Broken Frontier

Am I the only one who feels like things are slowly spirally out of control? You can’t buy one Marvel book and understand what’s going on without buying three other books. This is what made comics hit rock bottom in the ‘90s. Variant covers and all! Comic events like Zero Hour and annual Infinity Gauntlet minis left fans thinking, “Whatever happened to just regular monthly comics?” So, I’m calling you out Marvel, will you accept the challenge?

I submit to you New Avengers as my first example. The book is in a constant state of upheaval because of the stuff happening in the Marvel Universe. We have barely had an opportunity to get a feel for the team and before you know it they’re ripped to pieces. *I was really excited for the book and just looking forward to a little while of just seeing them going up against villains and stuff. But NO! It’s constantly being pulled into whatever nuttiness is consuming the company that month.

I haven’t had any time to sit back and enjoy the book for what it is: a group of awesome heroes kicking ass. Because this is one of the core titles for Marvel right now, and it’s penned by industry giant Brian Michael Bendis, it’s constantly made to be the keystone book for what’s going on in the 616. I know I’m overreacting a bit. The Sentry storyline was pretty rad and had nothing to do with the other goings on in the Universe, and the same could be said for the Ronin story arc. But I feel like I’ve barely had any time with this team before it was completely changed.

If you need more proof, look no further than Spider-Man. Right out of House of M Spidey went right into the The Other storyline, which ended with him in the new costume and riding right into the beginning of Civil War. Now that Civil War has ended (sort of) he’s beginning his Back In Black storyline. Why not give him a couple months to settle down a bit?

Look at Daredevil. Daredevil is the perfect example of how awesome a book can be when it doesn’t get wrapped up in all the crazy stuff that’s happening in the Marvel Universe. Even though Daredevil appeared in Civil War, it didn’t have much of an impact on the storylines that were going on at the time. Even through House of M, Bendis went on with the stories he had going on. And during Civil War, Brubaker never mentioned it and went on to give us two of the best Daredevil story arcs since Bendis was on the book. We need more books that writers can have some control over and not be dictated what’s supposed to happen because of what else is going on.

Civil War is far from over, and it appears its repercussions are going to be felt for a long time. But now that it’s slowly winding down will we begin to learn how the characters learn to deal with this new Marvel Universe. Nope. Because they we go right into World War Hulk, the next all-encompassing event series.

I’ll be the first to admit, I really enjoyed House of M. And Civil War? I thought it was brilliant. But why does everything have to be a big production? Why can’t we just return to monthly story lines that don’t involve everyone in the frigging universe. I mean, the reasoning is obvious. Involve as many books as possible so fans will have to buy them all to understand what’s going on. But how long is it until fans just say they’ve had enough and drop out all together?

I’m sure if you ask Marvel they’ll defend the idea and explain how fans love them and keep buying them. But of course that’s what they’re going to tell you, they’re trying to run a business. And I know Marvel isn’t the only company guilty of it. I don’t read too much DC, but since I don’t read their books as much I’m not bothered as much.

So, I challenge you Marvel Comics: I challenge you to go one year without any huge events. A year of characters dealing with their own issues in their own monthly books. A year where writers can focus their efforts on how to best write the book at hand and not make it interact with everything else in the Marvel Universe at the time. Stop using big events as a crutch to boost sales. Bring in readers by having quality written individual titles.

Do I think Marvel will accept the challenge? Not a chance. Do I think it’s going to lead to disaster? Probably not. All I know is that this is what led to me leaving comics in the ‘90s and I’d hate for it to make other fans leave now. So, give us a chance to enjoy the books the way they’re supposed to be.