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A Call to Arms...Join Jamie D's Revolution!
JamieD
Posts: 210
Hello all, some of you may have listened to my call to arms in boycotting the Big 2 and their events and unwanted revamps and putting your money and time in other companies. I would like to start this thread as a way to join, give your reasons you want to join, and give some suggestions as to where to go for good alternative comics, I dont want this to turn into a Big 2 bitch fest, there are enough of those threads already, This is a positive revolution at its heart and I want to keep it this way, I want to enjoy and love this medium and I need your help!
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But I haven't hit that level of bile with Marvel yet, because, for the most part, I'm enjoying the few crossovers I've been getting there.
Oh, and what about imprints? I'll keep on my pull list non-big 2 stuff, but also Vertigo.
I'm digging the heck outta Amelia Cole. It's a digital book that's only 8 issues in an they're only $0.99 each.
There are still a handful of big 2 titles i am getting but it is in trade only and if the crossover title is not in the trade I normally get, I am not going out of my way to get it. No special events for the time until some trust is rebuilt.
Do I understand the frustration with the events? Sure. However I'm a fan of the Marvel Universe..I'm invested in it. I've been buying their books for over 20 years. I've watched characters "die" and others reborn. City blocks destroyed and alien invasions. The ocean has risen up and drowned coasts..and yet through it all nothing has ever really changed. The characters and places always revert to the status quo. A sorry ending to an event is par for the course. I know this and still throw my money at them because I love the universe..if I didn't I would have quit a LONG time ago.
The dog's breakfast* that was the Earth-Krypton War or whatever they called it was the end for me.
OTOH: Marvel Now seems to be providing some good non-crossovery series, so I'm not dropping Hawk-guy anytime soon.
*Hah! Thanks, @kiwijase!
The problem is most of that other stuff consists of mini-series, short-lived series, and one-shots. After a while it becomes exhausting. You can't really purchase those types of titles on a regular basis from an on-line pull list. It is hard to buy lesser marketed stuff you can't preview with your own eyes. The books just aren't ordered in large quantities and you find yourself trying to find "back issues". You need to have a really strong LCS who carries a lot of alternative publishers. The quality of the work is hit or miss...... there's a reason many of these "creators" are not at the Big2 or selling a lot of books.
I found more joy in buying TPB's of older stuff. Westerns, Ditko sci-fi reprints, EC reprints and the like. I started reading comic strip reprints (Terry & the Pirates, Steve Canyon, Dick Tracy, The Spirit Archives)
I also found myself buying a lot of older silver and bronze stuff to read. Such as Jim Aparo's Spectre run in Adventure Comics. Or Jack Kirby's run of the Losers in Our Fighting Forces. Those short runs are fairly easy to put together. Good reads..... and you really don't care about grade as much when you're looking for reader copies. This approach allowed me to continue reading and enjoying great comics by great creators.
Good luck with the Revolution. While I am not buying comics anymore - you have my moral support.
I've also got to back up Mr. Cosmic's POV, because that's pretty much where I stand. While admittedly a lot of DC books have been pap, I won't throw the baby (Wonder Woman and Aquaman's books) out with the bathwater.
About three years back I stopped buying DC or Marvel in single issues. DC called my bluff with the New 52, and Marvel with Marvel Now. Unfortunately, now I'm back to just trades again for both companies. Or maybe that's fortunately. :)
Kickstarter is my new bitch, as is that fabled back section of the Previews catalog. Not to mention manga which is finally getting licensed titles out there for older readers to enjoy.
Me? I'm excited about what's coming at Marvel. Infinity and the buildup in the Avengers is exciting, the idea that time travel has finally broken things and the other threads pulling together are fun for me. If they aren't fun for you...well, that's fine. I don't care for things that other fans like, but the whole idea of "Burn it all down!" while singing "Do you hear the people sing?" from Les Miz? I did that back with Age of Apocalypse (which was also a big crappy crossover that changed nothing at the end) and I learned to drop what I don't like, read what I do and not worry about things.
M
I think part of it is also a mental change that has happened with me. I have come to understand that serialized characters are there to make the company money and if you change things too much, then you risk losing the fan base that pays your check. The changes that have happened in SSM may be drastic, but I know that eventually the events will be reconciled and I'll get my Amazing Spider-Man back.
The other nice thing about SSM is that the events of Amazing Spider-Man, leading up to issue #700, stayed within that title. There was no company-wide crossover, and there were no multiple Spider titles to spread the story through. The events were just part of the story and nothing more. Any hype I heard was from Dan Slott, the writer, and the hype he gave seemed to be spot on.
- Spidey's black costume, which eventually became Venom
- Titania's origin - she's been a fairly consistent She-Hulk baddie ever since, and gets mentioned by Crusher "Absorbing Man" Creel more than once
- The breakup of Colossus and Shadowcat (per a Jim Shooter edict, IIRC)
Nothing huge...but not insignficant, either.