Well, this is a rare week for me, when no comic book titles on my pull list are published. And like I've done for past issues when either nothing came out on my pull list, or I had to wait until the next week for payday, I'll write about a topic that's on my mind about comic books.
This week I'll share my thoughts, again, about "event" comics, which DC and Marvel have been publishing for several years.
I'm not reading either Secret Invasion or Final Crisis, and I'm not picking up DC's latest weekly title Trinity. To be honest I'm burned out on "event" series, plus they don't fit into my comic book buying budget. The only tie-in series I will be reading will be DC's Legion of 3 Worlds, because I am such a fan of the Legion.
To me, Marvel and DC have burned out the concept of "event" mini-series. What made them so special and exciting in the past was that they were rare. But now it seems that both publishers are trying to squeeze as much as they can out of a smaller market, compared to past decades. They have had mixed results with past events. House of M and Countdown were mediocre, except for the Ray Palmer story in later issues of Countdown. Infinite Crisis, while good, doesn't come up to the level of the classic Crisis of Infinite Earths.
Countdown, which I did not finish collecting the final issues, was not as good a read as 52. The only storyline that interested me was when Ray Palmer was found, and what happened to his world afterward. The title also seemed to obscure other mini event series on some of DC's other titles, especially the acclaimed Sinestro War Corps (which, for budget reasons I did not read).
What I would like for DC and Marvel to do, at least for the next few years, is steer away from the company wide "event" comics, with innumerable tie-in series, and concentrate on big storylines, or "mini-events" with key titles, like DC did with Green Lantern and Marvel did with the Hulk. Do stories that have a grand scope that build up interest in several main characters. Next year, put the focus on other characters in the same way. Build up reader interest in characters that have long and fondly remembered histories for both companies, without squeezing every last dollar out of a readership that is not as big as it was in the past.
Also, use their alternative imprints to expand into other genres that would interest comic book readers who would not read super hero comics if given a million dollars. Expand the market. Right now, Marvel and DC seem very short-term oriented, trying to please the fans they already have, at the expense of growing the industry. Other publishers are filling that need, but it would be nice to see more of it from the big two. Johan Hex is a nice example from DC.
Final Crisis? I hope so.
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