Comics and the economy

July 10, 11:47 AMComics ExaminerBrian Steinberg

Previous Next

2 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Comics Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Comics cost money, and not all of them are worth it

You've heard the pundits: The economy may not be getting that much worse, but its sure isn't getting a heck of a lot better.

That's why it's time to focus a little more closely on what comics we buy, why we buy them and whether all of them are worth a purchase each and every month. After all, several publishers have recently raised their prices, so that popular comics including "Dark Avengers" now cost a whopping $3.99 per book! Listen, sonny, when I first started buying comics at the wee age of six, they cost something like 35 cents...then 50 cents....60 cents....$1.00...and so on.

I've been through this exercise before, dumping "Titans" and "Teen Titans," and even "Hellblazer," which I had been buying out of habit since the title debuted waaaaaay back in January 1988. But the time has come to jettison a few more titles whose performance has declined or just isn't up to snuff, or that I've tried and don't see a need to keep buying. Here we go:

*DC's "Brave and the Bold." When this venerable "super hero team-up" title was revived in 2007, I was among its most ardent fans. B&B offered a refreshing brace of old DC history, relishing in little-used characters including The Challengers of the Unknown as well as heroes you'd never see together normally, including Supergirl and Lobo. But recent issues have put the spotlight on characters DC purchased from other publishers, and the writing and art have been, well, terrible. The most recent issue, featuring Black Lightning and Static, hit a new low in terms of script and sketches, I felt. In the months ahead, popular writer J. Michael Straczynski is slated to take the book's editorial reins - which could be a reason to buy it again. But for the next few months, Brave & Bold is off my list.

*Marvel's "Mighty Avengers." Marvel already has two other Avengers books, and they feature characters who have reason to be part of a team. The Avengers in "Mighty" have been thrown together for no other reason than, so it would seem, to have a third book with the Avengers name on it. "Dark Avengers" is a fascinating look at a group of villains masquerading as the world's best known team of heroes, and "New Avengers" spotlights the heroes whose place they have claimed. "Mighty Avengers" was originally created as the counterpart to the outlaws in "New." But the book seems to have quickly lost its way and has banded together C-listers including Hank Pym, Hercules and the robot Jocasta. So long, New Avengers. Let us know when you get Thor and Iron Man back among your ranks.

*"Gotham City Sirens" and "Batman: Streets of Gotham." We've written in the past about the plethora of Batman books DC has recently unleashed on unsuspecting readers. The fact is we can't read them all. Writer Paul Dini is a unique talent, but rather than letting him run wild on central title "Batman," DC has moved him to these ancillary titles in which the focus is on tertiary characters. If you want to follow Batman's exploits, Grant Morrison's "Batman & Robin" is a must read, "Detective Comics" offers a major push behind a relatively new "Batwoman,' and "Red Robin" places emphasis on an old friend in dire straits. Meantime, as most fans know, Dick Grayson, the original Robin, is subbing for Bruce Wayne, who is believed dead.  Plenty of story potential here, but too many stories to follow. I'm dropping "Sirens" and "Streets" in favor of sticking closer to the more important stories about "Batman" himself. And "Detective" might get dropped soon too, if the story doesn't start to get as good as the art.