Originally Posted by
Vampire Savior
I confess that I never totally got into the whole comic book fan thing, either. Not for lack of trying, I think. Obviously, I loved the medium and it fascinated me, but...just...something never totally clicked with me. Ultimately, I think it goes back to what I kind of talked about earlier. It's probably because I felt I wasn't getting the content I was really looking for (that's why that's an important point for me). Had I been, I probably would have dived in head first, but I always felt there was some barrier. Because of that, I've always sort of had an outsider looking in perspective on DC and Marvel. Or maybe not that. It's like I had one foot in the door and one foot out, and having that view...
I think what has happened with DC and Marvel is they're not selling people on good stories, like most fiction at least attempts to. Whether intentionally or otherwise, it seems the main selling point of these comics is "shared universes," and obsessions with characters, and I think that only comic book nerds appreciate that. Most "normal people" are just looking for good stories, yet DC and Marvel (especially DC) are obsessed with how their universes function. They get away with banal story after banal story because they have an audience that will tolerate that so long as they get their hit of their favorite character(s) every month. It doesn't matter whether the stories are good or not. Just have their favorite characters present and don't make them look bad. The companies will prematurely cancel a story you're just trying to enjoy because they are getting ready to shift their universes again (see Grant Morrison's Green Lantern for a recent example). They shift the universe about every two months or so these days. So, just telling a story takes a back seat to ever shifting universe. How can a person who is just trying to enjoy a story appreciate this? This leads me to another point...
It also seems to me that DC and Marvel expect one person to buy an entire universe line of comics, which is absurd to me. Manga, on the other hand, isn't typically going to try to force the person buying Berserk to read Fruits Basket. That would be weird and dumb, yet comic book nerds fall for this, and I think they're the only ones who will. Most normal folks will check out if the reading experience becomes cumbersome and a puzzle, because that's not what they're there for. They didn't sign up to read Fruits Basket and they shouldn't be arm barred into doing that to find out what happens next. They're also not used to reading stuff that does that. If they buy Hunger Games, there isn't a note at the end that tells them that they have to read Harry Potter and Twilight to complete the story.
There are also rules in this universe that are enforced by professionals and fans. For example, no matter how long this universe goes on, no character will ever be as important as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Then there's Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, and Aquaman behind them. If that doesn't jive with you...well...oh well.
Going back to expecting one person to buy a whole line of comics, I am usually staggered when I hear how some people regularly spend $400 a month on comics. I usually don't say anything, because that's their business and that's totally fine, but what I'm really thinking is, "WTF!? Are you like buying every single comic being printed!?" I think it's primarily people like that who are keeping this whole thing afloat. Most people aren't going to do that.
I think what I'm getting at is that it's a special type of person who is going to actually like an arrangement like this. It's very different from any other reading experience, and while that does make these comics rather unique in ways, there are A LOT of things that I believe many people will perceive as negatives. You essentially have to be a comic book nerd to really be into it.
Again, I don't think I'm that type of person. I'm usually just looking for really good stories that will appeal to me, and I find I don't often discover that in comics from DC and Marvel, and I don't like the bizarre idiosyncrasies of these companies. I don't mind shared universes, but I think comic companies often go waaaaaay overboard with that concept. All this said, when I do find comics I really love (very rare) there's like nothing better. Fun comics are REALLY fun!