The unthinkable occurred today!
I’ve made the decision to stop purchasing new comic
books. This will be the first time I
have not purchased new comic books, in an unbroken streak dating back to
1981! …And, before that, regularly
during the Silver Age into the beginning of Bronze.
The primary factors are:
No viable Disney comic book line. Since Boom! called it quits – and *I*
maintain that happened with the release of WALT DISNEY’S COMICS AND STORIES # 720, not later – I’ve been without the comics I love best. With no alternative licensed publisher on the
horizon, there’s no point in remaining hopeful, until some actual progress (if
any) is made.
The DC relaunched line called “The New 52” has been GOOD,
but overall not great. See THIS REVIEW
of a “New 52” comic that I liked. I
thought I would have had MORE such reviews.
The fact that I have not, is probably indicative of something. “Good”,
I’ve determined, is not “good enough” for the continued expenditure and storage
of product that has failed to thrill me as DC once did.
Oh, I still love the DC characters – and it is precisely
when I look at older DC comic books – from the ‘80s and ‘90s, much less from
the Silver Age – that I realize how short these new incarnations fall. If only they’d stop reinventing and
re-imagining, and go back to what made the characters great in the first
place.
With ongoing new Disney stuff that I found worthwhile, I
might have continued to pull DC “along for the ride” but, as things stand, it
makes more sense to just cut the cord… or paper, staples, whatever.
What this means is that my comics reading will be confined
to older titles already in my collection – from all of the “Ages of
Comics”. I have more than enough of
those to last me for the rest of my natural life.
What this also means is that, now (when I read comics)
I’ll be reading comics that I’m more “passionate” about, and we should have
more discussions and posts on those comics than we’ve had before.
Stick around and let’s see how that works out. …I feel so liberated!
Though I have two DVD and ‘60s entertainment-related posts (not actual reviews) ready to go over the next few days. I’m hoping you’ll enjoy those too.
11 comments:
Did you hear all of today's news?
Disney is reprinting all of Don Rosa's stories in order, including the ones that only ran in Europe.
Some clerk who worked for Dell found a stash of never before seen Carl Barks stories from the mid '50s.
DC found the original art for a series they commissioned in the late 1960s stashed in a drawer: Alex Toth drew 12 issues of it, eachone highlighting one of the Hanna-Barbera series he did character designs for.
DC also decided this new direction is al wrong, so everything is being brought back to the "go-go checks" era.
And Marvel is just giving it all up and bringing Stan back. Steve Ditko too, who now has no hard felings and calls his earlier Randian rantings "just a phase."
I'm sorry, Joe, what did you post about again today?
NOW, he tells me!
DAMN!
...Oh, and to Joe C:
THIS is why I love Blogging! Thanks for a great laugh on a somewhat sad (though liberating) day!
...And Go-Go Checks DO rule!
P-A-S-S-I-O-N, Yes. I know James Lipton said it first that way on "Celebrity Apprentice" but there's a lot of serendipity in the air.
We can all learn from John Byrne: Say "Never again", then say you were being hasty and can't remember saying "Never". ;)
Reviewing issues you have in your collection would be cool.
C'mon Disney/Marvel, make with the corporate synergy already! Geez, the one time we would all want to root for a megaconglomorate and it's the one time they choose to approach with caution. The Comic Book Marketplace is The Twilight Zone. Or The Night Gallery, judging from the Comic-cons. :)
Seriously though I can fully understand. I still generally prefer the comics of earlier days; how much of that is due to quality or to nostalgia I cannot say. I wish I had your self-control since like many collectors I'm just plain running out of room for things and I'm not 100% on the digital comics bandwagon just yet in spite of being a huge Apple nerd.
Hope you still keep a foot in by attending the occasional con. I'm probably popping by NY Comic Con this October myself and it'd be nice to say hi. (Every couple of years I try to go to SDCC, but this year I have prior plans, and the price plus the mad dash to get a hotel, much less a ticket, makes it nearly impossible.)
Joe,
Well, I'm down to Ape RICHIE purchases at this point, apart from the periodic newspaper strip collections. It's not "cold turkey" quite yet, but it's getting close!
Chris
‘Rehab:
Funny you should mention John Byrne, because there (despite my everlasting love for the Silver Age), in his Superman, was an example of “change” that not only worked – but worked well. And STUCK for a long time! Now, we just seem to have change for the sake of change. These characters were great for a REASON, DC! Take that reason and expand on it – don’t just rip and replace.
That’s one vote for my arbitrarily reviewing old comics from my long-boxes. Do I hear more? I have some reviews pre-written from pre-Blogging years past (like the “Lobo birthday” post of January) – and would enjoy creating new ones.
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Joe C:
Digital comics will never work for me. A screen presents a different reading situation than a book. I even prefer a book I can leave open flat, vs. one I have to hold open.
I’ve gone to NYCC every year. It’s the “New San Diego”. (which I formerly attended 1988-2003) I don’t expect this year to be any different. It would be nice to catch up. I’ll be the guy with no purchases! …Or, so I’ll be telling my wife! :-) Well, no “NEW” purchases, anyway!
As I told ComicBookRehab on his own Blog: On the evening of the day I decide to stop buying new comics, I just happened to see the superbly meta “final” (?) episode of BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD: “Mitefall”! Don’t tell me there’s no such thing as Karma.
Oh, and it was EVERY BIT as great as you said it was! The Simpsons and Family Guy would do well to look to THAT ONE, when the time comes for their series finales!
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Chris:
That “turkey’s” getting “colder” by the day! Some years back, could you have imagined that RICHIE RICH titles would be the LAST new ones you’d be buying?
Thanks to all for their comments! We’re still open. 24/7, in fact!
Joe.
DC, Marvel, and even Archie all jumped the shark long ago. Endless reboots and revisions, cynical marketing ploys (kill off major characters, then revive them), and high prices have all combined to turn off formerly loyal fans. Then there is the increased emphasis on sex and graphic violence, meaning fewer and fewer comics suitable for kids. And the medium has no diversity now. With TV, if you don't like soap operas, you can switch the channel and watch a Western or a comedy. With comic books, if you don't like grimdark super-heroes, you will have to look for your entertainment in another medium.
I couldn’t have said it better, Anon!
Not to mention that I’ve got enough of the things to last me forever anyway. I’ll continue to enjoy comic books (from all publishers and eras) at their best – which, at the present time, they are not.
Though, if Disney comics would return… and they’d ask me to write dialogue for them again, I think we could work something out! :-)
In the past ten years, the only comic/graphic novel I've liked that wasn't a reprint was Owly.
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