Monday, August 15, 2011

Blogathon 19: Random Thoughts! Part One

[Beginning my random thoughts on event books and other trends of the past decade of superhero comics.]

Random Thought! What was the first Marvel event of the decade? I don't recall many in the early days of the Quesada/Jemas regime. Was the first House of M? There were some crossovers, sure, but no big line-wide events with a separate mini-series to tell the story and spin-offs and tie-ins. Was there something before that? I'm drawing a blank.

Random Thought! At the same time, was Infinite Crisis the first DC event of the time period I'm discussing? Was there actually, like, four or five years there were there were no big line-wide events? Did events not become the thing until around 2004/2005?

Random Thought! If that's the case, why did they disappear? I know Marvel went through a period of rebranding and revamping titles, but DC? Or did they find that people just didn't give a fuck about comics like Day of Judgment and Genesis, so they stopped for a while?

Random Thought! There's only one Geoff Johns comic I actually love and that's Infinite Crisis #2. Even bought a copy of it for myself despite reading my dad's copies. I loved his idea that Superman-Prime and the group were coming to the DCU because the previous 15-20 years of comics had sucked. Granted, the irony is that it's not like things got lighter or more like the 'old days' after the event...

Random Thought! Oh, Scarlet Witch... you're powerful enough, but you can't stop the X-Men. "No more mutants?" PFT! Try telling that to Marvel's once largest franchise!

Random Thought! Then again, when the House of M world was created, various people could remember their old lives, so it's not like her powers were 100% at any point.

Random Thought! I still think that House of M should have been the thing that makes Peter Parker say "Fuck the world" and hang himself. Ugly and mean, I know, but so is remembering a life where everything you ever wanted was true and, now, it's gone. I'm sorry, but there's no way in a hell a guy with a life as shitty as his is most of the time wouldn't kill himself in the wake of that. But, as Tim and I have discussed, these people should all be suffering from 20 different kinds of mental illness after all of the weird shit they've seen.

Random Thought! I remember talking to Geoff Johns before Infinite Crisis came out and he was talking about how it would be less a continuity reboot and more of a tonal reboot for the DCU. That... that didn't actually happen, did it?

Random Thought! Will Superboy-Prime be in the new DCU? Oh my god, is he the editor?

Random Thought! I'm still pissed that the US cover prices of the Infinite Crisis hardcover and Civil War trade are the same. Even more pissed that the Canadian cover price was higher on the Civil War trade. That, and DC actually keeping shit in print is why DC's collections department has it all over Marvel's.

In 30 minutes, more random thoughts as I move past House of M and Infinite Crisis hopefully.

[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Hero Initiative! (Details in this post.) After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]