"Cancel Every Existing Superhero Comic"

Cafe Society
62

Thanks for the recommendation! I’ll add it to my list. As a matter of fact, a couple weeks ago I signed up for D.C. Universe Infinity, and I’m loving it. I have read a whole bunch of great stories.

Among my favorites:
JSA: The Golden Age (1993)
Tom King’s run of Batman starting in 2016 (Issues 1-85)
Lois Lane (2019-2020)
Harleen (2019)
Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey (2020-present)
Birds of Prey (2020-present)

And that’s just in a couple of weeks! I’m really impressed with the mature/adult content and the exploration of characters’ emotional lives–in these cases, particularly, Batman and Harley Quinn.

So going back to the OP, I’d say, no, I don’t want comics to be targeted primarily at kids. It’s a medium. The medium shouldn’t be limited by genre or audience. Sure, kids’ comics are fine. But I want adult comics.

I really don’t understand what you’re saying here. I watch TV and movies too. That doesn’t make me appreciate comic books less or act as a replacement for them. I’m also using the latest technology to read comic books–my mobile phone, my tablet, and my laptop. So, I don’t see how comics are at any technological disadvantage.

Indeed, taking into account the physical considerations of life, reading comics on an iPhone or tablet is in some ways more convenient and comfortable than reading hard copies, although I still love paper books. But with my online D.C. subscription, I’m reading a ton more comics than I could afford to buy individually, so it’s not replacing my hard-copy purchases either, not much. I think it’s great. And I hope D.C. is benefitting from my use of the service.

It’s really giving me an opportunity to sink myself into characters and stories that I either wasn’t aware of or couldn’t afford to get to know.

I know the comic book industry is suffering–but so is every content industry. Service providers and tech aggregators like Amazon are sucking up revenue left and right. But for the technology to be viable, you have to have content.

I’m just so glad to see so much good stuff out there. And in the last few months, I know I’ve posted about some of the stuff I’ve loved, both D.C. and non-D.C. What’s the future? I don’t know. But I’m enjoying the present.

63

What the Ultra-High Definition television (or Movie screen) can’t do, is tell a story where you are not only able to see the action, but also know the thoughts and feelings of the characters. Also, in the same amount of time it takes to watch a show, you can read a story that is longer narrative-wise. While I enjoy the various shows and movies, they are not a replacement for the comics, just like they are not a replacement for books.

For me, purchasing comic books electronically (before there were subscription services) became a necessity because I moved to a place where there were no comic book shops, nor the comics that I read, readily available. Although, I still like reading no paper, I enjoy the convenience of being able to take my comics wherever I go and not worry that they will get torn or otherwise damaged.

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64

Exactly. Movies and TV shows have been around my entire life. That didn’t mean I didn’t enjoy reading books.

Video is a completely different medium than sequential still images. They tell stories in a different way. I love sequential art. Video doesn’t replace it. I watch a whole bunch of superhero shows and movies. That doesn’t replace comic books.

I’ll note that I watch almost none of the animated shows. I like live action shows and movies, but I am just not a huge fan of animation, especially modern “3D” animation. It’s just not my thing.

65

I stopped reading comics close to twenty years ago for two reasons: The first was that I grew frustrated waiting for story lines to be completed. I didn’t want to wait months on end to wrap things up. The second reason was that I was sick of having to purchase comic books I had little interest in to follow the entire story. As part of a marketing ploy, it wasn’t uncommon for a story that started in Batman to continue in Nightwing and then continue in Birds of Prey. When they interrupted my Nightwing story for some Batman plot it was the final straw and I opted out.

I’m sure there are plenty of people who have no problem enjoying comics and movies. Especially when comics can give me so many new stories and the available movies are so limited.

66

Those are also reasons I largely stopped reading comics on a month-to-month periodical basis in the early 1990s. Since then I have mostly read comics in collected editions after their initial publication. I have found that to be immensely satisfying. I no longer have a need to read “what’s happening now.” Indeed, I no longer really understand that concept. I read things from all eras, as the interest strikes me, just as I do with movies and novels, for example.

The second thing is that now with this D.C. online subscription, I have access to pretty much all the company’s publications–so far at very reasonable–price.

I will have to wait six months before new books are available on the site/app, but I made my peace with being “behind” decades ago. But if stories cross-over, then I have access to the crossover issues. And just like with bound volumes, I can choose to wait until a story line is complete before I start reading it.

67

A few years ago my wife said something about me outgrowing comics and I had a good laugh explaining to her that I did no such thing. I might look into an online subscription like you have and see how I like it.

68

Although I have not taken the plunge and subscribed, ComiXology, which was bought by Amazon, has an Unlimited subscription service that includes Marvel, DC, Image, etc. Lots of content available from both well established and lesser known publishers. You can use an amazon account if you have one, or a comiXology account.

If you have not heard about comiXology, they stared out as a pull list site. You would log in and build a pull list that then got sent to your favorite comic store so that they would pull those issues from the racks once they were published. Then all you had to do was show up at the store and purchase the comics which was often cheaper than subscribing to the publisher, and also supported the local store. ComiXology later started selling comics digitally and if you linked to a comic book store, they got a small percentage of the sale. Eventually were bought by Amazon and the pull list service was discontinued.

Even without a subscription, they offer a lot of free comics from the various publishers they sell from. And when they mean free, it is not just free for a limited amount of time, but free forever once you have purchased it, even if they are only offered free only during that month.

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69

I’ve been enjoying the current run of Young Justice. You might not; you don’t really need to be familiar with previous continuity, but you do kind of have to care about it - there’s a sub-plot running through the whole series so far that the original YJ members are trying to sort out their contradictory memories of the various in-universe retcons that have happened since the original series. But I think Jinny Hex is worth the price of admission just by herself.

I would definitely, though, recommend Naomi, another comic in the “Wonder Comics” imprint that eventually links up with YJ. It does reference the broader DC continuity, but the main character doesn’t really know much about it herself. As a reader, you don’t need to know or care anything about the Rann-Thanagar War, for example, even though it’s a plot point; characters explain exactly enough about it to Naomi (and thus to the reader) to carry you through.

I’d also recommend Far Sector. I didn’t particularly care for it, but it’s pretty much exactly the sort of comic you advocated for upthread. It’s written by N.K. Jemisin (!), about a Green Lantern (not the Green Lantern). It’s technically in the current DC continuity, but like it says on the tin, it’s set in a far sector of space, so far out that and so disconnected from the rest of the universe, that beyond the fact that the main character is a Green Lantern, it really could be set in any sci-fi universe.

70

Another advantage of electronic copies I noticed is that softcover collection bindings tend make it difficult to see the portion of the page right next to the spine (which includes the centerline of a two-page spread, obviously). That was especially noticeable with the “evidence board” two page spreads in each issue of The Red Ten.

71

Today’s comic writers write for the “trades”, so most books have abandoned the “never-ending story” aspect where each story fed into the next and the next and so on in favor of six to twelve issue arcs.

72

Good point since that could also be the weakest point in the comic book as well and more likely to tear. I also like that there are no ads, although I am still hoping for some actual working x-ray specs… :wink:

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73

Hi, I’m digs… and I’m a comic book addict. I’ve gone from one box in my closet in 1968 to a whole closet with no clothes in it. Hey, it’s full of short boxes.

But I’m not a comic collector. I’m a comic reader.

I’ve followed this thread shouting “Yes!” a number of times.
I’ve felt betrayed by reading a series then having some dimbulb in DC Editorial deciding that his overarching “Alfred Cthulhu Pennyworth” storyline has to burst in and completely mess it up.

…

But the toughest thing about comics is that comics = clutter.

I’d love to divest myself of material possessions… except my box of Spider-Girls, and my Saga trades, and all those Age of Apocalypse 'books…

… you’re not getting comics really cheap. They have great sales, where you can get the electronic equivalent of a trade paperback that collects a dozen issues for a couple of bucks. I’m still working on their Ultimate Hawkeye Collection (500+ pages of Clint and Kate and Pizza Dog, as written by Matt Fraction!), on sale for $12.

And instead of over two dozen comics, all the space it takes up is 50mb…

So it’s my feeble attempt to cut back on clutter, at least a little bit. I do wish that electronic comics were as satisfying as pulling out a vintage, yellowed, smelly, “floppy” comic… then I could switch to All Electrical, All RGB, All SuperSpaceSaving Comics!

74

Background: I read Superhero comics decades ago, then switched to alternative comics, then to manga. I remain a manga fan.

From reading this thread, I’m guessing that Marvel/DC have a fine business model. The big bucks are in movies. Comics are R&D, or a loss-leader. (They can also be a movie tie-in, but set that aside). So hire 5 talented teams to write a story arc. If a team comes up with something that can work on the screen, great. Otherwise, small losses (or small profits) don’t matter too much.

In Japan, light novels and manga feed into anime and occasionally live-action or even theater shows. Anime blockbusters lead to spending on merchandise. So while there’s not one out-sized profit center like there is at Marvel/DC, there’s a lot of fan-base cultivation and mindfulness of different sales channels.

75

I like this idea, and it looks like that’s what they’ve been doing, though they may not have planned it in advance.

Those “five talented teams” have been coming up with wildly creative plots for years, as comic arcs. Some of them have fizzled, some have been popular but wouldn’t work on the big screen, some have rabid fans but contradict other stories, and SOME… work as a series of films.

Like the Infinity Stones. Or the Spider-Verse. Or Mephisto.

While some… we’ll hopefully never see. like Secret Wars or Ben Reilly (Spider-Man Clone Saga… it’s as bad as you’ve heard, kids. Take pity on those of us who lived through it)

76

I would be completely on board with the MCU doing Secret Wars. Either one.

But not Secret Wars II.

77

I have bought some digital comics on Comixology, but I haven’t looked into their unlimited package. How deep does that catalogue go? Is it just current issues, or more like combining Marvel and D.C.'s unlimited packages? Because it looks like a pretty good price.

78

As you’re browsing comics on their site, many will have the UNLIMITED banner across them. I sort of keep track, it’s a pretty good range, a lot of early Marvels and DCs.

But I’ve been so happy with the sales that I’ll keep buying individual titles. Huh, I guess even digitally, I like to own my media… 'cuz I’m old, ya mangy li’l whippersnapper!

79

Yes, I know. That’s how I know the price. But I haven’t found a link that shows me what the membership gives one access to.

80

The best I could find is this article, but it’s three years old. It’s clearly out-dated (it states that DC does not have its own digital subscription service, for example). Unless this has changed in the last three years, though, one key element of ComiXology Unlimited is that it apparently only gives you access to, ironically, a limited number of issues of any given title before you have to start buying them.

I don’t think there’s a set list anywhere online of which exact titles you can access through CU; each publisher decides which titles you can access, and it wouldn’t surprise me if titles rotate in and out of ComiXology. After all, Marvel and DC would much rather you subscribe to their own proprietary services.

It does have a free 30-day trial with an Amazon account, if you want to test it out.