Are we being trolled by Marvel and DC? The state of comics in reboot
I know, I know! It's NOT a reboot. Whatever. The facts are both companies, Marvel and DC, are on a collision course with massive course changes as a part of reinventing themselves for the new age. The comic business is on a steady grow for the last three years and, with both companies trying to jockey into position to promote their cinematic universes, we, as fans, have found ourselves dealing with more than a few reboots and restarts. Secret Wars and Convergence make 2015 a year in flux as we await what each company has in store for our favorite heroes. Both DC and Marvel have given us glimpses into the future. With the DC Trinity, it's mostly subtle costume changes so far; although the whole Robo-Bat thing is a bit out there. I'm sure the story shifts are to come. Marvel has unveiled an Avengers for this age; properly mixing the old with the new. It really looks to be a daring move on both parts.
But, once we step back and take a look at what has transpired in the past year, especially in the last couple of months, starring these redos in the face leaves me feeling a bit trolled.
It all started for me with the 'Death of Wolverine'. What brass! What utter ballsy risk-taking! I really thought we were getting somewhere. After seeing icons like Superman and Captain America bite it in epics stories only to be brought back, we comic fans were used to death not really meaning that much. After all, it was probably a skrull, right. So the whole marketing ploy to kill Wolverine was suspect to begin with. THEN, they say 'No, really! He's done!' And we bought it. We mourned. We cried. We said goodbye. We saw the people around him actually go through the type of change that the death of someone close would actually warrant. And we walked away from his graveside and brushed a tear; looking forward to seeing what Marvel could do with a world without Wolverine.
Then, it hit me. They just announced Secret Wars. And released half a dozen covers with some version of Wolverine on it. DAMN! They did it to us again!! Sure they killed THAT Wolverine, but they will simply pull in a Wolverine from an era we loved and just keep right on going. I can hear them now back in the board rooms laughing it up! I had never felt so TROLLED as a comic fan in my life. But it didn't stop there.
Next they announced Deadpool was going to die. Then, announced everything ends. AND, in the last couple of months it has seemed that most of the big writers have unleashed a few story devices that are usually kept for big issues. With the end in sight, we've seen young Iceman outed as gay by Marvel Girl, Kitty Pride is about to marry Starlord, Peter Quill ,and the Fantastic Four came to an end. But so is everything else. All the dramatic changes they are making could be just one huge colossal troll by the end of the summer.
And you think DC is immune? Hell no! They just killed the Bat, Bruce Wayne, himself. But I've already gotten myself into interesting discussions that end in 'But that's the NEW 52 Batman'! Really? Not only is that confusing as hell, it's convoluted. It waters down the whole experience. Now, he did go down in a blaze of utter glory and up against his age old enemy, The Joker. But it ends up being just another elusive 'what if' or 'elseworlds' story. It really didn't happen or was undone.
So I find myself wondering what the comic reading experience has become. Just like my article about the cheapening of death, this is a cheapening of reality. Let a character remain dead and see where the story takes us. Don't drop bombs like younger Iceman is gay knowing you have a chance to change it all back come the redo.
Actually, it occurs to me that it may not be trolling as much as it is market testing. It is happening in the cinematic world too. They dropped a picture of Jarod Leto as the Joker shirtless and full of tatoos. They didn't say this wasn't how he was going to look. They didn't say this was promotional only. They just dropped it. THEN, after the internet storm set in, they rushed online to defend it like 'we were just playin' about the tatoos'! Really? OR maybe they were testing the waters a bit. Maybe they were seeing just how far they could take it. Reminds me of the rumors of the female Dr. Doom. The rage on the internet was hot for weeks. Were they testing us? Or were they heating us up so we would accept blogger Doom a bit more. All in all, I'm just sayin' we're being drug around by our emotions here. We're just a great big bunch of markets to be tested and not fans to be taken serious. I hope I'm wrong about all of this and I'm not going anywhere. I'm a comic book fan through and through and will follow them to the end. I'm just saying that I'll be glad when Secret Wars and Convergence is over (although I've enjoyed and will enjoy reading) so I can calm the hell down and MAYBE just get back to following a story in continuity.
But continuity...what's that? Right? Ugh! I feel another rant coming on!
