Once again the amazing comic books filling the racks demand my attention and my blog. Being a kind hearted sould, I hear their pleas and champion their cause.
Before Infinite Crisis makes your head explode, (and in case you didn't know- yes, it is that big a deal) I have to take care of some old business. Naturally it will have to do with the other major crossover taking on in the comic world. I have to say I am really impressed with the recent developments from House of M. The latest news from Marvel is huge. Apparently everything since Avengers: Disassembled has been derived from a plot Joe Quesada (Marvel's Editor-in-Chief) and Brian Michael Bendis (Marvel's Writer-of-Everything) stewed up to reduce the number of mutants in the Marvel Universe. Some are taking this news very badly as they had liked the seeds planted by early creative teams on the X-Men titles. The standing storyline had been that the mutants were the next step of evolution, and with evolution being inevitable and all, that means that the whole Marvel universe was supposed to be strapping down for the end of the species homo-sapien as we know it. That's kind of clever in a high-falootin', Isaac-Asimov-y, science-fiction sort of way, but ultimately it's 1) unsustainable and 2) a little off putting. Marvel's ultimate appeal since the 1960's has been that it is a more realistic comic book universe than DC. Do you really think they can maintain interest in a set of titles that eliminate most of their characters and create a world that looks nothing like our own? More importantly, do we really what to spend the next few years watching the hypothetical extinction of our own species in the comics.
On the creative level, I like how Bendis and the rest of Marvel are playing this out. They seem to have really thought out all the logical places this twist would take the Marvel Universe. I also like the implications of fewer mutants and more antagonism between humans and mutants. It gets back to the heart and soul of what the X-men are all about, the feeling of persecution and minority status we all go through at some point. Though I like the results, my criticism of the House of M event as a whole still holds. I didn't need a whole lot of diddling around in an alternative reality to get to this point. I certainly didn't need to be teased with a possible ressurection of Hawkeye and some of the other shenanigans, you get away with you don't have to live with the consequences of your story. Still, I wish Marvel luck with the future.
Next, we have Infinite Crisis. You know what? I am not going to say very much about this. It seems to me that we have enough people talking about it. I am a little surprised that DC has decided to officially declare this a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths. I do think it will be a huge event with some major consequences and a story well worth reading. However I want to hear someone put out an over-under on how many major DC character's will actually die in this one. Whatever it is, watch the under. Comic companies have got a lot more protective of their characters since 1986, DC especially. Back during Crisis on Infinite Earths DC was pretty much playing with house money. They were going to be scrapping their entire universe, and they were desperately trying to cut into Marvel's popularity at the time. Today they are competing toe-to-toe with Marvel and already riding a big wave of revitalization. They don't need a renovation just a good story and some well timed promotion. Plus, the creative minds behind IC aren't going to make their mark by rehashing the original. I fullly expect them to bust out a few more surprises than just "let's kill some characters whose titles aren't selling.
This does make me think about some of the great crossover events I have seen in my time. So I decided to punch out my All-Time Top Five list of intracompany crossovers. I decided to leave aside the intercompany crossovers mostly because the have always been at least one step below their intracompany peers, see the painfully contrived Amalgam lineup. Though some, like "Spider-Man vs. Superman" and "Batman vs. The Hulk" are genuine classics. and others like "The Punisher Meets Archie" and that Spawn issue with Cerberus are way underrated. While I'm vaguely on the topic, what's with Witchblade making her first appearance in some Shi/Cyblade crossover. I still can't believe you can legally do that to collectors. If the Comic Code Authority wasn't policing this stuff, then what good where they?
Anyways . . .
All-Time Top Five Comic Crossovers (within a company)
5. Spider-Clone Saga- I know, I know. It was awful. It was horrendous. It set the character back for years. But hear me out, this story was special in my development as a comic book fan for three reasons. 1) I was personally addicted to Spider-Man at the time, and it showed me that there comes a time when you have to abandon a character on account of the story no matter what your loyalty to the character is. That allowed me to understand how to jump from title to title to take full advantage of the shifting nature of today's comic market. 2) I think the whole comic community was fascinated with this whether you were reading it or not. It was the classic example of a slow-train wreck comic. 3) It was the signal to me and the comic community in general that the heady 90's and their bloated events were over. Frome there the slow rebuilding of the Marvel Universe could begin.
4.DC One Million- Since DC has had about one crossover event every year of at least minor importance these sort of things have been negligible since COIE. Somewhere in the crowd lies this true gem. I loved the concept of introducing a whole new element to the DC universe, the far flung future scape of the 853rd century. This story let Grant Morrison do exactly what he does best, create a huge outlandish idea and then play around with it. It didn't do much to further the universe's storylines, but it did create a bucketful of new ideas for later creators to toy around with. That's more than so many other crossovers.
3. Secret Wars- Secret Wars proved that crossover events could work as a story telling device and a commercial success. Not only did this spawn some crazy sequels and the all-powerful cosmic entity who wore a jheri curl for no good reason, but it also started the sequence of events that led to Venom, Carnage, and pretty much every Spider-Man plotline from 1988 until 2001. Plus, have you ever actually read this series? It's pretty intense and a little crazed in it's own right. If you were reading this title as it came out, you would seriously worry if everyone would make it out alive.
2. Infinity Gauntlet- Again bonus points are awarded for sequels here, no matter how gimmicky. Second, this did have some pretty big ramifications. Third, the cosmic scope of the story and philosophical underpinnings were actually pretty interesting. Fourth, the moment between Captain America and Thanos is an all-time classic in comic book history. Fifth, I have to give credit to Marvel for letting Jim Starlin do what he does best. Sixth, I like numerical lists.
1. Crisis on Infinite Earths- The standard. 'Nuff said.
On one last note, I am pleased to let you know that I have found two other titles I would recommend for your reading enjoyment. Thankfully for all you non-traditional comic readers (read: non-fat white young single white males) and for my reputation as a hip comic fan, neither of them are super-hero titles.
Fell- This is yet another title by one of my favorite writers, Warren Ellis. It's a detective comic in the tradition of gritty crime-dramas like TV's Homocide or The Wire. Each story is an easy to read stand-alone story, with some supplemental material thrown in. This book is a breeze to pick up and enjoy. The hero Det. Richard Fell is a likeable and intriguing protagonist. Ellis has creating a truly fascinating setting the "feral city" of Snowtown. It's great stuff for people interest in some adult level mystery stories.
Sea of Red- Two words to excite just about anyone. Vampire. Pirates. That's a great concept on it's own, but this book, by Rick Remender and Kieron Dwyer, does some interesting things with it. It seems like each issue brings a truly unexpected twist. With the wild attitude of these creators and the fact that none of these are established franchise characters, I am certain this story will be a major thrill ride.
That's all for now, but I'm sure to have more to say soon. Until then watch this space for more on education and basketball.
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