DC vs. Marvel
Hey, so another week, and another posting.
This week I want to take a second of your time and talk to you about the two major comic book publishers. "The House of Ideas" vs. "The Distinguished Competition" as they are sometimes called. Because this will probably be fairly big I am going to split this into two posts, one for each company. You should know going in however, I'm a DC guy. Been that way for a good ten years or more. But first of all, House of Ideas? Maybe back in the day when it was Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, but now? Not so much. Apparently it's not enough that Wolverine has his own series, is in damn near every "X" title, is one of the Avengers, and is getting another solo book. So lets make a clone. Oh, wait, we did that with Spidey and everyone hated it. I know, make it a teenage girl and the fans will love it. And love it you did. Morons.
And how about HOUSE OF M you might ask? Well, I did just reread it in the trade, and found I liked it much more than I did when I read it in the singles. This is probably due to the fact that there are whole issues where nothing happens, followed by issues that are so jam-packed with action that you can barely keep track of what is happening. I like that fact that doing this has made the X titles get their shit together and brought them all into step with each other, but how about the rest of the universe? Hardly a single other title has mentioned what happened. Spider-man had an absolutely horrific thing happen to him and no one is talking about it in any of his THREE books. The NEW AVENGERS just started mentioning it this issue, but only to deny that they know anything about it to SHIELD. And can someone tell me why all the House of M tie-ins had absolutely nothing to do with the actual mini-series? They should really just have stuck some "What If..." labels on them and gone from there. And DECIMATION? Well, not so bad, but when you consider that Grant Morrison killed 16 MILLION mutants in less then four pages of his second issue of NEW X-MEN, it just seems hugely out of proportion. And luckily for us about 99% of the X-Men made it through DECIMATION with their powers. So nobody's feelings got hurt too bad and everyone gets to keep reading about all their favorite mutants.
Wouldn't a much more interesting story be if only a couple of X-Men had been left with their powers? How about if Nightcrawler lost his mutation but Beast kept his? Or if the only the mutants who couldn't pass for human had been left untouched? Or the other way around? Imagine X-Men teams made up almost entirely of de-powered mutants out to save the few of their race that are still left out in the world. I would read that.
You know, this might take longer then I originally thought. But before I go I want to make it very clear that there are plenty of Marvel books that I do like and read all the time. So, a few of my favorites and a word or two about them. Look for more on Marvel later this week, and DC probably this weekend.
WARNING! MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!
CABLE AND DEADPOOL - Marvel has been doing a few comedies lately, and this is one of my faves.
X-STATIX PRESENTS DEADGIRL - Another one that makes me smile every-time.
NEW AVENGERS - Good book with the cast that the Avengers has needed for a while. But why does this book seem so damn spastic? Why didn't the Sentry story in there mesh with the original mini-series, or for that matter, the second Sentry mini?
YOUNG AVENGERS - Probably the tightest book that Marvel is putting out. You know where every character stands and why they're doing what they're doing.
DAREDEVIL - The Bendis/Maleev run on this book will be the stuff of LEGEND in ten years. That said, why oh why Marvel did you not even try to keep who you were going to kill a secret?
THE THING - Dan Slott came out of nowhere it seems to be one of the most consistently funny writers on the block.
SON OF A GENIUS: FRANKLIN RICHARDS - It's like a cross between Calvin & Hobbes and Barry Ween.
FANTASTIC FOUR - JMS writes the follow up to Mark Waid's amazing run. There is nothing funnier then when the Thing starts making copies of his butt.
MARVEL TEAM-UP - Robert Kirkman these pure formulaic super-hero team-ups with a freshness that can be startling at times. Another book that is just FUN to read.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN - JMS asks the big questions about Spidey, who he is, and where is he going.
SHE-HULK 2 - See "THE THING"
SUPREME POWER - A new gritty version of DC's classic characters by one todays best episodic writers. But Marvel, why did you have to get rid of the MAX rating?
X-MEN DEADLY GENESIS - Probably the book that I look forward to the most, but again suffers the same problem as Daredevil. Marvel needs to learn when to keep their mouths shut and let some things be a surprise. They've has dropped so many hints, nudges, winks, and secret hand-sign's about this book you almost don't have to read it.
This week I want to take a second of your time and talk to you about the two major comic book publishers. "The House of Ideas" vs. "The Distinguished Competition" as they are sometimes called. Because this will probably be fairly big I am going to split this into two posts, one for each company. You should know going in however, I'm a DC guy. Been that way for a good ten years or more. But first of all, House of Ideas? Maybe back in the day when it was Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, but now? Not so much. Apparently it's not enough that Wolverine has his own series, is in damn near every "X" title, is one of the Avengers, and is getting another solo book. So lets make a clone. Oh, wait, we did that with Spidey and everyone hated it. I know, make it a teenage girl and the fans will love it. And love it you did. Morons.
And how about HOUSE OF M you might ask? Well, I did just reread it in the trade, and found I liked it much more than I did when I read it in the singles. This is probably due to the fact that there are whole issues where nothing happens, followed by issues that are so jam-packed with action that you can barely keep track of what is happening. I like that fact that doing this has made the X titles get their shit together and brought them all into step with each other, but how about the rest of the universe? Hardly a single other title has mentioned what happened. Spider-man had an absolutely horrific thing happen to him and no one is talking about it in any of his THREE books. The NEW AVENGERS just started mentioning it this issue, but only to deny that they know anything about it to SHIELD. And can someone tell me why all the House of M tie-ins had absolutely nothing to do with the actual mini-series? They should really just have stuck some "What If..." labels on them and gone from there. And DECIMATION? Well, not so bad, but when you consider that Grant Morrison killed 16 MILLION mutants in less then four pages of his second issue of NEW X-MEN, it just seems hugely out of proportion. And luckily for us about 99% of the X-Men made it through DECIMATION with their powers. So nobody's feelings got hurt too bad and everyone gets to keep reading about all their favorite mutants.
Wouldn't a much more interesting story be if only a couple of X-Men had been left with their powers? How about if Nightcrawler lost his mutation but Beast kept his? Or if the only the mutants who couldn't pass for human had been left untouched? Or the other way around? Imagine X-Men teams made up almost entirely of de-powered mutants out to save the few of their race that are still left out in the world. I would read that.
You know, this might take longer then I originally thought. But before I go I want to make it very clear that there are plenty of Marvel books that I do like and read all the time. So, a few of my favorites and a word or two about them. Look for more on Marvel later this week, and DC probably this weekend.
WARNING! MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!
CABLE AND DEADPOOL - Marvel has been doing a few comedies lately, and this is one of my faves.
X-STATIX PRESENTS DEADGIRL - Another one that makes me smile every-time.
NEW AVENGERS - Good book with the cast that the Avengers has needed for a while. But why does this book seem so damn spastic? Why didn't the Sentry story in there mesh with the original mini-series, or for that matter, the second Sentry mini?
YOUNG AVENGERS - Probably the tightest book that Marvel is putting out. You know where every character stands and why they're doing what they're doing.
DAREDEVIL - The Bendis/Maleev run on this book will be the stuff of LEGEND in ten years. That said, why oh why Marvel did you not even try to keep who you were going to kill a secret?
THE THING - Dan Slott came out of nowhere it seems to be one of the most consistently funny writers on the block.
SON OF A GENIUS: FRANKLIN RICHARDS - It's like a cross between Calvin & Hobbes and Barry Ween.
FANTASTIC FOUR - JMS writes the follow up to Mark Waid's amazing run. There is nothing funnier then when the Thing starts making copies of his butt.
MARVEL TEAM-UP - Robert Kirkman these pure formulaic super-hero team-ups with a freshness that can be startling at times. Another book that is just FUN to read.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN - JMS asks the big questions about Spidey, who he is, and where is he going.
SHE-HULK 2 - See "THE THING"
SUPREME POWER - A new gritty version of DC's classic characters by one todays best episodic writers. But Marvel, why did you have to get rid of the MAX rating?
X-MEN DEADLY GENESIS - Probably the book that I look forward to the most, but again suffers the same problem as Daredevil. Marvel needs to learn when to keep their mouths shut and let some things be a surprise. They've has dropped so many hints, nudges, winks, and secret hand-sign's about this book you almost don't have to read it.
posted by Star Clipper at Saturday, February 25, 2006
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