I Dropped a Lot of Comics Part Four: What It Means

We Reach the End
You've either slogged through all three of my posts about the comics I kept and quit, or you've skipped those articles to read what exactly my point is. You've (possibly) been patient so I'll tell you why I spent all this time breaking down the comics I wanted to keep getting and the ones I wanted to cut. It's because it illustrates exactly what is right and what is wrong with comics today.

I cut comics that were okay reads but generic, I got rid of ones that were dull slogs, and I stopped buying the ones I was getting not because I liked them at all, but out of some sort of commitment to a character or creator. I couldn't stand the idea of all these cross-overs so I just gave up on almost every X-Men comic due to "Battle of the Atom", and am hesitant about "Infinity" and "Forever Evil" but am at least interested enough in their premises I will give them a try. I'm the comic reader Marvel and DC don't want, someone who has loved their stuff, but is getting bored with a lot of it.

The Marvel and DC comics I kept without hesitation are the ones that are doing something interesting, be it with creative stories ("X-Men: Legacy") or making a character people once mocked kind of neat ("Aquaman"). Image and the less-big publishers that are putting out the more experimental stuff found much less of their comics cut, because I want comics that tell unique tales, not just dull comics of the same ol' super-heroes fighting some bad guy when they aren't fighting within each other.

I like the comics that push boundaries, such as some of Avatar's stuff that can be a bit extreme, but also can make for some damn good stories. I enjoy super-heroes, but if I'm reading a super-hero comic I want it to have a unique spin like Joe Casey's current works do (or again, "X-Men: Legacy", the book is truly awesome), or an intriguing hook as "Forever Evil" does with its, "Villains take over," concept that is by no means new, but should make for at least some good comics (putting aside the whole 3-D cover mess). You can even do a hero story that makes a commentary on today's comics versus the past's just as the excellent "The Standard" does. Just make sure you create something that isn't the same old song and dance.

I want my hero comics to have interesting "spins" as I said, but I also want my comics in general to have that, of course. "Saga" is an epic space-tale that at its heart is a simple and sweet love story. "The Westwood Witches" is an intriguing and dark horror yarn. "Lazarus" is a futuristic sci-fi story that seems scarily possible. These are all comics that do something different, and succeed at it wonderfully.

I can't do the boring generic super-hero comics anymore. I don't have the money and I lack the patience for it also. Should comic companies not stray from the formula of never-ending events that "compliment" boring tales of capes and capers they may find more people leaving their brand behind for other, more intriguing things. After all, I plan on doing more rounds of cutting and if Marvel and DC aren't careful they may find themselves almost completely missing from my pull-list, and many other folks' lists too.

For those who want to read the earlier posts:
Part One: Marvel
Part Two: DC and Image
Part Three: Other Publishers