Disconnected...

[Karma]

It's been 20 years since i began reading/collecting Marvel titles. I've enjoyed them for years..most of the friends i grew up with got into them because of me (surprising that a girl could turn on a neighborhood of boys to comics..though i think most of them thought it would earn them more attention from ME lol), even my mother got into a few titles.

i began to fall out of the collecting game in 2000/2001 shortly after the conclusion of the X-men: Black Sun which featured the return of "Magik"..although it turned out to be "Magik II" (Amanda Sefton). i read the second Magik LS and tried to get into "New X-men" but the artwork was HORRENDOUS (Frank Quitely sucks ass and should never be allowed to draw anything) and it was too hard to keep up with the influx of new characters....so i just kind of gave up.

now, several years later i'm starting to pick up a few titles again...Uncanny X-men (only because Chris Claremount is back there and so are Rachel Grey (Marvel Girl III) and Psylocke), New Excalibur (which features Sage, Dazzler, Nocturne, Wisdom, Juggernaut and Captain Britain) and the new Ms. Marvel series.

But overall, i just dont feel connected to Marvel like i used to. Their focus has changed, they dont honor continuity of events/storylines past and any writing/editing team that takes over a comic can do/undo what was done before.

I was PARTICULARLY upset with "Phoenix: Endsong" which totally IGNORED the impact and lasting effects of "Dark Phoenix Saga" from over 25 years ago. The only redeeming thing about that bastard ass storyline was the artwork.

These days also...i dont really have anyone in my life that i can enjoy collecting discussing comics with. I've tried several message boards and failed (as Blaze can attest to) given the extremely childish, arrogant, and rudeness of members on comic message boards. So it kind of sucks...ON TOP of that...comics are so damn expensive now. I can remember when they were as cheap as $0.75!! now, they are damn near $3.00 a pop...some are $4.00 and these arent "giant sized" issues, annuals or anything..these are regular direct edition comics. I suppose if i had kept collecting it wouldnt seem like such a price because i regularly would fit comics into my spending but having not done it for several years...its just like "WOW".

Alot of my favorite characters have changed ..and not for the better, there arent any artists i can get happy about yet either.

I was just wondering if anyone else feels this way?

 

[Cereal_Killer]

I have to say I agree with you. Marvel now-a-days is concerned only with the monitary value of things. They have sacrificed their continuity for the almighty dollar. For a while I stopped collecting the X-Men comics because of the lack of good stories and the fact that Wolverine was now some uber mutant due to his "popularity" in the movie. I think it was the success of X-Men movie that just killed it for me. After that the comic became more like the movie, including the new all leather costumes. The X-Men looked like something from a bad German S&M porno.

Now Marvel's rich and only going after the big green, I miss the days when Marvel was in financial trouble. They at least had some sense about the comics. I used to look forward to picking up comics every week, it didn't matter which ones they were. Now it's like I have to pick and chose which Marvel titles won't suck this week. Hell, maybe I'm just getting old.

 

[Karma]

so i wonder if it might have something to do with my being OLDER now...and since Marvel has (like so many other companies) become obsessed with appealing MAINLY to the "male under 25" demographic...that that is another reason why I dont feel as inclined to buy titles. I'm a woman who is OVER 25. i remember characters, titles and story arcs that were around before some of today's "avid" readers were born..thats one reason why i always felt like a fish out of water at MD.

 

[DonDaddyD]

Personally I think a comic fan can only stick with Marvel for so long. It's a gateway publisher that exposes you to various titles and then you can explore other publishers who provide the type of stories a reader prefers in greater depth.

These days I find it hard to simply say i like Marvel without saying but... there are hardly any more solid storylines that hit home in the mainstream contiuity.

There is still a lot I like about Marvel but loads that just make me want to drop titles I collect.

 

[sinosleep]

Maybe it's because I'm not old enough to technically feel disconnected yet (22 in June) but also I think a lot of the people that no longer enjoy Marvel comics also havn't tried out many of the best comics they have going right now. I recommend at least trying out the Ultimate line if nothing else. The Ultimates (tons of real world relevence and references), Ultimate X-Men (for Magneto's prison break alone if nothing else), Ultimate Fantastic Four (a much stronger Sue, Zombie Four, Namor) not to forget that Marvel has a good chance of finally putting out a summer event that's worth a damn with Civil War.

 

[Karma]

I am reading "Ms. Marvel" and "New Excalibur"....I've also been following Uncanny X-men again for the past year ONLY because Chris Claremont was at the helm and Phoenix III/Marvel Girl III was there. when Chris leaves..im dropping the book again.

The "Ultimate" series didnt even spark curiosity on my part...there were plenty of other attempts at "revamps" and new ideas in marvel's past that i loved but they werent give a chance such as "M2" AND before that there was "New Universe" (way before your time)

BOTH were fresh and innovative but were ultimately scrapped.

for the "25 and over" crowd...NEW isnt always better especially when it comes to following characters and many characters that i grew up with arent even worth caring about now (storm) while others who were ONCE cool are now just annoying as shit (wolverine) and OTHERS STILL who were truly worth while and should have been kept around were handled VERY poorly (Magik, Madelynne Pryor, Amanda Sefton, Synch)

The return of Ms. Marvel (who should be returned to greatness as BINARY) was something that really appealed to me because i remembered her from when i was a little girl. She hasnt changed so much that her past history has been forgotten or "retconned" to the point of nonsense.

New Excalibur is nice because it still manages to capture the same feel as the original Excalibur (it helped that three of the original team came back to help launch the second series) and it has some characters that i still enjoy (sage, dazzler).

there's an upcoming storyline in Fantastic Four i am looking forward to getting (i used to collect them regularly as well until the onslaught nonsense)

I also have purchased a few issues of Lady Death and some other titles from "Heroic Publishing"

 

[sinosleep]

Didn't spark your interest as in you never checked it out, or you looked at a couple and didn't like them? I'm telling you if you havn't given any of the ultimate titles a chance you really owe it to yourself to do so. There was a member over at MD that absolutely SWORE against The Ultimates until he was finally talked into checking it out and now it's his 2nd favorite comic. Trust me give the Ultimate line a chance at least.

Another good one is DareDevil has been EXCELLENT since Bendis took over and hasn't lost any stream after he handed the reins to Brudabaker.

 

[DonDaddyD]

Bah! I been trying to suggest them since I picked up Ultimates #1...

When I die on my halo the sentenced 'I collected Ultimate comics' will be inscribed on it. They are that good.

Another X-factor, everyone should collect X-men if they loved that gritty X-men feel back in the late 80's early 90's.

 

[sinosleep]

Yeah PAD's new run on X-Factor is friggen great. Along with the Madrox mini the preceded it.

 

[DonDaddyD]

You know if your comic fan Madrox is something everyone should read, it's just one of those comics. I doubt anyone except those wth the most specific taste in comics could ever say that they didn't enjy reading it once they finish the title.

It runs straigth into X-factor and my stance on that title is that it is the best X-men title going (I no longer consider Wolverine an X-title).

I mean the issue just gone #6 with the beaten up child, her red, eyes, brusied face, denial and Rahnes rage it was moving stuff and credit has to go to Peter David for being brave enough to put that in. In some ways seeing that child broken felt like justice yet still never far away from the feeling of pity because she is a child. Being torn in two directions like that is something Peter David does well.

He seems to have the ability to skim over the characters in each issue but yet get to the core of what they are in something as little as an action (M's stripping infront of Rictor) or a sentence (Madrox conversation about sex with Siryn). And when he gets inside a character like his deconstruction of Madrox and making him meaningful again and now his deconstruction of Layla you know your in for a zen like rollercoaster ride. I've got so much time for this guy.

 

[willblade]

If we're talking X-titles, i'd have to throw in Astonishing X-Men..Joss Whedon knows how to write characters, and it shows there. The Ultimate line of marvel comics really is something to check out. If you're up for a good laugh and still decent story, look at Cable & Deadpool. Very funny stuff there. Deadpool is a great character. Marvel isn't what it used to be..but there's still a few titles that are really good..just gotta look, give a couple of titles a try for a couple of months or pick up a trade paperback and see what appeals to you.

 

[Rampage]

"Supreme Power is another great series that relaunches the start of the Squadron Supreme and does it in he most realistic way imanigable. It leads into "Squadron Supreme" and is extremely well-written. I also have to give credit to the Ultimate line of comics as they ar all well-written it seems. My favorite is Ultimate Fantastic Four. And last but not least, they have been doing great things with the Hulk, really dealing with the mental aspect of things with him. Lots of other people hated it, but in the end I appreciated PAD's run.

 

[Lawless]

I started collecting X-Men at the tender age of 8 religiously right up until the Legacy Virus first appeared. It was right about then I realized that Marvel would remain forever geared for a younger crowd. The Legacy Virus is literally mutant AIDS but Marvel doesn’t have enough brass to actually do anything about AIDS, except for the one Hulk story, in fact they’ve gone ahead have said mutants can’t get AIDS which pretty much removes any potential story about it. And now that the Legacy Virus is cured they will not have to do anymore stories along that line. Marvel is so concerned about playing it safe and cashing in on the almighty green that they can’t actually focus on just telling a good story. To a degree comics will always be geared to the PG-13 crowd and I guess I’ll just have to deal with it if I still want to read comics. That said, kids aren’t stupid there are lot of things that they deal with everyday that comic in general are too scared to actually write about.

While Marvel appears to be too chickens### to actually do anything even moderately risky, DC doesn’t appear to have the brass to stick to a risky decision, they’re more wishy-washy the Kerry. They cleared up the bulk of there horrendously screwed up continuity with the first Crisis, over the past few years they have undone most of what they’ve fixed. It took big pair of brass ones to make Hal go bad and eventually kill him but they wimped out in the end because he wasn’t truly dead but became the Spectre and then because too many people couldn’t move on they’ve caved and brought him back. Superman is now back to pre-Crisis Goku-Almighty strength and power, which really begs the point of why read it if he can’t ever lose. Nevermind the re-emergence of the ridiculous family of heroes from each camp, Supergirl back , along with the dog, Batman has a freaking militia, and even Wonderwoman has started a cult like following. DC wants to create a new generation of favored heroes, but don’t want to retire the first generation. Marvel is just a guilty, Colossus depression driven sacrifice is made a parody by the flimsiest born reasoning, (like a full grown clone made to replace he body just in the knick of time, seriously). Psylocke is brought back from the dead because evidently her brother is God and he has it like that. Give it a year or two and will see yet another unwanted return Jean and Mags because no one new at Marvel can think of anything to do without them, yet Claremont had managed to write for year without either one them and he’s the one that made X-Men popular. Hopefully Civil War, the newest crossover gimmick created to milk even more money from our pockets, will do us justice and worth the ridiculously high prices, I too remember paying $0.50 to $0.75 for comics, those were the days. Marvel is locked in on powercreep mode, as make more and more powerful 2 dimensional bad guy while amping the heroes a little more to deal with it when they could just write a good story. Of course DC created Doomsday for no other reason than to ‘kill’ Superman when Darkseid could have very easily done the job.

For the most part comic has the MTV policy that if your over 25 they don’t care what you think, but I‘ll give Marvel and DC some credit. Especially DC there Vertigo line has cranked out some the best stories and characters, Sandman will always be one of my favorites. DC is more willing to take a chance on something anything, while Marvel can’t even come out of the closet so petrified with upsetting its status-quo which hasn’t been milked dry yet. While the Marvel had blessed us with Supreme Power, which was an even more mature and rational version of what the Ultimates with impressive results strives for. Unfortunately someone at Marvel thought that it’s better to milk the PG-13 crowd out of there money than to keep loyal adult fans satisfied so it has been moved from MAX to Marvel Knights in revenue only induced move. I can honestly say in fact that literally after 25+ years of collecting and reading comics Supreme Power and the Ultimates exceed X-Men as my favorite, (trust me and DDD, Spellbinder they’re that good). Unfortunately for me I’m more loyal to Marvel than Marvel is to me because I keep reading X-titles that appear to be in race to provide the most lack-luster writing, I cry a little inside everytime I read sub-par story. I pray that the new Squadron Supreme can deliver the same thought provoking stories under Marvel Knight that it did under MAX, but I moreso pray that someone in charge will come to their senses and put it back under MAX. Disconnected from comics, it’s more like abandonment by comics, that’s how I feel. My 2 cps.

 

[Karma]

Lawless makes a point. Once upon a time the X-men (for example) were not as commercialized or as easily recognized as they are now. Back in the days of claremont (the best era of the x-men...1975 thru 1989) the comic was still underground and it was ground breaking in the way it dealt with "prejudice". reading the X-men was like a "guilty pleasure" when compared to Fantastic Four or Avengers...although the Fantastic Four also had a very interesting "underground" period during the mid 80's thru the "Inferno Crossover" when their line up changed DRAMATICALLY to feature: Thing, Human Torch II, Crystal, the Elemental & Ms. Marvel II. I felt the "Legacy Virus" was cheap ..and i was ESPECIALLY pissed that MAGIK... a character who was once the most powerfull member of the original New Mutants, made Xavier AND Doctor Stranger afraid of her, and was responsible for the Inferno...was a VICTIM of the virus. What a cheap ass way to dispatch a character that had been TOTALLY SCREWED post Inferno. I had quite reading the X books for a short time after that...but i came back after Bob Harras came in and cleaned house and got rid of all the stupid pointless characters...and brought the X team "back to basics" with the line up of: Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Rogue, Nightcrawler, ShadowCat, Gambit and Marrow. it was a line up that harkened back to an earlier time in the house of X with the added bonus of Gambit and Marrow. Bob Harras to me was the last good "editor in chief" the Uncanny X-men had....Alan Davis had returned for a run in "Apocolypse & The Twelve" (a story that had first been hinted at way back in 1986 in the pages of X-factor). AFTER "The Twelve's" conclusion...the horrible "NEO" bullshit turned me off to the X-men permanently...then came GRANT MORRISON and his parade of STUPID, POINTLESS characters like beak, squid boy, quinten quire, martha/no-girl, globb herman etc and that HORRID Frank Quitely who drew the x-men and made them look like they were all GERIATRIC (what he did with the White Queen was just HIDDEOUS..he should be FIRED from ALL future projects) I stayed out of the "house of x" until FAIRLY RECENT.



my BIGGEST problem is that characters have changed and changed AGAIN SO MUCH...its hard to care about them. Some of my once "favorite characters"- (Storm, Psylocke for example) have been damaged beyond repair in my opinioin..both in looks and presentation. the TEAMS behind the making of marvel titles are now subject to REVOLVING DOOR SYNDROME...so now the characters in comics are subject to whatever changes any given team wants to put them through. Now LATELY with Chris Claremonts return as well as Psylocke and Marvel Girl III (Rachel) and more classic characters featured in Uncanny X-men (as well as New Excalibur) I've been reading a bit more. I'm also LOVING Ms. Marvel I's second "solo" series...which is handled by a man who GREW UP LOVING Ms. Marvel.

another problem i have is the constant resurrections. Characters like Jean and Magneto are now PUNCHLINES for the "resurrection" problem..but OTHER characters who could actually COME BACK with a logical reason behind their return (Magik I) are left ignored.