Comics are awesome.

[Shockwave]

My best friend likes to read whole books online (like the entire Harry Potter series). I personally can't stand to stare at a computer screen for that long. Besides, I like being able to sit down and read an actual paper with words on it as opposed to staring at some screen. I really don't understand why everyone is flipping their nuts over things like Kindle. And just to make sure I understand this device: It's basically a device that displays the contents of books in text format on a screen and that's it? What does the thing only have like 1 meg of memory? Cause that's about all you would need for text documents. So it's hundreds of dollars for a device that is so limited it can only display text and that's it? No videos, no mp3's or music, no internet access? Honestly, what's the point? If you're gonna shell out that much money on something just buy a damned laptop and download books in pdf format and then get the added capabilities. /rant.

Anywho... I get the Transformers titles every month and that's about it. And with all the stuff I took back to the comic shop I have a now 67$ store credit which means I won't have to actually pay for comics for the rest of the year. I have nothing invested in either DC or Marvel and could really give a toss what happens in either universe. Buffy is on hiatus at the moment (between seasons 8 and 9) so that saves money too.

[Dominic]

Where are you getting those numbers from? 4 massive reboots in 6 years?

It depends of you count Superboy's time punches as being distinctive from "Infinite Crisis":

Here is how I am breaking it down:
-Infinite Crisis/52

-Final Crisis (this did undo some of what was established post-"52":

-Flash Point

We have taken great care in maintaining continuity where most important, but fans will see a new approach to our storytelling. Some of the characters will have new origins, while others will undergo minor changes."

That means they are going ot change/ignore a bunch of stuff. It seems that most of what DC has been able to do the last few years is just move pieces around or write stories about moving pieces around. As a high concept, that is only worth following for a few months at most. And, there is no reason to just read for the events if the events have no meaning in context, let alone out of context.

I really don't understand why everyone is flipping their nuts over things like Kindle.

Because the Kindle is new and cool.

In fairness, there are some people who avoid convergence devices like smart phones for economic reasons. (They do not want to centralize too much functionality in one device.) But, yeah, most people just want the cool new toy.

I would consider an e-reader if the prices dropped considerably and they were the only (or at least best) way to get non-fiction reading material. (I am not going to buy a dedicated piece of machinery simply to read fiction.)


And, now, short comments on the "Final Crisis" novel:

Final Crisis (Cox):
DC has taken to turning their larger events into novels, presumably as a way to lure in mainsream readers. As was the case with "52", the only other novel I actually read, there is a fair amount of compression/ommission in this case. Despite this, the novel is probably worth picking up because it clarifies many of the vague/unresolved points from "Final Crisis". It is best read as annotation to the comic.

Grade: B/C More valuable as a reference to an often discussed comic than as a story unto itself.

Dom
-almost done with "Foundation".

[Shockwave]

Dom, you really need to catch up on the ongoing.

Shockwave
-Thought you'd give it higher priority given that it's one of you anchor books.

[Dominic]

Fair point. But, the ongoing is starting a new arc at this point. So I would rather catch up on other stuff before starting it.

Dom
-time to start keeping an eye out for the third compilation.

[Shockwave]

Fair point. But, the ongoing is starting a new arc at this point. So I would rather catch up on other stuff before starting it.

Dom
-time to start keeping an eye out for the third compilation.

Actually I would say that the last two issues are wrapping up previous arcs.

[Sparky Prime]

It depends of you count Superboy's time punches as being distinctive from "Infinite Crisis":

Here is how I am breaking it down:
-Infinite Crisis/52

-Final Crisis (this did undo some of what was established post-"52":

-Flash Point

Superboy punching the 'wall of continuity' was their excuse for a few retcons they hadn't been able to explain (such as Jason Todd suddenly being back from the dead and aged to adulthood).

52 filled in the 'One Year Later' gap after the "Infinite Crisis" reboot, thus was the first story to detail aspects of the reboot, not a reboot itself.

Final Crisis retconned a few things but it wasn't a reboot.

With Flashpoint, DC has taken to calling it a "revamp" as apposed to a reboot, but whatever you call it, this is the first story of the type since Infinite Crisis.

That means they are going ot change/ignore a bunch of stuff. It seems that most of what DC has been able to do the last few years is just move pieces around or write stories about moving pieces around. As a high concept, that is only worth following for a few months at most. And, there is no reason to just read for the events if the events have no meaning in context, let alone out of context.

No, it means a some things will change while other things will stay consistent. And you clearly haven't been reading any of DC's stories if you think they are just moving pieces around or whatever. There most certainly is more to many of these stories than you give them credit for.

[Dominic]

"Final Crisis" was billed as a "crisis". And, it retconned, or simply changed, enough to qualify. (Bringing back Barry Allen, for good or ill, signals a huge shift for DC.)

A revamp is a reboot with a different name. And, I have seen little enough in the way of ideas from DC. Mostly they seem to be moving characters around after or leading into an event.


Moon Knight #1:
Bendis is writing this, so I am on board. Bendis addresses the question of why criminals do not simply leave the (superhero heavy) eastern states....by having a super crime lord set up shop in LA. This is not the first time that said question has been addressed in comics, nor is Bendis's obvious solution likely to stick for any appreciable length of time. But, I am seriously considering dropping one of the Avengers boooks in favor of this one.
Grade" B/C



Dom
-slowly catching up.

[Sparky Prime]

"Final Crisis" was billed as a "crisis". And, it retconned, or simply changed, enough to qualify. (Bringing back Barry Allen, for good or ill, signals a huge shift for DC.)

"Final Crisis" was billed more as "the day evil won", not really as a "crisis". Sure it retconned a few things, but it was no where close to the changes needed to qualify it as a reboot. Mainly it just brought a couple characters back to life and changed some things for the Legion of Superheroes but things were still basically the same for the DC universe after "Final Crisis" as it was before it.

A revamp is a reboot with a different name. And, I have seen little enough in the way of ideas from DC. Mostly they seem to be moving characters around after or leading into an event.

Calling it a revamp I'd say suggests it wont be as extreme as a reboot actually. And indeed many of the announced titles post-Flashpoint suggest quite a bit will continue moving forward relatively unchanged with many of the current ideas they've got going continuing to unfold and evolve despite the revamp. As I said, they aren't just "moving characters around", and you clearly aren't keeping up with the DC titles to give them credit for their ideas.

[Dominic]

DC is so absurdly cyclical at this point that saying their books will continue to progress is something of a contradiction.

Mainly it just brought a couple characters back to life and changed some things for the Legion of Superheroes but things were still basically the same for the DC universe after "Final Crisis" as it was before it.

"Final Crisis" changed at least as much as "Zero Hour" (aka "Crisis in Time") did.


On another note, if you were going to drop an "Avengers" title, would you drop "Avangers" or "New Avengers"? I am adding a new title to my pull-list, but want it to stay no larger than 5 titles. That means something has to go. Having more than two books from the same publisher by the same guy seems kind of redundant, especially on such a small list.

Costa's runs on TF and Cobra are different enough to justify keeping both. And, Morrison on "Batman Inc" is moving along and coming out on time. (I am also wary of dropping a miniseries in favor of a purported ongoing like "Moon Knight".)


Dom
-thoughts?

[138 Scourge]

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/06/0 ... nimal-man/

Some of those look interesting, some not so much, but all I've got to say is that holy crap, John Constantine is on a Justice League team. That is one of the crazier ideas I've seen in a comic.