Jessica Jones

While I await this week's comics, this news that Jessica Jones is returning to Marvel comics in the fall has me very happy. With DC's Rebirth giving me new comics to enjoy, Image continuing to publish quality titles I love, and Marvel giving female characters some respect with their own books, reading comics has hit a high point for me.

The Problem with the Big Two

A very interesting article points out the problems with Marvel and DC as their sales decline, with an emphasis on how many titles they put out each month.

Here's my comment on the post:

I’m a Boomer, in my early 60s. I read more Image comics than from any other company. Saga, Lazarus, Velvet, Black Magick, Descender, Shutter, and Copperhead are amazing comics and they don’t force me to read crossovers with titles I don’t have any interest in. From Marvel, I read Ms. Marvel and am looking forward to the return of Captain Marvel and Black Widow. From DC, I read Red Hood Arsenal (but only because Roy Harper is my favorite character; the book kinda sucks right now), Harley Quinn, and Black Canary. Astro City continues to amaze and delight. 

I like diversity and variety. I grew up a DC reader, getting 30-40 titles a month, but I got tired of reboots and being made to feel like I don’t matter. I got tired of endless crossovers and the unrelenting lack of fun in most DC books. It was the New 52 reboot that drove me to find new comics to read and inspired me to sample Image titles. 

I can’t help buy wonder if DC and Marvel even know who their readers are or what readers they want to encourage. It seems that every time I get to like a character or comic, they’re rebooted or canceled. It’s too frustrating for me.

I wish I could enjoy the other good books at DC, but I feel I've read about as many Batman and Superman stories as I care to, at least right now. I'm tempted by the Lois and Clark book because it's the pre-new 52 version of the characters, or so I've heard, but so far, I've resisted. If I can't keep reading stories set in the pre-new 52 'verse, then I want something as different as possible from that. Harley Quinn and Black Canary are giving me that, with nice art, good writing, and a fun attitude. Similarly, Gotham Academy is something new to me. But Starfire is just too bland for me to take seriously, though the art is nice. It's a good book for younger readers getting into superheroes.

As for Marvel, I've never read more than a few at a time, but it seems that as soon as I get into a character or storyline these days, everything is turned over. And that's okay, as long as what follows is good. But I'm a bit dumbfounded by the change in Star-Lord, though I'm still giving the new, revised origin, year one book a chance. I'm nervously looking forward to the new Captain Marvel and Black Widow. And I'm very glad nothing substantial as changed with the excellent Ms. Marvel.

But all the event stories and crossovers and reboots, etc. are exhausting. I didn't mind a crossover for a book or two in the past, but these days, it's an investment in time and money I don't want to make. I've got stacks of graphic novels and collected editions (just finished Alias and have started The Pulse: Jessica Jones) to read. I don't want to have stacks of monthlies, too. Stories that continue for too long is another issue. Sure, Image books do that, but the best finish an arc with issues coming out on schedule, then take a break for their creative team to stockpile issues for the next arc. (I'm looking at you, Team Saga!) But with Image books, there really is a feel that you're reading a novel in monthly or bimonthly chapters, bringing to mind the old pulp magazines, the format in which authors like Charles Dickens were first published. If the story is good enough, the characters engaging enough, the art special enough, I'll happily read that way. At least the books stand on their own, each with its own universe. Each gives me a unique reading experience. The stuff DC and Marvel are putting out don't quite do that. After a while, it all starts to feel the same.

I applauded DC's most recent attempt to resurrect its lineup. Continuity didn't matter as much as telling a good story. But in reality, this doesn't work so well, at least not for me. Because when it's about characters like Starfire, who in her book seems to not have been in a relationship with Roy Harper, but in Red Hood Arsenal, Roy is still trying to get over their breakup, it leads to a mental disconnect I found confusing and irritating. DC, like Marvel, was always set in one universe or multiverse. We knew what Earth our Earth-bound characters were on. We knew where everyone stood. And we knew everything was connected somehow. But now, in an attempt to make their books more reader friendly, to entice new readers, they've created what I see as a mess, a muddle, a lot of pieces that might or might not be connected. And if they are connected and you don't read all the books -- the crossover events that seem to come more and more often -- you end up lost and might give up. When characters deviate too much from what they were, from their essence, you might give up, unless you love the new version more, and how often does that happen? And Marvel is probably just as guilty of this, but I don't read enough and haven't read enough Marvel titles to know for sure.

My solution to what bothers me about DC, and to some extent, Marvel, is to read more Image titles, with a smattering from other companies as they interest me, along with Vertigo and Dynamite imprints. Maybe a diversified market is good. Maybe more competition is good. Maybe it's time DC and Marvel shared the audience and the wealth. I can get behind that.

Oh the Angst

I have now finished reading Ed Brubaker's epic Captain America/Bucky Barnes saga, ending with "Winter Soldier: The Complete Collection." It was all masterful -- he's one of my all-time favorite comics writers -- but now I'm depressed. If you haven't read these, he didn't exactly leave Bucky in a good place emotionally, damn it. I'm not exactly eager to read more Bucky comics because from what I've seen of them, skimming them in various comic book shops, they pale in comparison to Brubaker's brilliance.

Roy Harper is my all-time favorite DC character (along with the original Supergirl) and now Bucky is my all-time favorite Marvel character. Oddly enough, both Bucky and the version of Roy before the nu52 DC lost an arm. I think Bucky lucked out with the better prosthetic limb, but for angst factor, they might be tied. Bucky was a programmed assassin and ended up losing the love of his life Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, who had her memories of him wiped due to a nefarious plot, but Roy had been a heroin addict who cleaned up his act, then suffered the loss of his young daughter, Lian, during... yup, a nefarious plot.

Meanwhile, I saw Ant-Man which totally rocked. It was loads of fun, but oh, that post-credits scene. Not the mid-credits scene, though that was fun, but the one at the very, very end. *sigh* And I hope the Milgrom Hotel where Scott was staying was named in honor of Al Milgrom, comics artist, editor, etc. If not, I'm going to pretend it was.

Finally, "Get on the damn ant, Scott." (I think I remembered that correctly.)

Big Week for TV Comic Book Shows

I've read some comics. I've got more comics to read. When I finish the new ones from this week, I'll post a review.

Meanwhile, I'm buying the trades of Captain America that brought back Bucky. There are a lot more of them than I realized, so it'll take me a while to read 'em all. I've gotten a bit obsessed with Bucky and it might have to do with Sebastian Stan playing him in the movies. Maybe. Possibly.

I also loved the season finales of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (Wowzers!), Arrow (Nicely tied up a lot of plot points, and Thea as Speedy!), and we've got the Flash finale on Tuesday, which looks like it will be awesome, too.

Other TV items made me very happy this week. Not only did Supergirl get picked up by CBS for the fall, but the trailer was released and it looks fantastic. This is the Kara Zor-El I loved growing up in the '60s. I don't mind any changes they make. I just want the characterization to be right and from what I saw in the trailer, it's perfect. And since CBS owns the CW, there could possibly be crossovers with Flash and Arrow.

Another DC show is heading for the CW as a mid-season show, also from the makers of Flash and Arrow, using characters from those shows and more. The trailer has spoilers but it has me so jazzed, I can barely contain my excitement. Legends of Tomorrow features Arthur Darvill of Doctor Who (Rory!) as Rip Hunter (!!!). The DC TVU is expanding at a nice rate. I wish Constantine hadn't been canceled, but I'm pleased with all the DC we'll be getting on TV next season, because Gotham, though in a different part of the DCU TV 'verse, will also be back.

Also, Agent Carter will be back, along with Agents of SHIELD, so that's a relief. I really enjoyed Agent Carter.

Other news that made me happy this week is the promise of more crossovers between Flash and Arrow. While crossovers can be annoying in the comics because they're so overdone and involve too many titles/issues these days, they're so much fun on TV.

Also, a fan came up with a wonderful female Avengers team, with a token male, basically a gender reversal for the actual Avengers of the first movie.

And finally, after 33 minutes in NYCC's queue from hell, and another 70 minutes trying to actually buy tickets, I managed to get a 4-day pass. Which was a better outcome than last year when I missed out on the 4-day pass and had to buy dailies in order to get Thursday.

Thor and Related Matters

I don't read Thor, just follow the character in the movies, so the announcement that Marvel was introducing a new Thor who is female because the son of Odin was no longer worthy didn't matter much to me as a reader. But as a comic book fan, I am interested in what it means. The Comics Beat looks at the announcement, how it was made and what it could mean in the long term, because odds are, this isn't a permanent change.

Let's face it, Superman didn't stay dead, nor did Batman. I don't follow Marvel all that much, but I believe a lot of changes were eventual undone, and the article points out a few of them, including Steve Rogers not being Captain America, then becoming him again. One change in gender that seems perfect to me is Carol Danvers taking over as Captain Marvel.

This article that looks at female readership of comics is also worth reading. A valid point is made that the move from newsstand to direct market sales cost a lot of comics, especially Archies, their female readers. I'm fortunate that I discovered a comic book convention in NY in the '70s, thanks to an editorial comment in a lettercol, and from a con, I eventually discovered a comic book store and started shopping there. I was one of a very few females who shopped there, but I was never made to feel I didn't belong, which apparently, is a rarity. My only break from comics was from the mid-'80s to the early-'90s, and that was due to DC killing off the original Supergirl and not anything to do with marketing.

But I do take a bit of exception from this sentiment, from the second article:

"I think it’s fine to have boy-focused material like Batman or Spider-Man or whatever, as long as you don’t use boy focused material as “proof” that women don’t read comics. It’s like saying that just because guys overwhelmingly like Transformers movies, women don’t like any movies. It’s exactly like that."

Because, see, I like those boy-focused books, too. I like Batman (well, I did before the reboot, but that's another issue). And I'll bet there are boys who enjoy or would enjoy female-centric comics, but are too embarrassed to admit it because they'd be teased unmercifully.

Sure, there are gender differences when it comes to reading, but a lot of that is imposed on kids when they're young, via parental attitudes, societal influence, etc. And even with that, there's a middle ground, an overlapping. I read romance comics, for instance, but gave them up when I hit puberty. I preferred action/adventure. I preferred superheroes. I don't tend to like reading about characters I can identify with as much as I enjoy reading about ones who are different than me. And I enjoy variety. Sure, I loved Supergirl. She was the closest to my age, as I've mentioned before, and we kind of grew up together, but I wouldn't want all the comics I read to be about characters like her. I want to read about all sorts of characters doing exciting things and it doesn't matter to me which sex they are or identify with. There are still newsstand comics, too; they're sold in the magazine section of Barnes & Noble (at least in NYC), though I agree with the article that digital comics serve well as a newsstand if you can read digitally (I can do text but reading comics on a screen bothers my eyes after too short a time). 

I think once we stop making distinctions of boy and girl comics or boy and girl pretty much everything considered entertainment or educational, we'll truly be making progress toward gender equality.