Badmovies.org Forum

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

So, WTF?  Now that the SHADOWLANDS saga is over, DAREDEVIL: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR has become BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR and Marvel is launching DAREDEVIL REBORN in January.  Are comics becoming too complicated (and are we seeing way too many "reborns") or am I just being old-fashioned?

Every couple of years or so both DC and Marvel throw in some huge event to stir the pot and get interest.  It must be hard to keep continuing the same stories over and over without doing something reasonably dramatic.  I'm not reading as many as I used to but I saw recently that apparently one of the fantastic four are about to be killed off.  Wonder for how long this one will last...

I was killing time on my lunch break the other day and went into Borders and read a recent Xmen import and I quite liked one comment that was made by a character; his arm had been cut off and they were replacing it with some robotic hand and he was getting all frustrated saying 'we can bring people back to life all the time, how about my arm!'

Kinda hard not to see his point...

I'm used to all the ReBorns, Relaunches, etc.

Sad state of affairs but I guess it must be done from time to time.  Most of the characters have been around so long that almost every kinda story has been done with them, so it's okay to kill em off/make em disappear for a bit to revive some stories if need be.  Soap Operas do it all the time.

I don't follow comics as closely anymore.  And the ones I do are limited to Spider-Man and The Hulk.

I just started following comics again a few months ago.  I'm a big fan of Silver and Bronze Age comics (primarily Marvel), but I decided to try to "catch up" on current stuff.  I have subscriptions to most of the top Marvel titles (AVENGERS, CAPTAIN AMERICA, DAREDEVIL, THOR, INCREDIBLE HULKS, FANTASTIC FOUR, INVINCIBLE IRON MAN, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, UNCANNY X-MEN, and BLACK WIDOW, which just ended so they switched my subscription over to extend my IRON MAN subscription for several extra issues) and a few DC titles (BATMAN, GREEN ARROW, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA).  Plus, I buy a few issues "off the shelves" every month (such as SUPERMAN, the SHADOWLANDS series, which just ended, SPIDER-MAN AND THE FANTASTIC FOUR, which just ended, and various one-shots).  Definitely different worlds between the Silver and Bronze Age stuff and the current stuff.  I think the old stuff is far better for escapist entertainment, but the newer stuff is edgier and more "adult."

 

I didn't start reading comics til the early/mid '90s, as I approached the age of 10.  I've yet to read older stuff, but I really don't know where to look much beyond comic shops around here.  I'm a huge fan of Marvel, and don't like DC at all, really, outside of Batman.  Most comic fans argue and tell me how Marvel is sh*t, but I don't care.  I feel they have the better books, like Captain America, The Hulk, X-Men, Daredevil, Spider-Man, etc.  I just don't have enough money to subscribe to em all, which is why I limited to Hulk and Spider-Man.

The problem is, Spider-Man did get a bit muffled there in the mid '90s with the clone sagas, and Peter wasn't Peter but was Ben Reilly, and was working at like, Starbucks, listening to Hootie and The Blowfish, a different costume, the whole thing.  I read it though.  It was different.  I gotta renew my subscriptions though.  It ran out a few months back, and last I read, J. Jonah Jameson had become mayor, his dad married Aunt May, and Eddie Brock had cancer and was Anti-Venom, a vigilante trying to hellp Spider-Man.

HappyGilmore:

In the 1960s and 70s, Marvel clearly had the better books.  Marvel's stories and characters were evolving with the times and seemed to be aimed at more mature readers, while DC's remained childish.  So, all my life I've been a huge Marvel fan.  However, I must say DC and Marvel's current issues are just about equal.  DC definitely "caught up with the times" over the last couple of decades.  I'm still a slightly bigger fan of Marvel, but DC has closed the gap.

I can't really disagree about DC's output, as I don't read any DC output beyond Batman.  Never liked Superman.  Never liked Wonder Woman, or mainly any book they've put out that I've read in the past.  I'm not debating 'quality' or anything.  It's also about money too.  Books and subscriptions at this point cost a great deal.  I dont' have a lot of extra cash to throw about. 

It's mainly about preferentials at this point.  Only times I even get to read DC is if I'm at the comic shop and have extra cash and do purchase a few issues.  But, I guess cause I don't read them enough, I'm prejudiced.  Eh.

I was never a big SUPERMAN fan until recently.  DC is running a pretty good SUPERMAN storyline now where he's walking across the United States meeting people, solving problems, and "finding himself."  One recent issue involved a kid who was being abused by his father.  I thought DC handled the subject matter very well.

The only DC stuff I've read lately is Green Lantern.  And Batman.  I don't dislike Lantern but I'm not a hardcore fan either.  Batman has a great array of villains in his books.  Penguin is my personal favorite, along with The Riddler. 

I kinda feel the "Modern Age of Comics" dating back to the mid '80s or so is the best run of comics to be done, but most would disagree.

I've been subscribing to BATMAN since issue #700 (so, not very long).  I've also been following the BATMAN ODYSSEY series.  I used to have a few issues from the 1950s and 60s, but I sold them on eBay.  They were primarily Joker and Riddler stories.

If you follow comics at all, what's your opinion on Rob Liefeld?

Seems to be a guy you either love or hate.

I'm not sure who he is.  Back when I was a kid and a teenager I was very familiar with comic book people (back then the big names were Jack Kirby, Neal Adams (I still love his stuff), John Romita, Marv Wolfman, Herb Trimpe, Don Heck, Wally Wood, etc., and of course Stan Lee.  I don't pay much attention to the names of the artists and writers these days.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Liefeld

He's a guy, known for Marvel's The New Mutants and later, helping launch both X-Force for Marvel and launching the comic company Image, with Todd MacFarlane and a few others.  He helped launch the campaign for 'creator owned comics', mainly, he was tired of introducing characters for Marvel and then THEY own it.  He created Youngblood.

Seems like a nice enough guy, is a decent writer, but apparently can be a d**k, as he's on the outs with Marvel, and after launching a company with Todd MacFarlane (the Spawn guy), found himself on the outs there too as he kinda got booted.