Mutants are...Boring?
I admit it, when I first started reading comics as a young and impressionable lass, I was a Marvel Zombie. I considered DC to have likeable, but dull characters. Marvel was where it was at, and I bought "Giant-sized X-Men" off the spinner rack at the drug store. I LOVED X-Men, and read it all religiously. I was there for the Dark Phoenix saga, the Starjammers and the Shiar, running off to Australia for some reason, Inferno, Massacres and so on and so on.
I've got to say that lately, it's been getting...boring. With the exception of Amazing, which only comes out every blue moon, I have done the unthinkable, and stopped buying Mutants. Well, I do still get X-Factor, because frankly it is pretty damned good, but that's it.
I do still get Wolverine, because although I guess I have to blush, I always rather liked Wolverine, but lately...it's been getting a bit weird. While I can certainly understand that Logan may have illegitimate children stashed all over the globe (Hal Jordan isn't the only playa!) the idea of him having this grown kid, by a completely unknown woman is just...odd. And he's...EVIL!!
I'm not too sure that I remember his name, so inspired by Brandon, I'll call him Stabby McGee. He has a really BAD haircut, and considering that we are talking about Wolverine, that is saying something. So they are probably going to fight and stuff. Big Whoop.
Meanwhile while I adore Simone Bianchi's artwork, Jeff Loeb's story has gone on for two issues, without ANYTHING happening! Dull, dull and more dull.
Then pile on Civil War, and all of a sudden, I am not only bored, but repulsed. I used to like Ms. Marvel. Now I wouldn't spit on her if her face was on fire. Ditto for Tony Stark. And all the rest of the Pro-Registration douchebags.
Suddenly DC looks so charming in comparison. Yes, they are still killing off people and there is way too much gratuitous body-exploding violence, but at least their heroes are actually...heroic. And likeable. And Gail Simone brought back Ice! And Booster is getting his own book, and while Kyle has had a bad time of it lately, there is all kinds of stuff going on with the Green Lanterns. Power Girl is going to be the new chairman of the Justice Society, and Manhunter has been uncancelled again.
This isn't to say that DC is perfect however. I don't really like Supergirl at all, and the direction being taken with Mary Marvel makes me very very nervous.
I guess I'm saying that if I had a choice of living in the regular Marvel Universe, with all the drafting of superheroes...excuse me...Registration, and living in the DC Universe, I know which one I'd prefer.
Sorry to be so cranky today.
posted by SallyP @ 8:04 AM
6 Comments:
Oops. I meant to say Astonishing X-man, not Amazing. Man, I can't even write today. I guess I shouldn't handle any heavy machinery either.
Don't worry about it. My grammar starts to go to crap when I think too long about Marvel.
It's like my higher brain functions begin to shut down to make room for more venom and bewilderment.
Less that 5% of my pull list right now are Marvel titles. And even that abysmal number will be falling after the X-Men: First Class mini ends.
Ooo! Try that for some good old-fashioned mutant fun! None of the stories have anything to do with one another, but the characterization is dead on and the stories are really fun. It's simply the original X-Men modernized.
I've loved it so far. I'm being completely serious when I say that this is how the Ultimate universe should have been handled.
*nodding* Yep. I haven't found much to like about the MU for quite a while. To be honest the downward trend started with Jemas and has just kept getting worse. At this point my Marveling amounts to, Ultimates (which amounts to about three issues a year), Astonishing (If Joss wrote the phonebook I'd buy a copy), Runaways (from issue 25 until Joss leaves), The Gunslinger, and NewUniversal. And to be honest I don't really think of the last two as true "Marvel Titles", but rather comics being published by Marvel.
Ultimately what DC seems to have finally understood (major and minor missteps aside) is that we want to see a spectrum. Superman should act like well Superman. The same for Wonder Woman, Batman etc. However there is room for otehr kinds of characters, like Manhunter, or Black Adam. Not every character needs to be a bright and shining moral example, but let there be some who are, and let them be revered for it not derided.
So Make Mine DC! Exactlythat! ;-)
Oh and Derek, take heart, First Class is going from Mini to Monthly.
I haven't been picking up X-Men:First Class, because I've been Byrned before (heh), but I have heard good things about it, so I'll give it ia shot.
I know that Marvel feels that they have to be realistic and edgy, but gosh darn it, do the characters have to be totally unlikeable now?
Phooey.
"Oh and Derek, take heart, First Class is going from Mini to Monthly."
Woo hoo!
Hank McCoy has to be the comic book character I most identify with, and he really hasn't gotten any love recently until First Class.
Thank you, Toriach. You just made my day.
Forgive me for whining here, but ... *sigh.* I was once a huge X-men fan, back when they were illustrated by Cockrum, and then Byrne, and then Cockrum again. I loved the X-men, absolutely adored them, devoured every issue I could get my hands on, and willingly bought issues of New Mutants when they started to hit the stands. Then the stories started getting darker and darker and darker, and the humor began to dwindle away. THEN the whole Mutant Mauraders thing exploded, and in one fell swoop, my three favorite X-men -- Nightcrawler, Kitty, and Colossus -- were taken out of action, and for a good, long time. I guess for me it was the final straw, because I dumped the series then and there and never went back. It didn't help that soon afterward, the X-men went commercial and Marvel began churning out as many X-men related titles as they could to cash in, which just went against the grain for me. I did collect Excalibur for a while, when it was illustrated by the fabulous Alan Davis, and I continue to check in on the X-men from time to time to see how things are going, but ... *sigh.* :-(
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