any opinions on the DC solicitations for October?

[ratcreature]

Somehow this month I have a hard time deciding which new (mini-)series are worth giving a try. I probably should wait until this stuff is actually published when in doubt, so that I can take a look at the comic or maybe read reviews, but my store doesn't always order a huge surplus number of all these series.

In particular I'm wondering what you think about the Outsiders relaunch as Batman and the Outsiders (written by Tony Bedard), the Gotham Underground mini-series (written by Frank Tieri), and that Simon Dark series by Steve Niles and Scott Hampton.

I'm also waffling about getting this Crime Bible: The Five Lessons of Blood mini-series by Greg Rucka. I mean, I like his writing more often than not, but the blurb kind of confuses me on what this is about, maybe because I'm still lagging so far behind with the current DC events?

Any opinions on these? Predictions or tea leave readings on their likely readability? Any other thoughts on DC's October solicitations? Like, what is it with this bazillion of Countdown tie-in mini-series, anyway?

Comments

[marag.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, was there anything there that wasn't a Countdown or Crisis tie-in? ::scratches head:: I got kinda lost.

Okay, seriously, I refuse to make any predictions. I'm hoping Batman and the Outsiders won't suck, but who knows. I'm assuming that anything involving Black Canary and Green Arrow will annoy me, so I think I'll avoid buying anything like that.

[ratcreature]

yeah, it seems all very tied up in the Countdown thing, that's part of my problem. I'm actually getting Countdown itself (though I haven't even read 52 yet) because I'm apparently a sucker, but to expect me to get countless of tie-ins on top of that weekly extra "event" comic-- at some point it's just getting shameless.

[devildoll.livejournal.com]

I was trying to fill out my order today while I was at the shop (comic shop job? not as easy to do with a broken leg as the day job is) and I was despairing. Between Countdown and Civil War, I'm just...ugh. Batman and the Outsiders sounds interesting, but Bedard underwhelms me.

[ratcreature]

I guess I'm a bit wary of this whole "edgy outlaw team" stick because it can go wrong so easily.

The current special DC "events" that drag on for years make reading seem just daunting sometimes. I'm still feeling kind of "meeep!" when I look at my accumulated DC pile. There's always all this talk about how superhero comics should be made more "accessible" to new readers, and then what we get is a continuous parade of convoluted crossover storylines.

I mean, I actually like that superhero comics have this huge universe as a background, and I will read a comic armed with a couple of online encyclopedias if necessary, but it would be nice to have a more balanced mix of "universe mytharc" and regular ongoing storylines with just a core cast for a series. I don't mean oneshots, but series like Daredevil over at Marvel for example which had very little overlap into the whole Civil War thing, and which I can follow easily without knowing any of the other Marvel stuff, like, I don't need to pick up their Hulk War event or whatever that is, or the current "yet another convoluted mutant species thing" that always seems to be happening, just to get my angsty Matt Murdock soap opera.

Now looking at DC's solicits it seems almost everything has been tied up in their universe revamp. :/

[devildoll.livejournal.com]

The current special DC "events" that drag on for years make reading seem just daunting sometimes.

*nods*

I have a deep deep hatred of them, and it used to be each of the Big Two would have maybe one a year, and I'd suffer through and then jump back in. But now they just come one right after another, and DC is so mired in them right now that it's impossible for me to jump back in.

The last time I was reading numerous free-standing DC titles was before War Games, so that's three years ago.

There's always all this talk about how superhero comics should be made more "accessible" to new readers, and then what we get is a continuous parade of convoluted crossover storylines.

It almost seems now like that's all we're going to get for the time being. The crossovers are coming closer together and lasting longer, and there's just no good place for people to jump in.


I don't mean oneshots, but series like Daredevil over at Marvel for example which had very little overlap into the whole Civil War thing, and which I can follow easily without knowing any of the other Marvel stuff, like, I don't need to pick up their Hulk War event or whatever that is, or the current "yet another convoluted mutant species thing" that always seems to be happening, just to get my angsty Matt Murdock soap opera.

Yeah, I miss those days, back when you could read a character's book, and it was about him doing this thing, and once in a while another character would make an appearance, but for the most part, if you were reading Hulk, it was about what Hulk was doing. If you were reading Nightwing, it was about what Nightwing was doing.

I guess I'm just an old fuddy duddy, but I liked it that way.

Now looking at DC's solicits it seems almost everything has been tied up in their universe revamp. :/

Oh, yeah. And at this point, if you don't know the last 20 years of continuity like the back of your hand, a lot of what's happening go right over your head. I gave up.

[ratcreature]

The last time I was reading numerous free-standing DC titles was before War Games, so that's three years ago.


Yeah, that's just about when I stopped reading. And while I didn't really stop because of the crossovers, but mostly because I had a phase of less interest in comics -- I just tend to be somewhat cyclic with what I'm into, it happens with other fandoms too, like a couple of months I'm really into SW, and then I go into a HP or SGA phase and get back to SW later on etc -- this makes it *really* hard to get back into DC even though I'm in the mood for comics again.

That just can't be a sound strategy, that even geeky people motivated and somewhat familiar with their universe have trouble reading. I think it's fine for superhero comics to have a complex continuity in the background and tying into the stories, that's part of their appeal for me after all, and why I switched to reading them rather than European action-adventure and SF/Fantasy comics like I did before getting pimped into superheroes, but not so much that it's the main thing all the time so that you get sick of it.

[v-wiggin.livejournal.com]

I guess my biggest beef with Batman and the Outsiders is the inclusion of Catwoman. Don't get me wrong I love Selina. But with all the crap being put on her character like reforming and being the defender of the East End, I just don't recognize my favorite cat thief anymore. And now they're putting her in a team! Seriously Selina Kyle has never been a team player. Unfortunately I'm a crazy Batman/Catwoman shipper so I'm probably going to be checking this out but I'll wait for the reviews first. Also I keep getting surprised by how well written the Catwoman series is.

As for the other DC comics I'm with the other posters. With all that crazy Crisises going on I just don't have the money to buy all this stuff. Marvel's getting a fair chunk of my paycheck already.

[ratcreature]

Yeah, I feel that past a certain point the crossovers are counterproductive for sales, even if you are a fan an willing to by some. I mean, if I have like a couple of favorite characters, and say already regularly buy four or five series and one oe two team books for them, then I may go for one or even two extra crossover books for a while, to follow a larger event story (also I actually used to like crossover events in moderation), but not half a dozen or more. Eventually that is just going to make me drop books if I can't follow them without buying a ton of extra books.