an animated show on the WB.
I realize that this rant makes me sound incredibly naïve. I don’t expect Marvel or DC to publish and market a daring, original, cutting-edge mega-event. Creating something that can’t be undone – or otherwise moves too far outside of fan expectations – would endanger sales and the future of their respective lines. It takes a lot to undo the damage done by Grant Morrison. Just ask Joss Whedon. Both of the Big Two are international multimedia companies with a lot of money riding on the familiarity of their properties. All things will eventually return to the status quo to insure that future readers discover books that resemble the cartoons they saw as children. Refer to Brand New Day in Amazing Spider-Man, Ed Brubaker’s most recent run on Daredevil, or Whedon’s first run on Astonishing X-Men for more evidence. Hence, while I’ve just spent this week’s Comicscape ranting about a couple of over-hyped miniseries that I’ll have to read anyway, I expect nothing less from Marvel and DC. These days, event books sell. They sell, and I have to write about them to keep Comicscape relevant. You find what works and keep doing it until it doesn’t anymore. But, I’ll reiterate what Public Enemy told us all back in 1988 – don’t believe the hype. It’s more of the same, and we’ll keep eating it up. Marvel and DC will never give talented writers the freedom they need to make a truly classic event book. Thus, while both Secret Invasion and Final Crisis will certainly be good enough, that’s all they’ll likely ever be. Both publishers offer fantastic titles, but they seem to emerge more often in the sleeper hits no one expects. No one thought Immortal Iron Fist would ever be worth reading, but here we are and I can’t help but recommend it. The planned mega-events are just that – planned by a lot of people with much more at stake than a single writer trying to do his or her best work. But, I could be wrong.
The Spinner Rack
By Kurt Amacker
Kurt: Well, Ben’s on the run from the Feds again. The guy just can’t stop adding jihadists to his friends’ list on MySpace.
DARK HORSE COMICS
Buffy The Vampire Slayer #12 $2.99
By Drew Goddard of Cloverfield fame. Wait, that movie sucked. I’m not excited.
Chronicles Of Conan TP Vol 14 $16.95
This ends Roy Thomas’s run on the original Marvel series, Conan the Barbarian. But, I think these trade reprints will continue, last I heard.
End League #2 $2.99
Goon Fancy Pants Ltd Sgn HC Vol 02 $24.95
Star Wars Legacy TP Vol 02 Shards $19.95
Star Wars Rebellion TP Vol 02 Ahakista Gambit $17.95
DC COMICS
All New Atom #21 $2.99
Cartoon Network Action Pack #23 $2.25
Countdown Lord Havok And The Extremists #5 (of 6) $2.99
I quit paying attention already. Ben’s doing the Countdown column, so wake me up when this is over.
Countdown To Adventure #7 (of 8) $3.99
Countdown To Final Crisis 8 $2.99
DC Special Raven #1 (of 5) $2.99
Detective Comics #842 $2.99
Exterminators #27 (MR) $2.99
When Arnold became governor of California.
Fables 1001 Nights Of Snowfall SC (MR) $14.99
Go Go Heaven Vol 05 $9.99
Go-Go Gadget Afterlife!
Green Lantern #28 $2.99
Hawkgirl Hath Set TP $17.99
Highwaymen TP $17.99
Infinity Inc #7 $2.99
Jonah Hex #29 $2.99
Justice League The New Frontier Special $4.99
The reason why I haven’t reviewed the DVD is because I haven’t read the Darwyn Cooke miniseries yet. I know this merits my resignation, but I’ll read it, I promise.
Justice League Unlimited #43 $2.25
Looney Tunes #160 $2.25
Midnighter #17 $2.99
New Dynamix #1 (of 5) $2.99
Nightwing #142 $2.99
Northlanders #4 (MR) $2.99
Scalped #15 (MR) $2.99
Supergirl #27 $2.99
Superman The Man Of Steel TP Vol 06 $19.99
Teen Titans Year One #3 (of 6) $2.99
Teru Teru X Shonen Vol 01 $9.99
Vinyl Underground #6 (MR) $2.99
I really like this series. It’s like Hellblazer for the mod set, but it still rocks my socks.
Wonder Woman Who Is Wonder Woman HC (RES) $19.99
Read it without months of delays in between issues!
Young Liars #1 (MR) $2.99
IMAGE COMICS
Casanova #12 (MR) $1.99
Dead Space #1 (of 6) $2.99
Dynamo 5 #11 $3.50
First Born #1 Cgc Graded 9.8 ED $69.99
Graveslinger #4 (of 4) $3.50
I was slinging some graves last week after I had a few beers, but the police asked me to stop. Then, they offered me a ride to their clubhouse, where I spent the night until my wife traded the rent to get me out. My court date is next month.
Hazed GN (MR) $14.99
That’s what you get for joining a frat.
Invincible Presents Atom Eve #2 (of 2) $2.99
Liberty Meadows Convention Print $29.99
Overman #4 (of 5) (MR) $3.50
Finally, my biography comes out. It’s been a while
Pax Romana #2 (of 4) $3.50
Next, the barbarians show up and ruin everything for everyone.
Ride Die Valkyrie #3 (of 3) (MR) $2.99
Scud The Disposable Assassin #22 $3.50
Unhuman Elephantmen Art Of Ladronn HC (MR) $29.99
MARVEL COMICS
Amazing Spider-Man #552 $2.99
Anita Blake Vh Guilty Pleasures #9 (of 12) $2.99
Cable #1 Dws $2.99
I might have to check this out.
Cable Classic TP Vol 01 $29.99
Clandestine #2 (of 5) $2.99
Dark Tower Long Road Home #1 (of 5) $3.99
More mainstream attention for Marvel, I imagine.
Iron Man Prem HC Demon In A Bottle $24.99
I have a demon in a bottle. His name is Hans, and I make him dance for me in exchange for keeping him out of the freezer.
Iron Man Prem HC Demon In A Bottle DM ED $24.99
Logan #1 (of 3) $3.99
This is by Brian K. Vaughan and it is about Wolverine. There is surely a law somewhere that says you have to read it.
Logan #1 (of 3) Black And White Var (PP #803) $3.99
Lords Of Avalon Sod #2 (of 6) $2.99
Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #37 $2.99
Marvel Spotlight Hamilton Martin $2.99
Marvel Two-in-one #9 $4.99
Moon Knight #16 $2.99
Ms Marvel Prem HC Vol 04 Monster Smash $19.99
The zombies caught on in a flash…
Omega Unknown #6 (of 10) $2.99
Penance Relentless #5 (of 5) $2.99
Powers #28 (MR) $3.95
Punisher War Journal #17 $2.99
Red Prophet Tales Of Alvin Maker Prem HC Vol 02 $19.99
Red Prophet Tales Of Alvin Maker Prem HC Vol 02 DM ED $19.99
Red Prophet Tales Of Alvin Maker Vol 1 TP $15.99
Secret Invasion Saga PI
I guess I should get this so that I don’t actually have to go back and read everything that came out leading up to Secret Invasion. Can you hear the excitement in my voice? I’m going to go drink Drano.
Spider-Man Peter Parker TP Back In Black $24.99
Guest starring Angus Young and Brian Johnson.
Twelve #3 (of 12) $2.99
I actually want to read this, but I think I’m going to wait for the trade.
Ultimate Power HC $34.99
I actually don’t want to read this at all.
Uncanny X-Men #496 Dws $2.99
X-force #2 Bloody Var Dws $2.99
Well, I like bloody, so I’m on board.
X-force #2 Dws $2.99
X-Men Vs Apocalypse TP Vol 01 The Twelve $29.99
It’s really late and I’m out of jokes. Good morning to all.
Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at comicscape@mania.com.
More From Mania
Comicscape: The Dreaded Comic-Con Recap
Comicscape: Character Contrast in the Dark Knight
(Wednesday, July 23, 2008)
Comicscape February 16, 2005
(Wednesday, February 16, 2005)
Comicscape - December 1, 2004
(Wednesday, December 1, 2004)
Comicscape - September 24, 2003
(Wednesday, September 24, 2003)
Comicscape - June 18, 2003
(Wednesday, June 18, 2003)
Comicscape - November 2002
(Saturday, November 2, 2002)
Comicscape - October 2002
(Thursday, September 26, 2002)
See more related content
