Meanwhile... Pt. 1

[The Confessor]

I know that most folks here aren't really bothered about modern comics, but as someone who still buys a fair few new books each month, I have to say that I'm utterly uninterested in this summer's big Marvel event, Avengers vs. X-Men.

I picked up a free AvX preview comic from my LCS yesterday, which featured an introduction written by current Marvel EiC Axel Alonso and the crux of what he had to say was that you (the reader) can't afford to miss this event because for years you've always wondered who would win in a fight between Thor and the Hulk, or Wolverine and Captain America, or Iron Man and Spider-Man. He goes on to suggest, somewhat presumptuously, that your interest in answering such burning questions as these – and I quote – "defines you as a comic book fan."

I've gotta say that as someone who has been reading Marvel comics for the past 35 years or thereabouts, I am positive that I have never, ever wondered about that sort of stuff. Alonso's introduction just reinforces a long-held suspicion of mine that I'm not looking for the same thing from my comics as the majority of readers are (especially modern readers).

In addition, the AvX freebie comic also includes a few preview pages designed to entice the reader into buying the first issue of the mini-series. Unfortunately, the preview was genuinely made up of one of the dullest comic book sequences I think I've ever read. It really did not get me fired up in anticipation of the event at all. I think I'm gonna pass on this one.


In other news, bummer about Davy Jones from The Monkees, eh?

[mrc1214]

I know that most folks here aren't really bothered about modern comics, but as someone who still buys a fair few new books each month, I have to say that I'm utterly uninterested in this summer's big Marvel event, Avengers vs. X-Men.

I picked up a free AvX preview comic from my LCS yesterday, which featured an introduction written by current Marvel EiC Axel Alonso and the crux of what he had to say was that you (the reader) can't afford to miss this event because for years you've always wondered who would win in a fight between Thor and the Hulk, or Wolverine and Captain America, or Iron Man and Spider-Man. He goes on to suggest, somewhat presumptuously, that your interest in answering such burning questions as these – and I quote – "defines you as a comic book fan."

I've gotta say that as someone who has been reading Marvel comics for the past 35 years or thereabouts, I am positive that I have never, ever wondered about that sort of stuff. Alonso's introduction just reinforces a long-held suspicion of mine that I'm not looking for the same thing from my comics as the majority of readers are (especially modern readers).

In addition, the AvX freebie comic also includes a few preview pages designed to entice the reader into buying the first issue of the mini-series. Unfortunately, the preview was genuinely made up of one of the dullest comic book sequences I think I've ever read. It really did not get me fired up in anticipation of the event at all. I think I'm gonna pass on this one.


In other news, bummer about Davey Jones from The Monkees, eh?

I was actually in the LCS the other day and for a brief minute thought maybe I should start picking up new stuff again. Then I thought better of it. I picked up the Avengers vs X-Men preview still havent read it though.

As far as wondering who would win what fight have half of them happend already in one form or another. Marvel always had the good guys getting in minor scrapes or big all out fights. I really dont care for that stuff.

Very sad about Davey Jones it seemed like just a couple of months ago he was making the rounds on TV promoting the tour and had great energy. Very sad news.

[dan bailey]

Alonso's introduction just reinforces a long-held suspicion of mine that I'm not looking for the same thing from my comics as the majority of readers are (especially modern readers).

And/or perhaps Alonso & the rest of the corporate-level folks haven't the vaguest clue what anyone is looking for from his or her comics.

See also: circulation figures for the last god knows how many years.

[Jezebel Bond]

I know that most folks here aren't really bothered about modern comics, but as someone who still buys a fair few new books each month, I have to say that I'm utterly uninterested in this summer's big Marvel event, Avengers vs. X-Men.

Hee...I still fancy the modern books but get 90% of them about a year or so after they come out so I can buy a run of issues and get them for closer to 1/3 cover price.

That so-called big Marvel event hasn't been exciting on my end either...I was more excited about getting another run of the most recent Moon Knight series...I sold my first set but got another in a great deal....

[dan bailey]

And, yes, RIP to Davy Jones.

In which chronological vein, as it happens I've been listening the past few nights to the Nuggets II box, having dug it out a few weeks ago to copy it (& the first Nuggets, & some other mid-to-late-'60s garage punk & psychedelia comps, as well as the 4 Little Steven's Underground Garage Coolest Songs in the World discs that deigned to show up in the $1 bins at the mall store last year) for a friend of mine whose tastes in '70s-on stuff tend toward the execrable (two words: Ted. Nugent.) but who has a good head on his shoulders when it comes to stuff from the '60s & thereabouts.

I knew you held forth a bit awhile back, Confessor, on the Smoke & some of the other psychedelic acts from that period; I've tried a few times to dig those posts up but have had no luck. *sigh* Any words of wisdom about recommended comps & single-band collections (I've got various things by the Action, Creation, John's Children, Tomorrow & Pretty Things from that general period, & maybe a couple of more that aren't coming to mind at the moment) would be appreciated.

[The Confessor]

I knew you held forth a bit awhile back, Confessor, on the Smoke & some of the other psychedelic acts from that period; I've tried a few times to dig those posts up but have had no luck. *sigh* Any words of wisdom about recommended comps & single-band collections (I've got various things by the Action, Creation, John's Children, Tomorrow & Pretty Things from that general period, & maybe a couple of more that aren't coming to mind at the moment) would be appreciated.

Well, Tomorrow's one and only album, which is self-titled, is an absolute must. Seriously, it's as much of an essential artefact of the British music scene circa 1967 as Piper At The Gates Of Dawn or Sgt. Pepper. If you already have that, there's also a "rarities" compilation that came out in the late '90s called the 50 Minute Technicolor Dream, but it's for hardcore fans only really and far from essential.

The Pretty Things’ late 1968 masterpiece SF Sorrow is also well worth searching out, although there were some very interesting non-album singles, like "Defecting Grey" for instance, that the band put out prior to that which are worth hearing. Along with the aforementioned SF Sorrow album, I have a Pretty Things compilation called Latest Writs, Greatest Hits, which features such non-album releases as "Defecting Grey" and provides a descent overview of their metamorphosis from R&B blues belters in the mid-'60s, through the years of psychedelic experimentation and on to their incarnation as Led Zeppelin-esque heavy blues/rock merchants in the '70s.

The Smoke are an extremely underrated UK psychedelic band (although they're more freakbeat than out-and-out psych to be honest). Their one-and-only album, It's Smoke Time, from 1967 is an excellent program of power pop tunes (think The Who with The Lovin' Spoonful's John Sebastian writing for them), Beatlesque harmonies and mild drug-induced weirdness. There are also plenty of thinly veiled references to LSD and marijuana in the album's lyrics, which are fun to spot. Simply put, It's Smoke Time comes highly recommended. The Smoke also released a number of very good non-album singles in 1967 and 1968, which are usually included as bonus tracks on CD reissues of their album.

The Creation are also pretty good and a prime example of freakbeat in all its glory. I have an old '90s compilation called Our Music Is Red With Purple Flashes, which is all The Creation I'll ever need, frankly.

John's Children are less good in my humble opinion and only really came close to being truly great while Marc Bolan was in the band (see the song "Desdemona", which is on the Nuggets II box set). Talking of Bolan, if you don't own any of his late '60s outfit Tyrannosaurus Rex's output (this is not the same band, or indeed the same genre, as T.Rex), you need to rectify that immediately. Along with The Incredible String Band, Bolan's pre-T.Rex outfit are pretty much the definition of Acid Folk as a genre.

I'm not so familiar with The Action, I'm afraid...I just have a few tracks by them on various compilations.

Another act that appear on the Nuggets II box that are worth further investigation are Kaleidoscope (who should not be confused with their identically named contemporaries from the U.S. - who are also excellent, by the way). Their first two albums, Tangerine Dream and Faintly Blowing (from 1967 and 1969 respectively), are well worth owning if you like fey, insideously catchy, art school pop-sike. Alternatively, there was a compilation titled Dive Into Yesterday available some years back that featured most of the band's output.

Hope that all helps a bit.

[dan bailey]

Talking of Bolan, if you don't own any of his late '60s outfit Tyrannosaurus Rex's output (this is not the same band, or indeed the same genre, as T.Rex), you need to rectify that immediately.

The only Tyrannousaurus Rex tracks I own are on the first disc or so of the Bolan/T. Rex box set. Till now, those first few CDs been prohibitively priced (i.e. in the mid-$20s or thereabouts) over here, but in going through my 18-page Amazon music wishlist a couple of days ago I saw that all but one are now listed for about half of what they were. I suspect I'll be picking those up pretty soon.

Along with The Incredible String Band, Bolan's pre-T.Rex outfit are pretty much the definition of Acid Folk as a genre.

Whom I really should finally get around to listening to, especially since I already own the Hangman's Beautiful Daughter/5000 Spirits disc.

Hope that all helps a bit.

Why, sure ... it helps make sure I never, ever, ever have to worry about having any extra cash lying around collecting dust. (Of which there was precious little danger to begin with.)

Thanks!

[TAG]

I’m still reading few monthly titles from the big 2, but I agree, who’s stronger than who isn’t really an enticing storyline. I might wait to hear what folks on this board have to say about it before I decide to buy it.
I was huge fan of the Monkees TV show. I watched them in syndication in the 70’s and even own a few videos. Sad news indeed.

[Rob Allen]

I watched the Monkees during their original primetime run. RIP Davy.

I wonder if the other British singer named David Jones will now give up his stage name and return to using his real name, which he gave up because people confused him with Davy of the Monkees.

The name he adopted was spoilers:

David Bowie

end of spoilers.

[MRP]

My earliest memories of Davy Jones were not form the Monkees (which I saw later in syndication) but form his appearances on the New Scooby Doo mysteries and the Brady Bunch episode where he visited the Brady household because Marsha was a huge fan. I didn't see actual episodes of the Monkees until much later (late 70's/early 80's) when WLVI channel 56 out of Boston showed them in the afternoon just before episodes of the Banana Splits and before episodes of the Courtship of Eddie's Father with Bill Bixby, when we first got cable TV and it carried the Boston superstations.

As for the Avengers vs. X-Men event, they act like its something new and innovative, but Marvel did an X-Men vs. Avengers mini in the late 80's (and an FF vs. the X-Men right around the same time). I was a huge fan of both properties then and I tell you the mini stunk to high heaven, and I suspect this one will as well. I am still buying a handful of new books (see my signature) and there are a handful of creators out there whose work still excites me, but I tend to avoid event comics like the plague. If your marketing strategy is to structure your line so I have to choose between all or none of your books, I will choose none every time. Give me a solid stand alone book I can read and enjoy without having to read a bunch of other books to get the story, and I may well support it.

-M

[berk]

I remember being a big Monkees fan as a small kid. I even remember reading a book starring the band as fictional characters in the same kind of adventure story featured on their tv show. Who's Got the Button it was called, or something like that.

Most of Marvel's events seem to me to be derived from Secret Wars in that they're ultimately based on little other than 'let's have everybody fight'. The particular antagonists and the pretext for getting them to fight are only of secondary importance, it appears. Avengers vs X-Men is more blatant than most, as the title indicates.

And yes, reading quotes or interviews from Marvel's editors is one of the more depressing experiences a comics reader can inflict on him or herself, I find.

[CromagnonMan]

I know that most folks here aren't really bothered about modern comics, but as someone who still buys a fair few new books each month, I have to say that I'm utterly uninterested in this summer's big Marvel event, Avengers vs. X-Men.

i find it a lot more enticing than Fear Itself or any other recent "event", only because they seem to be putting more effort into the comics these days, with sales being low and all, and theyve even reduced their monthly output drastically. I still wont be buying it though, too many Tony Stark/Steve Rogers boardroom meetings from the looks of the preview, and really, how much storyline can an event like "X-Men vs Avengers" have? certainly not 6 issues worth

Im more interested in the "Vs" limited series tie ins, which look to be basically "fight" comics. I may actually purchase some of these depending on the previews, and quality of the artwork.

[CromagnonMan]

Which just tells me that those comics 20 years ago were beyond obscenely overpriced.

Someone here -- was it Ear in the Fireplace? I can't quite recall, obviously -- used some cost histories last fall (I think) to calculate what a comic should cost based on, I think, the 20-cent baseline from 1972 or whenever. If memory serves, it was somewhere under $1.50 ... maybe even under $1.

I mean, it's an old discussion that'll never be resolved, of course, but one way to look at it is that those movies I'm too cheap* to go see cost $5 (matinee price the last time I was out, probably about 10 months ago for Insidious) for around 90 minutes of entertainment. For 60 percent of that, those $2.99 comics occupy my attention for 10 minutes, tops. Five minutes is probably more often the case.

probably. but you get to watch the movie once, you can reread your comic as many times as you like. They are expensive, i agree, i havnt learnt to resist, though , yet. Mainly because I think the current quality is really good.

also, the time-taken-to-create vs. the readers entertainment span is highly disproprtionate. Usually a LOT of effort goes in to give you that 5 mins entertainment blast

another thing, is that at the movies they cram in a roomful of people to watch the same viewing. if they did that with comics (if each issue was to be shared by 10 paying readers), the price too could be a fraction of what it is.

vice versa, if you got your own private viewing at the movies , they would charge you a heck of a lot more.

sorry if my response seems smart-arsed

[Simon Garth]

Which just tells me that those comics 20 years ago were beyond obscenely overpriced.

Someone here -- was it Ear in the Fireplace? I can't quite recall, obviously -- used some cost histories last fall (I think) to calculate what a comic should cost based on, I think, the 20-cent baseline from 1972 or whenever. If memory serves, it was somewhere under $1.50 ... maybe even under $1.

Based on, eg this it's $1.03, but it's not a fair comparison. The inflation figures are only averages across the whole economy, that doesn't mean that everything has to scale at the same price. When I look back at those 20c comics, by and large they were physically rubbish - crappy paper, terrible printing, limited colour that was often off-register, and produced by writers and artists paid starvation rates. The modern product might be a hell of a lot more expensive than general inflation would allow, but the paper is better, the printing is better, the colour is infinitely better, and the contributors are paid a lot more.

Whether you then enjoy the modern ones more than the old ones, is a whole 'nother matter (generally, I do; I suspect the opposite is true for most in this forum), but I don't think you can seriously argue it's exactly the same artifact.

[icctrombone]

I have to admit , I still buy new comics from time to time. Last Wednesday was my birthday and I picked up the newest Avengers and it amounted to being talking heads.It sucked. But I got the first two issues of Brilliant. They weren't bad.