Friday, April 22, 2005
Made Mine Marvel!
After nearly 30 years I stopped reading Spider-Man.
Amazing Spider-Man, the comic, along with Marvel as a whole, has grown stale, tired and found lacking in focus. Lately, Spidey's stories go absolutely
nowhere with nowhere to go but down.
Marvel's become a two man show, as of late, with Bendis and Millar acting as the voices of Marvel. While at one time, I found them to be fresh and innovative, they now grates on me. Characters talk at each other, trying their best to sound out their way of the murk that has become dialogue. Plots start out like a ball of fire, only to end abruptly. It seems as though they write to get to the cool parts without fully thinking out how to end the story. They're hitting the same high notes, seemingly in love with the sound of his own voice. Ask Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston what that will get you in the long run.
I'll take Geoff Johns any ol' day over almost any writer. What I love about his writing is that we haven't been able to pin him down. He gets out of the way and let's the characters "speak." His Flash is Mike Baron. Marv Wolfman. Bob Haney. Bill Messner-Loebs. Mark Waid. In this he's created an "Ultimate" Flash. Does DC need to call it that to call attention to it to get us to read it? No. It's been selling out for a damned good reason. We come to it because we want to be there. We want to be there to see history being made. Again. We want to see DC's rich history and characters evolve, again. Not Magneto vs. The X-Men...again.
Take a look at one of my new favorite comics, Manhunter. There's history all over that book and yet, it's written with an eye towards the future.
Why do you think we all went ape-shit when Amazo popped up in Batman last month. History. We know a good Silver Age battle when we see one. A good writer will get out of the way and let the characters work
for them. The characters should give the scene voice.
DC Comics allows this.
That's why I'm making mine DC!
Am I done with Marvel? By no means, no. I just want more than "The House of M" from "The House of Ideas."
Amazing Spider-Man, the comic, along with Marvel as a whole, has grown stale, tired and found lacking in focus. Lately, Spidey's stories go absolutely
nowhere with nowhere to go but down.
Marvel's become a two man show, as of late, with Bendis and Millar acting as the voices of Marvel. While at one time, I found them to be fresh and innovative, they now grates on me. Characters talk at each other, trying their best to sound out their way of the murk that has become dialogue. Plots start out like a ball of fire, only to end abruptly. It seems as though they write to get to the cool parts without fully thinking out how to end the story. They're hitting the same high notes, seemingly in love with the sound of his own voice. Ask Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston what that will get you in the long run.
I'll take Geoff Johns any ol' day over almost any writer. What I love about his writing is that we haven't been able to pin him down. He gets out of the way and let's the characters "speak." His Flash is Mike Baron. Marv Wolfman. Bob Haney. Bill Messner-Loebs. Mark Waid. In this he's created an "Ultimate" Flash. Does DC need to call it that to call attention to it to get us to read it? No. It's been selling out for a damned good reason. We come to it because we want to be there. We want to be there to see history being made. Again. We want to see DC's rich history and characters evolve, again. Not Magneto vs. The X-Men...again.
Take a look at one of my new favorite comics, Manhunter. There's history all over that book and yet, it's written with an eye towards the future.
Why do you think we all went ape-shit when Amazo popped up in Batman last month. History. We know a good Silver Age battle when we see one. A good writer will get out of the way and let the characters work
for them. The characters should give the scene voice.
DC Comics allows this.
That's why I'm making mine DC!
Am I done with Marvel? By no means, no. I just want more than "The House of M" from "The House of Ideas."
