DC vs MARVEL (aka INFINITE CRISIS vs HOUSE OF M): Get ready for indie-volution?

[Benjamin Ong]

[note: Sister thread @ Marvel Universe (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=63849)]

Well, nobody's gonna get hurt here (except for our wallets and bank accounts, although the publishers kept reminding readers that we need not get all the issues)

Okay, who's been getting all the Infinite Crisis-related minis such as The OMAC Project, Day of Vengence, Villains United, Rann/Thanagar War and Return of Donna Troy? And the other crucial stories like the ones in JSA, Teen Titans, Outsiders, Batman, etc?

Who bought House of M #1. And who's planning to get the tie-ins like the HOM: Spidey, Fantastic Four, Iron Man minis and also Hulk, New X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, etc?

Other than spending your remaining cash on Batman Begins, Fantastic Four, etc., what titles from these two publishers have you dropped?

What indie and small press titles have you stopped buying?

What else are you still getting every month?

And what are you looking forward to buying in the next few months? If you still have the cash. Uh.

Related links:
COUNTING THE COSTS...HOUSE OF M AND COUNTDOWN TO INFINITE CRISIS (http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35818)

DC
DC'S CRISIS COUNSELING @ WW: PHILLY - "ONE YEAR LATER..." (http://newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35157)

RUCKA TALKS THE OMAC PROJECT (http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28181) (also RUCKA ON THE CRISIS REVEAL & OMAC (http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30235))

GAIL SIMONE ON VILLIANS UNITED (http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28500)

DAVE GIBBONS ON THE RANN/THANGAR WAR (http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28295)

BILL WILLINGHAM ON DAY OF VENGEANCE (http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31287)

JIMENEZ ON THE RETURN OF DONNA TROY (http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33195)

DC EXPANDS INFINITE CRISIS TIE-IN LIST (p://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35595)

COUNTING DOWN IN THE DCU WITH DAN DIDIO (http://www.newsarama.com/pages/DC/Didio_Countdown.htm)

RUCKA, JOHNS, & WINICK ON DC COUNTDOWN (http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27581)

Marvel
MARVEL'S HOUSE OF M PANEL @ WW: PHILADELPHIA (http://www.newsarama.com/wwphilly05/Marvel/HouseofM/WWPhilHoM.htm)

MARVEL'S “HOUSE OF M” PRESS CONFERENCE – MAY 5th 2005 (http://www.newsarama.com/Marvel/HouseofM/webmediacall.htm)

BRIAN BENDIS: MAN OF THE HOUSE (http://www.newsarama.com/Marvel/HouseofM/Bendis_HoM.htm)

TOM PEYER ON SPIDER-MAN: HOUSE OF M (http://newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31061)

GREG PAK ON IRON MAN: HOUSE OF M (http://newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30457)

LAYMAN ON FANTASTIC FOUR: HOUSE OF M (http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30787)

BREVOORT ON THE HOUSE OF M TIE-INS (http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30456)

PETER DAVID ON THE HULK IN THE HOUSE OF M... (http://newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33477)

DAVID HINE ON MUTOPIA X (http://newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30603)

LAYLA WHO? BENDIS & BREVOORT TALK LAYLYA MILLER (http://newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32619)

[CodeMonkey]

Well, I'm not dropping any books due to the infinite crossover or House of M(oney) as they are just running into the books I already buy (which is pretty much everything). And I have a deep enough cash flow to not really have to worry about dropping any books to get new ones.

I do feel sorry for the people who got, say Birds of Prey this week thinking there'd be an OMAC tie-in when all you get is 2 panels of OMAC analyzing Barbara off-screen. In no way/shape/form is that a "tie-in" in any universe.

At least with Marvel the House of M books are replacing the current ones like they did with Age of Apoc. DC is being less kind.

[Forsaken_One]

Meh, I'm moving towards more indie comics (well, a great deal more if you count Top Cow/Image and Darkhorse as "indie") anyway. DC/Marvel just don't interest me all that much lately.

[EDmanwalking]

I'm getting all the IC minis, as well as tie-ins in other books because I buy those books anyway each month. The only things that have tie-ins that I haven't got so far are Breach, BoP and Firestorm. I may be adding Firestorm to my pull list soon, and from the looks of what CodeMonkey just said, it isn't safe to buy a comic simply because it has the tie-in stamp on the front.

[Captain Jim]

I'm getting all of the IC minis, as well as most of the tie-in's in other books (many of which I was getting already). I'm not doing this because I feel I have to, but because I'm enjoying them.

House of M, I'm getting the main series, but that's probably all (unless there's a tie-in in a title I get anyway). The House of M tie-in's simply look like an excuse to do a lot of "what if" type stories, if you ask me.

I'm buying less independent comics nowadays. Several of the titles I was picking up have ended, others have been a disappointment, and still others are simply too expensive.

[EDmanwalking]

I'll tend to look out for the indepent titles in trades these days. I'm not buying House of M right now, but that may change. Possibly once it's over I'll have a scope over the 10 billion different variant covers and chose my issues. I'd rather have that in monthlies than in trade tbh. And as Captain Jim said, the House of M minis just look like "What Ifs..." so they don't appeal to me much. I'm enjoying all of the Countdown minis, however.

[Yellow_Bastard]

I actually haven't read Identity Crisis yet friggin comic shop is sold out so i wopn't be getting anything remotely related to infinite crisis yet. BTW: how is Identity Crisis? Never much of a big DC guy.

Though for house of M, I'm a sucker for the minis I'm picking up HOM: Spiderman, Iron Man, Fantastic FOur, as well as the original series

[Lex]

Well, nobody's gonna get hurt here (except for our wallets and bank accounts, although the publishers kept reminding readers that we need not get all the issues)

Well guess what? You don't! You shouldn't feel like you have to buy every tie-in to get the whole story. For example, save some money and buy either Day of Vengeance or JSA. Not both. They have the same story in them.

Okay, who's been getting all the Infinite Crisis-related minis such as The OMAC Project, Day of Vengence, Villains United, Rann/Thanagar War and Return of Donna Troy? And the other crucial stories like the ones in JSA, Teen Titans, Outsiders, Batman, etc?

I'm not. I'm only following Day of Vengeance (because of the awesomeness of Detective Chimp, Ragman and Blue Devil fighting the Spectre) and Villains United because it's written by Gail. I was going to follow Rann/Thanagar War because I thought it would continue the fun that was in the Adam Strange mini-series... but sadly it did not.

I'm not interested in the tie-ins because they are bugging the crap out of me. I've dropped several books, like Teen Titans, because of the heaviness of the tie-ins. And if a tie-in appears in a book I'm currently enjoying, like Birds of Prey and Action Comics, I find it annoying but I ignore it.

I've said this many times, but I'm looking forward to the "One Year Later" event because Dan Didio said DC will return to a tie-in free state. Yay!

[PanzerMega]

I've been buying all of the Countdown mini-series, and most of the related tie-ins, and have yet to be really disapointed. I like the new direction of the DCU, and am supporting it with my wallet.

I'm still buying Walking Dead, Ex Machina, and Y The Last Man, which aren't really superhero comics, but any indie stuff I buy is usually in TPB form, and doesn't affect my monthly budget.

Honestly, to accomadate all of the new DCU projects, I cut my once-hefty Marvel buying, to just Runaways and Ultimates. I've cut a lot of Marvel books the past six months...

[Beta Ray Bill]

Okay, who's been getting all the Infinite Crisis-related minis such as The OMAC Project, Day of Vengence, Villains United, Rann/Thanagar War and Return of Donna Troy? And the other crucial stories like the ones in JSA, Teen Titans, Outsiders, Batman, etc?
I'm only getting the Rann-Thanagar War. If one of the titles I'm reading has a crossover with IC then fine but I'm not seeking out the other ones. Don't care.
Who bought House of M #1. And who's planning to get the tie-ins like the HOM: Spidey, Fantastic Four, Iron Man minis and also Hulk, New X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, etc?
I bought House of M #1 but it was an impulse buy. If my LCS has #2 then I'll probably get it but if not, no big deal.
Other than spending your remaining cash on Batman Begins, Fantastic Four, etc., what titles from these two publishers have you dropped?
I dropped Outsiders to make room for Rann-Thanagar War.
What else are you still getting every month?
Aquaman, Legion of Super-Heros, Rann-Thanagar War, and Spider-Girl.
And what are you looking forward to buying in the next few months?
Jonah Hex, Smoke & Mirror, All-Star Superman.

[Swingkid570]

Fortunately for me, the boss is offering up some overtime, so just adding an extra hour to anhour and a half to my work day leaves me with a nice chucnk of change to spend on some of the extra Countdown TO Crisis titles.

Lex- In a couple of threads, I've seen you saying that you've found both the JSA and DoV titles to be the same story and not worth getting. While their main plots do parrallel each other, I would say that the different subplots in both books make them essential reading on their own. As someone whose been reading JSA from the start of this most recent series, I am loving the character moments involved. I think you're painting things with a rather broad brush...

[Lex]

Lex- In a couple of threads, I've seen you saying that you've found both the JSA and DoV titles to be the same story and not worth getting. While their main plots do parrallel each other, I would say that the different subplots in both books make them essential reading on their own. As someone whose been reading JSA from the start of this most recent series, I am loving the character moments involved. I think you're painting things with a rather broad brush...

Possibly. My strong dislike of all these tie-ins could be clouding my judgement. I just don't like that so many DC books are tying in to each other. I'd prefer seeing every book have their own unique story.

But, like you I'm a JSA fan. I been reading this book since almost the beginning. I just looked through JSA #74 again to maybe see it in a different light. Y'know what? I do enjoy the exploration of the JSA subplots. Carter's timidness after his brutal actions in the Black Reign story. Atom-Smasher's conflict over where his loyalty should be. Captain Marvel and Stargirl. (The Power Girl thing annoyed me because I know we won't find out answers until JSA: Classified). Even the idea that Eclipso wants revenge was a nice edition to past subplots.

So, for JSA fans, this is still a good book. But I still find the Spectre stuff redundant because I'm also reading Day of Vengeance. But that's me.

[hondobrode]

I'm buying all the IC mini's though I have not gotten any of the tie-ins yet, but am going back and getting them as I hear what's good and / or pertinent.

Have not gotten HoM nor do I plan to. Not interested in the least actually.

I've maintained my regular titles. As far as indies, I feel bad that I don't support them nearly as strongly as I used to, but I hate getting into a series and it gets killed off. Now I wait to see what the reviews are and if it gets collected I'll probably pick it up then. Quite frankly, while I support the spirit of the indies, a lot of it is just not at the level that I can throw around $ 3 or more per issue to experiment. If indies want to get more sales, I don't know why they have to price themselves at the same level as the Big Two. I'm sure more people would pick them up at say $ 2 instead of $ 3. It's hard to believe that they couldn't produce a title for that kind of money. Maybe I'm wrong...