The Gold Standard #40

You know what weirds me out sometimes? I spent the longest time, I mean really, it was at least ten years, with a very simple trade policy. If I have the singles, why buy the trade? It was a very simple thing to understand from the perspective of not spending money twice, but it was a policy I eventually did away with. See, as much as I love my singles, the trade….well, the hardcover in most cases for me, is transportable. My singles get bagged and never leave the house, while my trades and hardcovers come with me when I want to read them. So for repeat reading, yeah, I much prefer the collected edition.

Another reason this policy withered and died on me is because I was buying everything and thus had no reason to get anything in trade. I’m a little OCD and tend to buy the first issue of a mini, not like it, and finish buying it for completionist’s sake. I’m that guy. I always read books longer then I should, hell, longer then I want to. I hate breaking full runs, or even big ones, but over the past few years it’s become something I just sorta do from time to time. Drop, pick up, drop again, pick up again. Never ending cycle.

So yeah, how can you have a ‘wait for trade’ policy if you just buy everything month to month? There’s nothing to wait for, there’s nothing to surprise you, it’s just the same old song and dance as the long boxes fill up more and more. So I started to amend my buying list. On the DC end, there’s a lot of mini-series that I figured would read best as a complete collection and opted to holdout, while with Marvel it was more a matter of me not wanting to pay four bucks an issue for a five issue mini. I wanted that Dark Reign: The Hood mini, but yeah, I was really going to pay a premium for a book I can get for ten bucks off Amazon in a few months. It’s not like War of Kings or Blackest Night where you know shit is going to happen and it’s going to be important, no, you know going in that it’s an auxiliary miniseries that has even odds of never being mentioned again outside of its own pages.

That’s one thing I’ve never understood about miniseries, I mean, why can’t you make more of them important? What’s the point on getting together a creative team and publishing a four issue series if nobody ever references it again? Seriously, I mean, wouldn’t it have just been easier to not do it and say that they didn’t? Save some money mayhaps? I mean, yes, I fully support growing the industry and giving more work to more talents, but at the same time it’s like, what purpose does a five issue mini serve if it is never acknowledged again? What incentive is there for readers to check it out?

And this isn’t going to be a talk about how DC does it better, because bottom line is that both companies suck at it. Sure, both know how to be good about it. They know how to schedule minis in a way that you feel that they will be important enough to buy, but hey, synergy is an awesome thing. Put a banner over a bunch of books, and then release miniseries with it. They could be great, they could be horrible, doesn’t matter, that header makes the importance go up even if it has nothing at all to do with it. Tried, tested, and true, gotta love event marketing and handling.

Let’s rag on Final Crisis for a moment, shall we? As far as tie ins go, it wasn’t that bad for them. You had your core series, you had your Superman Beyond miniseries, the Submit and Resist one shots, the Rage of the Red Lanterns one shot, Rogues Revenge, Revelations, and Legion of Three Worlds, two issues of Batman, an issue of JLA, the Geo Force one shot, DCU 0, a Secret Files, and Requiem.  Pretty small, you know? Thirty-two issues all together. Manageable by most people’s wallets, which is a good thing, but as far as importance goes? Rogues Revenge, Rage of the Red Lanterns, and Legion of Three Worlds have the Final Crisis banner for no apparent story reasons. None of these tie in to the rest of the event, they just share the marketing line. Revelations tied in directly, but was pointless in terms of the actual event, and the happenings of it have been mentioned in the DCU since Crisis, but not during it. Resist was a great one shot featuring Checkmate dealing with the events of Final Crisis, but the climax of the issue went nowhere and it was not mentioned again. But hey, despite that less than half of the issues under the banner were important to the event, at least the majority of them were well written, and the number was small.

Secret Invasion had how many tie ins?

Originally this paragraph was about piracy in comics and featured my thoughts and personal beliefs on the matter. Manny asked me nicely to edit it out for the sake of controversy, and I respect that decision. So if any of you would like to hear my thoughts, please, feel free to e-mail me for further discussion, but the Bossman was right. I shouldn’t talk about it on here, because regardless of my stance, giving it the page space is advocating it enough. That list of what I’ve read every week that I include? That is a list made up of only books that I go to my local comic book shop and throw down cover price on. Everything on those lists I  have a hard copy of. I don’t advocate piracy, I advocate growing the industry. I support buying monthly titles. I support buying trades and hardcovers. I do not support downloading full runs and labeling them as books you own. [Manolis’ note: The Nexus editor fully supports this paragraph :) ]

Come to think of it, I need to go get more boxes. One of these days I’m going to submit you, my loyal and loving readers, to pictures of…..the stacks. Yes, that’s my name for my collection. I have bin after bin after bin sat up next to each other, covering two full walls of one of the rooms in my apartment. Every bin filled, and at least two more ready to be filled when I buy them.

I probably spend too much money on comics, but you know what? I love it, it makes me happy. I love comics, I love the characters, I love the story telling, and nothing is going to take that away from me. Not Chuck Austen, not Jeph Loeb, nothing.

Well, maybe if Liefeld was allowed to handle big name properties again…..wait, no, I’d buy that.

I don’t wear a yellow hat.

Do you have the time to listen to me whine, about nothing and everything all at once? I am one of those melodramatic fools, neurotic to the bone no doubt about it

So I’m sorry for the vanishing act, oh loyal followers of the book of Grey, been an interesting few weeks. Trying to get my head back into the game, figure some things out….get this back to the ass kicking weekly awesome storm you’re used to. I mean, do you guys realize I’ve been doing this for a year? I just realized that the other day, and immediately felt crappy that I’m celebrating it with number forty. I should be at fifty-two….and no, I’m not going to count my Special Editions or reviews towards getting myself the overall number. That’s cheating.

Also cheating would be something like JMS trying to sell the Red Circle characters as anything but generic archetypes that we’ve seen before. I’m sorry, but having poked through Hangman, Inferno, and Web, I honestly don’t expect to care when the ongoing launch. The characters have been insanely one dimensional, and it’s just…..listen, I like JMS. I loved his Amazing Spider-Man (Sins Past and One More Day were editorial written), I love his Thor, hell, I loved Rising Stars. I have, and will still buy books just because his name is on them. But these….come on Joe, you’re better than this! Where’s that one-two “Make everyone give a damn!” that we expect out of you?

James Robinson can do no wrong, I want this to be understood. His Superman Annual with the origin of Daxam completely blew my mind, and it was a story that I honestly don’t think any other writer could have pulled off as elegantly as Mr. Robinson did. Then again, what else can you expect from the genius that gave us Starman? I know that I’d love a chance to talk to the man, oh the questions I would ask.

Oh the questions I’ve yet to write that I would ask!

And how about Blackest Night living up to all expectations so far? I might even have to ask Manny if he can supply me with review copies of the Titans mini, as it’s the only BN tie in that I’m ignoring on shelves. Of course, as said earlier, if I dig it enough, I’ll go and buy it.

Also, speaking of, everyone read Chew. I tested the waters on that one, and I’m now impatiently waiting on the trade.

Actually, I’m going to get on my soap box for a second, well, maybe my knees on the soap box, and say that it would be my dream to get to interview some writers. I’m not sure what kind of reach I’m getting with this, but if anyone knows how to make that dream come true?

So anyway, sorry for the shortness here, but it’s been…a long couple of weeks.

In my next feature, expect to hear me talk about Batgirl, Blackest Night, Mon-El, and why I love Power Girl.

”]”]Have a good one people!

The Gold Standard