RatCreature (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ratcreature) wrote2003-03-11 02:38 am
ratcreature) wrote2003-03-11 02:38 am
Entry tags:
- batverse,
- collecting,
- comics,
- comics: meta,
- dc,
- meta,
- tv,
- tv: meta
somehow tv fandoms are easier...
Any of you following this blog might have noticed my slight preoccupation with the Batverse recently. I've always read Batman comics from time to time (though I never liked either tv series, animated series, or movies, and still don't), yet I've almost never read the continuing universe stories with this huge cast of characters, but usually stand alone stories by artists I really liked. In a way I read them despite being Batman (and thus superhero) comics not because of that.
To follow Batman comics on that "level" you don't need any in-depth knowledge of the canon or the characters really, beyond the fairly superficial things nearly everybody knows about the backstory. OTOH the characters aren't really fascinating on that level either. Now though, now I'm sucked into this complicated web of a sprawling backstory, even if I just try to get the main events of the retconned post-crisis version straight. And that makes the characters much more interesting, but it also makes things more difficult. I mean, before it never mattered that I missed some huge chunks of the story, or read stuff out of order, I just wasn't really aware of these things.
Of course, like with any (new) fandom, I want to talk about the characters, the universe, the plots, about the comics in general, but now each time I write something, I have this nagging doubt that I'm missing all sorts of stuff, that I need to put these huge disclaimers on everything I say, like "And oh, btw, I've only read the issues from #xxx to #xxx and I've only read about the Knightfall/Azrael/New Teen Titans/whatever on a website, I don't really know the canon."
Gah, I feel like those TS slash fans who've barely watched three and a half episodes now. :/ All I can say in my defense is that I'm trying to catch up (and of course you can read summaries somewhere, but that's not the same, just like transcripts and screen caps are no adequate substitute for watching episodes). But really it is a bit harder than in tv fandoms to get to a "sufficient" level of canon knowledge. I mean I had to get tapes for TS and some other series from other fans, buy lots of Buffy and Angel videos, and though much is easier with a decent internet connection, I'm used to the fact that I have to invest more time, money and/or organization to get the source material than to just turn on the tv/vcr combo. What makes the Batverse different is that it is much harder to decide which comics to get, unless you happen to be able to spend a lot of money and could simply track down and buy any DCU titles relating to Batman characters.
Unfortunately that is not an option for me. So I have to choose, and to decide what is "essential" (i.e. within my means) and what not. And I try to go by what are good character stories, which is a somewhat new approach to comics for me, since many of those comics don't have artwork I'd usually buy a comic for. It's not like I buy comics only for the artwork, but until I got sucked into this I didn't buy comics whose art I don't enjoy (or more accurately, enjoyed at least at the time I bought them), whereas I have bought comics solely for their art even if I wasn't particularly interested in the story. I love comic art especially when it's not self-indulgent and supports the story perfectly, but what exactly the story that's told with the artwork is doesn't matter as much. I think it's rather like some readers enjoying language just for itself. And while I like some of the art in those Batverse comics, I don't care for much of it, that's one of the reasons I've read Batman only sporadically in the past. So it's a rather unusual situation for me, and I'm not quite used to collecting comics even though I don't like their art.
And still I bought six Batman and Nightwing compilations and 35 single issues of Batman, Nightwing, and Gotham Knights since early February, and I'm waiting for orders of two more paperbacks and 28 single issues to arrive. Incidentally this also resulted in a negative, Bat-shaped imprint on my finances, right now limiting the speed with which I can catch up on the universe somewhat. I mean, I buy some comics every month anyway, but the last weeks there were rather more than usual. And unfortunately I can't keep up even this level of extended buying up over a longer period.
I guess you could summarize this entry as "the state of my descent into Bat-comics as of roughly six weeks after its beginning".
To follow Batman comics on that "level" you don't need any in-depth knowledge of the canon or the characters really, beyond the fairly superficial things nearly everybody knows about the backstory. OTOH the characters aren't really fascinating on that level either. Now though, now I'm sucked into this complicated web of a sprawling backstory, even if I just try to get the main events of the retconned post-crisis version straight. And that makes the characters much more interesting, but it also makes things more difficult. I mean, before it never mattered that I missed some huge chunks of the story, or read stuff out of order, I just wasn't really aware of these things.
Of course, like with any (new) fandom, I want to talk about the characters, the universe, the plots, about the comics in general, but now each time I write something, I have this nagging doubt that I'm missing all sorts of stuff, that I need to put these huge disclaimers on everything I say, like "And oh, btw, I've only read the issues from #xxx to #xxx and I've only read about the Knightfall/Azrael/New Teen Titans/whatever on a website, I don't really know the canon."
Gah, I feel like those TS slash fans who've barely watched three and a half episodes now. :/ All I can say in my defense is that I'm trying to catch up (and of course you can read summaries somewhere, but that's not the same, just like transcripts and screen caps are no adequate substitute for watching episodes). But really it is a bit harder than in tv fandoms to get to a "sufficient" level of canon knowledge. I mean I had to get tapes for TS and some other series from other fans, buy lots of Buffy and Angel videos, and though much is easier with a decent internet connection, I'm used to the fact that I have to invest more time, money and/or organization to get the source material than to just turn on the tv/vcr combo. What makes the Batverse different is that it is much harder to decide which comics to get, unless you happen to be able to spend a lot of money and could simply track down and buy any DCU titles relating to Batman characters.
Unfortunately that is not an option for me. So I have to choose, and to decide what is "essential" (i.e. within my means) and what not. And I try to go by what are good character stories, which is a somewhat new approach to comics for me, since many of those comics don't have artwork I'd usually buy a comic for. It's not like I buy comics only for the artwork, but until I got sucked into this I didn't buy comics whose art I don't enjoy (or more accurately, enjoyed at least at the time I bought them), whereas I have bought comics solely for their art even if I wasn't particularly interested in the story. I love comic art especially when it's not self-indulgent and supports the story perfectly, but what exactly the story that's told with the artwork is doesn't matter as much. I think it's rather like some readers enjoying language just for itself. And while I like some of the art in those Batverse comics, I don't care for much of it, that's one of the reasons I've read Batman only sporadically in the past. So it's a rather unusual situation for me, and I'm not quite used to collecting comics even though I don't like their art.
And still I bought six Batman and Nightwing compilations and 35 single issues of Batman, Nightwing, and Gotham Knights since early February, and I'm waiting for orders of two more paperbacks and 28 single issues to arrive. Incidentally this also resulted in a negative, Bat-shaped imprint on my finances, right now limiting the speed with which I can catch up on the universe somewhat. I mean, I buy some comics every month anyway, but the last weeks there were rather more than usual. And unfortunately I can't keep up even this level of extended buying up over a longer period.
I guess you could summarize this entry as "the state of my descent into Bat-comics as of roughly six weeks after its beginning".