I'm bored by the DCU, how about you?

[Bob-el]

I'm putting together my next order for my comic shop. My complete order for DC (including Wildstorm and Vertigo) is JSA, Warlord, Wildcats, R.E.B.E.L.S. That's it.

There are others in the household that buy most of the Superman titles, some of the Batman titles and lots of Green Lantern comics. Also coming in the door has been Billy Batson, JLA:Cry for Justice and other odds and ends. As a household we buy a good share and I'd buy a few more things if someone else wasn't but not much.

Let me survey the scene and tell you what I see. Many won't agree but that's okay. All of what follows is just my view at the moment for your consideration.

I'm buying no aftermath to Final Crisis. I bought the main miniseries and thought it was a mess. We lost the New Gods as a consequence and except for Batman (and the Flash more on that momentarily) everybody treats it like it didn't happen. No consequences, nothing spinning out of it except a bunch of low level characters in mini series I don't care about.

I'm not buying the Flash relaunch. I liked Barry. I loved what they did with Wally until the kids were born. I'm unconvinced that it wasn't overall a bad idea to bring Barry back even though I like him. The relaunch seems like a long way to go to get to the new status quo. Maybe when we get there I'll start buying again but it looks like Wally's getting pushed aside and that bugs the crap out of me. Wally used to be just another side kick then they did things with him that led me to really enjoy him and it's annoying to see him fade into the background.

I did buy the Spectre and Question part of the Final Crisis and thought it was the best thing that was done as part of that event. I didn't get a new Spectre comic out of it. Oh well, another character on the sidelines. I'll finish out Legion of Three Worlds but at that point I'm done with the Legion for a while. DC was willing to trash a good Legion title to stick them in the back of Adventure just to make Johns happy. Call it a protest act to not buy the new series regardless of if the new Superboy front feature is any good.

JLA has been disassembled again (like the Detroit years). I have respect for Robinson's talent and thought the first issue of Cry for Justice showed promise so maybe he can bring me back to this one but right now it is just meandering around. JSA has lost its edge as well but with Willingham coming on board we should get some interesting new directions so I'm sticking it out on that.

Tim Drake has become a character I don't recognize. I don't like Damian for many of the same reasons I didn't like Jason Todd. I love Nightwing. Early indications is that he is being set up to fail as Batman so I'm probably not going to enjoy that too much. The Nightwing comic is gone and so are the Birds of Prey. Most of what has been launched is boring or is going to drag along like the Flash in setting up anything that might be interesting. A flying Batmobile was a fun idea at least.

I like the characters in Warlord so I'm buying but there is a sameness to it so far so I'm not sure that I'm in it for the long haul.

Wildstorm seems to be in endless reboot mode so it is hard to work up any enthusiasm there. I'm buying an issue of Wildcats on a slim hope because Tao and Max were both interesting previously.

I was buying House of Mystery. There have been some good issues but they are too few and far between for me to buy it monthly and it is going to be hard to follow on a now and then basis. I was never big on Vertigo and there is a bland color pallet and a vague air of pessimism to nearly everything I see that puts me off from buying even titles like Fables that from what I can tell are creatively done.

I couldn't get past more than a few issues of Titans and Teen Titans just seems really dull to me. In the case of Teen Titans, the revolving door on the cast has been a problem but one I could forgive if the new additions were as interesting as the ones that left but except for Ravager they seem to be very one-dimensional. I want to like the new Blue Beetle but the stories just don't ever seem to intrigue me. Better villains would help, I think.

I like the Green Lantern Corps for the most part but this Sinestro Corps to the Blackest Night storyline has been endless. It moves at a snail's pace with a consistently dark murky art style that saps the life out of what should have been some great action sequences. I liked the new Ion but he appears to be gone for the next thousand years or so. I don't know how the GL's can continue to serve the Guardians and have any self-respect. The latest issue was creepy beyond all understanding. Kudos for being able to be do creepy so well but I don't think it's what I want out of this mag. The Hal loses his hand sequence was such a cheat. None of it really seems to matter. It just drags on from one thing to another. I've got Event Fatigue big time with this one.

Flamebird and Nightwing are a snore. I love Mon-el and that's been okay but really it is just kind of bumping along, too. World of Krypton is clearly the best of the lot and I can't complain about it except the stay of execution this month seemed contrived. The quality on Superman/Batman bounces around like a yo-yo. Is this mag in continuity or not? They can't seem to make up their mind. The less said about Supergirl the better.

The Adam Strange mini did something I didn't think was possible which was to get me to like the lead character. They've squandered that from Rann-Thanagar War that overall I liked to Rann-Thanagar Holy War which was much more lackluster. I can't even muster enough interest to buy Strange Adventures. More Event Fatigue I suppose. At least I've got REBELS. The pace for it is fairly glacial as well but the humor is redeeming.

So as I look across the DC landscape there is very little I find exciting. There seem to be a lot of squandered opportunities and great characters on the sidelines. My comic collection is deep with long runs of formerly great DC titles so my assessment is more out of sadness and disappointment than anger (with a couple of exceptions).

I would enjoy a bit of dialogue from other readers. Am I too harsh? Am I too jaded? Trial of Shazam was delightful and then the follow up is .....nothing really. It seems like every time DC does something I do like then they drop the character or send him to the showers for months on end. I thought Wonder Woman was showing some initiative but trying to sort out that storyline makes my brain hurt. I've dropped it again. Anybody have a solution? Is it too many events? Is it Didio playing favorites? Is it letting too many writers that have no respect for the past or future of the characters come to play in the DC sandbox? A little bit of all the above? Is the solution to just keep buying less and less and hope they get the hint?

[Libaax]

Buying less will show them crappy stories are not awarded.

Thats why i read only some Bat books,Jonah Hex

I rather read smaller companies quality comics like Image,DH,IDW than a crappy comic by DC or Marvel.

Everytime i dont like what im reading i just drop the comic and change for a new indy one that sound good to me.

[galactica]

Buy what you like, don't buy what you don't like.

[Tabernac]

a good post for sure, I feel the same way about most of the comics though I really enjoy the GL books.

[Captain Smith]

I agree - except for the GL line, the rest is boring.

The IC, FC, Countdown, 52 - series really did just seem like a commercial enterprise that had little overall plot structure.

But it's a general problem in the sci-fi fantasy literary world. There used to be constrained an tight stories.

For example, the LOTR or the Lensmen/GP series had a point that was coming in a precise story.

Today - we get infinitely long stories that dribble out plot points very slowly to keep you buying. In fact, a well-known author told me that we once communicated about his series - it was in his contract. He wants to make a living.

Look at Anita Blake or S. M. Stirling - used to have some tight books. The Island in the Sea of Time Trilogy really worked. Now his series in the same universe is endless with rambling plots and incidnets. In fact, it's suggested that the conclusion of what caused the event may happen in another long series of books.

Same with DC lately - no well plotted tight series and conclusions. Maybe Blackest Night will - who knows.

[Sir Tim Drake]

I haven't bought a new DC comic for six months. This is mostly because of my anger at the cancellation of Shooter's Legion, but it's also because DC simply isn't publishing anything I truly want to read. I'm semi-interested in the Green Lantern titles, Booster Gold and some of the Johnny DC titles, but my desire to read these comics is not strong enough to make me violate my boycott.

[Hullababy]

Well I've been loving the DCU. Flash: Rebirth, Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, Blackest Night, Batman and Robin. Yep I certainly I prefer the DCU to marvel atleast right now.

[Tabernac]

Well I'm reading a lot of other stuff too that isn't from the big two and I am actually enjoying more than the large selection of either DC or Marvel. I enjoy reading my friends copies of Invincible and Hellboy and also the endless supply of web comics that I can get for free.

[Chiroptera]

Agreed whole heartedly. I've cut my entire pull list in half this summer because I've list interest in... Well, pretty much everything the DCU had to offer.
I'm now reading Detective Comics because I wanted to see what Rucka would do with Batwoman, I'm reading Wonder Woman at the moment but I don't like the direction it's headed so it's on the verge of being dropped, and I've picked up Justice: Cry for Justice because I liked the first one.
That's about it for me, as far as serious books go.

I'm reading Powergirl and Gotham Sirens for pretty much the same reason: they're FUN, and that's what I really want right now.
I've gotten so sick of all these dire situations, over-blown storylines and the numerous kill offs and resurrections that seem to have become par for the course.


On the downside, I'm no longer reading about Superman, Batman and Wondy looks like she's going there way too so I soon will no longer be reading about any of my three all time favorite DC characters... On the plus side... Well... My wallets not quite so empty!
Actually that doesn't seem like much of a pro to me, but as Galactica said, "Buy what you like, don't buy what you don't like" and I don't like much of anything DC is offering anymore.

[Zero Hunter]

I am just the opposite. All the endless Dark Regin drek at Marvel has me picking up more DC lately. I love Green Lantern and its connected titles, and can't wait fro Darkest Night. I have been loving the Superman books latley, and have even started reading Batman and Batman and Robin since the new dirrection started.

[SeritoNiN]

Originally Posted by Zero Hunter

I am just the opposite. All the endless Dark Regin drek at Marvel has me picking up more DC lately. I love Green Lantern and its connected titles, and can't wait fro Darkest Night. I have been loving the Superman books latley, and have even started reading Batman and Batman and Robin since the new dirrection started.

This.

Dark Reign's ridiculously un-thought-out story have me reading way less Marvel than is even listed in my sig. I've stuck with 4 titles that aren't DR interfered.

I'm absolutely loving the DCU right now. GL, GL Corps, Secret Six, Batman, Blackest Night, Booster Gold, Manhunter back-up story, Wed. Comics....I don't know what's not to like. Geez, comic guys will never be satisfied. Which is why I have to take such long absences from this board, some of you guys are just real downers. :rolleyes:

[InSovietRussia]

Originally Posted by Zero Hunter

I am just the opposite. All the endless Dark Regin drek at Marvel has me picking up more DC lately. I love Green Lantern and its connected titles, and can't wait fro Darkest Night. I have been loving the Superman books latley, and have even started reading Batman and Batman and Robin since the new dirrection started.

Well, it's not as if you've only got a choice between Marvel and DC. There are plenty of good indie comics out there, and of course years' worth of stuff collected in trade paperbacks.

[KYLeo71]

I'm absolutely loving just about everything about the DCU lately. I'm not sure I've been this into comics since around 1986 (granted, I did just come back to them this past December after almost 20 years away). And from everything I've seen about the 1990s in the DCU, I'm kinda glad I missed it.

[Superbeast]

My pull list has shrank recently also due to bad writers taking over good titles, disinterest in the "new directions" that seem a lot like the old agendas and revamps I can't really sink my teeth into (Batman and Robin, Cry For Justice). WoNK is interesting but the Superman books lacking Superman seems inherently counterproductive to me so I have no interest in them.

I have basically came to the decision if I actually enjoy a comic book, I'll pay for it. If I have a passing interest, the wonders of technology allow me to read them pro bono to decide if I actually want to get a real copy from my LCS. I don't want to support books and drive up their sales if I actually find the content disappointing. It saves time also when people say "if you don't like it, why are you buying it?" as if me purchasing a comic is somehow indicative of a kind of tacit approval of it's content rather than buying it out of interest.

[General Grievous]

Reading many DCU books these days.

They are firing on all cylinders.

Batman and robin is awesome. GL and GLC. REBELS. Wednesday comics. all the back up tales.