Comic Ramblings
I wanted to talk bout something I don't get to very often in this blog.
As many of you know, I like comics. Back in my heyday (middle school, high school, college) I would put down $10-20 on comics on a weekly basis. I know that, compared to others, that's not an huge amount, but it was a thing. I loved the various X-Men series, and I also tended to latch on to any major "event" comics that came and went. Joe Maduiera was close to royalty for me.
Nowadays, between rent/mortgages, toy budgets, and just overall confusion resulting from storyline changes, artistic directions, etc, I've limited my comic reading to maybe 2 or 3 comics a month, mostly one-shots and miniseries, along with as many trade paperbacks as I can get my hands on at the local library. I still like to keep up, though, see what I'm missing.
Which is probably the reason why I picked up the two books I picked up yesterday, and I'm sorely tempted to keep up with them. They're both introductions to "events", both of which seem just too intruiging to pass up.
First off is DC's 52, the followup to the Infinite Crisis mini/maxiseries. For the past year or so, DC's been hyping Infinite Crisis, and while most would agree that the series paid off in the end, it's also fairly common knowledge that it was one of the most frustrating company crossovers in the history of company crossovers. It started with four four-issue miniseries, then a Infinite Crisis mini-series with tie-ins to every book in the DC universe. Fortunately, anyone reading the IC series itself (which I did) had a fairly decent idea of what was occurring without having to pick up any other comics, but it did leave the full-scale collectors beating their heads and their wallets.
If anyone wants to know the summary of Infinite Crisis, here's the wikipedia link. Massive, since it has links to entries that chronicle the four miniseries, as well as a chart of who lived, who died, who changed as a result of the Crisis.
The main repercussion of IC is a time leap in all DC comics (Vertigo not included). Every comic now takes place starting 1 year after IC. That may not seem like a lot, but if you consider that maybe a year's worth of comics in our clock equals, oh, 2 weeks of DC time, it's a big deal. New directions, new heroes, new villains, and, in many cases, new continuities (Infinite Crisis created a new Earth. Read the wiki, it might help).
52 #1 is the first of 52 weekly comics to be released in the next year that should, in real time, explain what happened to get the DC universe to the point it is in now. Every issue covers one week of the DC universe, and promises to discuss not only the big five (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern) but as many others as they can get in.
Issue number 1, for instance, focuses on Elongated Man, Booster Gold, Steel, Black Adam, Renee Montoya, and The Question. The only view of any of the big guys comes in one frame, as Booster accidentally knocks into Clark Kent, giving him a bloody nose (Superman was depowered in IC. Read the wiki!).
I'm really interested in keeping up with this series. at $2.50 a pop, it's not a HUGE monetary commitment, but if I eventually decide it's not worth the money, I'm still going to try to keep up on the wiki and on the 52 website, which is written in the style of a news service site. It's a nice setup.
The other comic I bought is a lot less confusing, but hopefully can live up to the potential that it's promising.
Civil War #1 is the first issue of Marvel's company-wide cross-over. It starts out with the New Warriors, who are currently a group of superheroes on a TV reality show, coming across a supervillain hideout. Seeing a ratings bonanza, the Warriors jump into action without calling for any necessary big guns. The fight spills into the outskirts of a school, where supervillain Nitro ignites himself, resulting in the death of most of the Warriors and hundreds of innocent bystanders, mostly children.
In the resulting aftermath, the government takes action. Calling for an end to costumed vigilantism, they call for a superhero registration act. This act would require all superheroes to be registered as federal employees, complete with proper training, proper salaries, proper health benefits. All superheroes who refuse to file would be subject to the same laws and punishments as all other US citizens for their actions. No more beating people up, no more destruction of property, no more flying around without proper air clearence, no more firing weapons without a permit. Screw up, and you're going to jail, just like the rest of us.
If you're powerful enough to be considered a human weapon of mass destruction, well, some worse things might happen.
Along with this new law, public sentiment for super-powers begins to turn. In the most extreme case of the issue, Johnny Storm (Human Torch of the Fantastic Four) is knocked unconscious and beaten up by a mob outside of a night club.
In the face of these new events, super-heroes are split into two camps. The side in favor of superhero regulation include such names as Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, and Hank Pym, while those opposed include Captain America, Namor, and Dr. Strange. As the series progresses, most of the heroes in the Marvel universe will take sides, and hero vs. hero slugfests are sure to follow.
How this will affect the Marvel Universe is still up in the air. When Marvel promises huge changes through these crossovers, they usually don't deliver, so I'm holding my breath. But the series has me hooked already, so I'll be keeping up with it.
As many of you know, I like comics. Back in my heyday (middle school, high school, college) I would put down $10-20 on comics on a weekly basis. I know that, compared to others, that's not an huge amount, but it was a thing. I loved the various X-Men series, and I also tended to latch on to any major "event" comics that came and went. Joe Maduiera was close to royalty for me.
Nowadays, between rent/mortgages, toy budgets, and just overall confusion resulting from storyline changes, artistic directions, etc, I've limited my comic reading to maybe 2 or 3 comics a month, mostly one-shots and miniseries, along with as many trade paperbacks as I can get my hands on at the local library. I still like to keep up, though, see what I'm missing.
Which is probably the reason why I picked up the two books I picked up yesterday, and I'm sorely tempted to keep up with them. They're both introductions to "events", both of which seem just too intruiging to pass up.
First off is DC's 52, the followup to the Infinite Crisis mini/maxiseries. For the past year or so, DC's been hyping Infinite Crisis, and while most would agree that the series paid off in the end, it's also fairly common knowledge that it was one of the most frustrating company crossovers in the history of company crossovers. It started with four four-issue miniseries, then a Infinite Crisis mini-series with tie-ins to every book in the DC universe. Fortunately, anyone reading the IC series itself (which I did) had a fairly decent idea of what was occurring without having to pick up any other comics, but it did leave the full-scale collectors beating their heads and their wallets.
If anyone wants to know the summary of Infinite Crisis, here's the wikipedia link. Massive, since it has links to entries that chronicle the four miniseries, as well as a chart of who lived, who died, who changed as a result of the Crisis.
The main repercussion of IC is a time leap in all DC comics (Vertigo not included). Every comic now takes place starting 1 year after IC. That may not seem like a lot, but if you consider that maybe a year's worth of comics in our clock equals, oh, 2 weeks of DC time, it's a big deal. New directions, new heroes, new villains, and, in many cases, new continuities (Infinite Crisis created a new Earth. Read the wiki, it might help).
52 #1 is the first of 52 weekly comics to be released in the next year that should, in real time, explain what happened to get the DC universe to the point it is in now. Every issue covers one week of the DC universe, and promises to discuss not only the big five (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern) but as many others as they can get in.
Issue number 1, for instance, focuses on Elongated Man, Booster Gold, Steel, Black Adam, Renee Montoya, and The Question. The only view of any of the big guys comes in one frame, as Booster accidentally knocks into Clark Kent, giving him a bloody nose (Superman was depowered in IC. Read the wiki!).
I'm really interested in keeping up with this series. at $2.50 a pop, it's not a HUGE monetary commitment, but if I eventually decide it's not worth the money, I'm still going to try to keep up on the wiki and on the 52 website, which is written in the style of a news service site. It's a nice setup.
The other comic I bought is a lot less confusing, but hopefully can live up to the potential that it's promising.
Civil War #1 is the first issue of Marvel's company-wide cross-over. It starts out with the New Warriors, who are currently a group of superheroes on a TV reality show, coming across a supervillain hideout. Seeing a ratings bonanza, the Warriors jump into action without calling for any necessary big guns. The fight spills into the outskirts of a school, where supervillain Nitro ignites himself, resulting in the death of most of the Warriors and hundreds of innocent bystanders, mostly children.
In the resulting aftermath, the government takes action. Calling for an end to costumed vigilantism, they call for a superhero registration act. This act would require all superheroes to be registered as federal employees, complete with proper training, proper salaries, proper health benefits. All superheroes who refuse to file would be subject to the same laws and punishments as all other US citizens for their actions. No more beating people up, no more destruction of property, no more flying around without proper air clearence, no more firing weapons without a permit. Screw up, and you're going to jail, just like the rest of us.
If you're powerful enough to be considered a human weapon of mass destruction, well, some worse things might happen.
Along with this new law, public sentiment for super-powers begins to turn. In the most extreme case of the issue, Johnny Storm (Human Torch of the Fantastic Four) is knocked unconscious and beaten up by a mob outside of a night club.
In the face of these new events, super-heroes are split into two camps. The side in favor of superhero regulation include such names as Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, and Hank Pym, while those opposed include Captain America, Namor, and Dr. Strange. As the series progresses, most of the heroes in the Marvel universe will take sides, and hero vs. hero slugfests are sure to follow.
How this will affect the Marvel Universe is still up in the air. When Marvel promises huge changes through these crossovers, they usually don't deliver, so I'm holding my breath. But the series has me hooked already, so I'll be keeping up with it.
posted by Bill at 10:15 AM
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