I get all the DC books free, like Steve, and don’t read most of them.

Part of it’s that they’re just not aimed at me — there are a lot of
line-wide stunts that seem to affect all the books, which makes it hard to
follow them as individual series, but at the same time there’s no apparent
interest in building or maintaining a coherent universe. So whether you’re
looking for self-contained series or want to wallow in the peculiar glories
of a shared universe (and I like both), they’re presented in a way that
messes up either thrill. At least for me.

Add to that the tone of the books, which seems to be overwhelmingly grim,
cheerless and bleak, and it’s a sandbox I don’t much want to play in or read
about. But like I said, they’re not aimed at me.

At times, it seems to me as if DC’s approach to comics art is that they want
functional-but-unimpressive storytellers who draw in a stylized manner that
looks like inadequate draftsmanship skills. Over at Marvel, they want all
the coolest, flashiest-looking artists, and storytelling isn’t a strong
criterion. If they can tell a story, great. If they can’t, it may not be a
problem.

That may be unfair to Marvel — I don’t see many of their books at all. And
there are some terrific storytellers at Marvel (Stuart Immonen and Steve
Epting leap to mind) and for that matter, strong artists at DC. They’re just
thin on the ground, I think.

There are writers out there who are supposed to be terrific — Jonathan
Hickman gets raves, but I read his first volume of FANTASTIC FOUR, and it
felt like two issues’ worth of story crammed into a six-issue bag, without
much context. And I picked up the first issue of another series he did, and
it confused the hell out of me, until I discovered that it brought together
threads and mysteries from three other series without any explanation,
simply assuming the reader was following other series, at which point I just
stopped caring. I don’t want to have to read other series to know what’s
going on, and I really don’t want to have to do it without a scorecard.

I’ve heard great things about Paul Cornell, too, but everything he’s written
has been tied up in some line-wide thing or other, and now over at DC he’s
writing ACTION COMICS without Superman in it, which doesn’t interest me. So
the first thing I’m going to read by him is KNIGHT & SQUIRE, a spin-off from
Grant Morrison’s Batman run, which looks to be self-contained and has
sprightly, engaging art by Jimmy Broxton.

Other bright spots include the new LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES (hi, Paul), which
is self-contained, accessible, and has energetic and clear Eighties-inspired
art from Yldiray Cinar, ZATANNA by Paul Dini and a couple of different
artists whose names I don’t recall right now, but who do a fine job,
LEGACIES by Len Wein and artists with names like Kubert and Garcia-Lopez and
Gibbons and Perez, so you pretty well know it’s good solid stuff. At Marvel
I’ve been enjoying CAPTAIN AMERICA by Ed Brubaker and Butch Guice and THOR:
THE MIGHTY AVENGER by Roger Langridge and Chris Samnee, who draws
beautifully, and I pick up books drawn by Tonci Zonjic, who’s great in a
Toth-y way. Gabriel Hardman’s also an excellent artist and storyteller.

But for the most part I just don’t keep up with the big superhero universes
– they’re not aimed at me and doing (CENSORED) seems to have worked them
out of my system. I’m far more interested in books like FABLES and
HELLBOY/B.P.R.D. and BEASTS OF BURDEN and Darwyn Cooke’s PARKER adaptations
and Holly Black and Ted Naifeh’s GOOD NEIGHBORS graphic novels and Joe
Hill’s LOCKE & KEY and other books that deliver involving, accessible comics
that don’t ask me to buy into a sprawling and inconsistent patchwork of
murky, angry, shock-value events.

I still reflexively save anything that comes into the house that’s set in
either of the Big Two universes, on the theory that I might need it for
reference someday, but I have over ten bookcases full of graphic novels and
over a hundred longboxes of comics and am itching for the day my
obsessive-compulsive nature finally lets go and says, “You’re never going to
need any of this stuff, you’re never going to write another continuity-heavy
DC or Marvel series; scrap it all and only save what you’ll reread for
pleasure.” It’s getting closer, but it’s not quite there yet. Maybe after my
new urban-fantasy series THE WITCHLANDS is coming out, and my output is
solidly planted outside those universes. Universi?

For all that, though, I have more comics I want to read than time to read
them in, and no shortage of new stuff coming down the pike. I just can’t get
interested in sixteen Batman books that feel to me like plate-spinning in
the dark. Even when someone’s spinning the plates well.

I hope there was something of value in there.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2010/08/28/ ... -industry/

He particularly nailed DC Comics.

Busiek likes Thor The Mighty Avenger.
It's good I tells ya, it's good! Buy it.

I'm sorry that Kurt left here. I like him and if I read any books (DC or Marvel) I'd probably agree with him.

Can't say I can argue with anything he is saying.

I'm surprised of his opinion of Hickman's FF, particularly given that's he referring to the first trade.

I thought it was pretty tightly-plotted, and dense.

I think you could say what he did about the issues after, but yeah, surprised that he thought that about the first lot.

Yeah, I felt that way about the later issues of Hickman's FF, not his first stuff.

It's funny how his opinion mirrors that of many on this board.

Me too. Those first six issues were very cool (though slightly derivative of Supreme).

I'm not surprised.

Yeah, nothing too funny about Busiek agreeing with us—we're mostly all
old comic farts remembering when comics were better.

If the old farts are dissatisfied with current superhero comics, then who the heck is reading 'em?

Slightly younger farts.

I go to the shop and it seems there's plenty of guys excited about what's going on in comics.

30 year olds like them, 40 year olds despise them?

They don't smell the same either.

I don't think it's age-based... I see guys in their 40s and 50s dropping over a hundred bucks on stacks of comics six inches high from their boxes while I, a 30 year old, get a handful each month. I know Mahoney gets tons of books each month and he's a few years older than me.

It just depends on how into the continuity of the respective universes you are. Personally, I like self-contained books that a casual reader could enjoy, even when I know all the continuity they're referencing. I want light fare, most of the time -- simple adventure stories with likeable characters. I enjoy something a bit more different and complex from time to time, such as Brubaker's Cap or Bendis' Powers, but those are books I enjoy in trade form.

I think some guys just love the never-ending saga of the crossovers and references and all. It's just their thing. It's like those card games like magic -- personally, if I play a game, I want all the pieces there in front of me before I even start. But some guys love tracking down all the different types of cards and stuff over time.

It just depends on what you're into.

You mean some types of comics aren't inherently wrong, and you're a bad person for liking them???

You're inherently wrong.

Your mom was inherently wrong last night.

Oh, I like a lot about modern comics, but I'm down to buying just a couple
a week when I used to buy nearly everything. So, I get to pick and choose
which ones I like best, and that's okay, too. It probably should be that way.

I agree with most of what Kurt has written there (especially his plug for THOR: THE MIGHTY AVENGER by Roger Langridge and Chris Samnee ).

Comics is going the way of the music industry (or heck its already there) where the commercial stuff is churned out irrespective of depth or real lasting quality and the best stuff remains the independents. Lets face it, the "majors" don't give titles time to develop and grow and find an audience. If its not scorching out of the gate, its cancelled. In fairness, Marvel is much better at giving books and creative a decent level of support and cultivating talent. DC is pretty good in its Vertigo titles, but not in the main universe where everything seems like a stale business decision.

Regarding my own tastes (and probably Kurt's and many people here), I think a lot of it has to do with been there, done that not to mention feeling it was better done in days gone by.

Kurt Busiek should start his own comic book company using the established Astro City universe as the company's universe. With Alex Ross's continued art, it'd take off for sure.