Dominic wrote:AHM had ideas beyond "TF is kewl", which is more than I can say for 2/3 or so of IDW's stories, (and 90% of Furman's recent output).
What ideas? I really didn't see much of anything going on in this series before it goes back to the classic "giant robot toy death match". It started out with some promise but didn't follow up on any of it.
The continuity errors were, most likely, the result of an editorial directive to change directions because the books were not selling even after a block-buster movie.
Given these books are supposed to be in the same continuity as the previous stories, there is no excuse for there to be such errors. Besides that, it doesn't make sense for the editorial directive to blatantly ignore those errors only to go back with the Coda issues to try and fix it. More likely, they went with what ever McCarthy wrote, and when fans started to complain about the continuity errors, decided to try and fix it with Coda.
(Every shop-owner I talk to around Boston tells me that the books was not selling. And, only 1 was actively poisoning the well.) I am not sure about current sales. But, I can poke around a bit. And, "stuff what happens" errors can be fixed, and are forgivable provided they are not the result of trying to justify later fixes or simply writing for "rule of cool".
From the numbers I've seen according to Diamond, AHM really did not do any better than the previous series:
AHM #1 - 15,700, #2 - 13,356, #3 - 13,234, #4 - 12,835, #5 - 12,384, #6 - 11,841, #7 - 11,830, #8 - 11,729, #9 - 11,477, #10 - 12,182, #11 - 12,292, #12 - exact amount not yet known, estimated index ranking is 12.51
Now looking at Transformers Devastation to use as a basis for comparison:
#1 - 15,688, #2 - ???, #3 - 13,329, #4 - 13,594, #5 - 13,176, #6 - ???
I couldn't find the listing for Devastation 2 and 6, but this still gives you a general idea that the numbers didn't change all that much. Really if anything, Devastation actually has somewhat consistently higher numbers than AHM. And I don't see that "stuff what happens" errors are all that forgivable. Minor mistakes do happen, but these are much more than minor oversights.
"Blackest Night" is not the multi-faceted parade of horribles that "Final Crisis was. But, "Final Crisis" was idea based, (even if the idea was bad), which gave it additional depth.
So you're claiming Blackest Night has no ideas and therefore no depth? Clearly you haven't been following Green Lantern for very long then. The planning and ideas that have gone into this story and leading up to it has been sensational. They've actually been dropping hints and building up to it since Rebirth.
The problem with "Ultimates" is that Marvel created a series of bastardized books. They wanted "new reader" friendly, and they went for "edgy sophistication" that would only appeal to long-time comic readers. The stories ultimately (heh, puns are fun) had little to say beyond "look how maturezors we is". And, after the intitial talk of "bold new directions", Marvel produced basic (if a bit "grittier") capes and tights books, often rehashing old stories in the process.
Have you actually read any of the Ultimate titles? Ultimate Spider-Man was originally intended to be a stand alone story that retold his origins in a new modernized somewhat more realistic way as well as to interest new readers who didn't want to be bogged down with all the continuity of 616. It turned out to be a huge success though so they continued with the line and eventually branched out. Ultimate Spider-Man would go on to consistently out sell Amazing Spider-Man as Marvel's top selling book until Mark Bagley left the title. And it's been downhill ever since Jeph Loeb started destroying the Ultimate Universe. And it's hardly ever been a rehash of the 616 stories. None of the characters are exactly who or what they are in the 616 universe.
