My pull list is tiny now. Is it just me?

[Celgress]

Never really understood the continuity complaints to be honest. When you’ve got 20+ writers all working on different characters, and some books using the same characters, continuity is bound to get wonky. Over at Marvel Tony Stark is fighting in a robot revolution and a member of the Avengers. Cap is disgraced and on the run in his solo but leading the Avengers in Aaron’s book. Things are never going to line up 100% perfectly unless you want books to constantly be tying in.

That said I’m almost positive Death Metal is going to end with yet another attempt by DC to straighten out the timeline which will probably last under a year before things get convoluted again.

I disagree with your assessment. At least Marvel has a coherent timeline, unlike DC. We know, for example, Secret Wars (OG) happened the way it happened not so for various major DC events. DC's continuity, even in broad strokes, is a confusing mess that changes drastically from crisis to crisis event. This has to stop.

[Flash Gordon]

Continuity is a great tool, but you can't let it become a prison. If everything tied into everything, the books would be a mess. Tonal and aesthetic nightmare. Just read what you like!

[Vordan]

I disagree with your assessment. At least Marvel has a coherent timeline, unlike DC. We know, for example, Secret Wars (OG) happened the way it happened not so for various major DC events. DC's continuity, even in broad strokes, is a confusing mess that changes drastically from crisis to crisis event. This has to stop.

But by that same token, the vast majority of Marvel stories could not have happened the way the stories told them originally, with Iron Man facing down Soviet Communists and Nixon offing himself after the first Secret Empire. Marvel has never officially retconned those stuff out but they flat out couldn’t have happened as they were published. I don’t really find that any less convoluted, heck isn’t it the same “everything happened” attitude that DC has now?

[Celgress]

But by that same token, the vast majority of Marvel stories could not have happened the way the stories told them originally, with Iron Man facing down Soviet Communists and Nixon offing himself after the first Secret Empire. Marvel has never officially retconned those stuff out but they flat out couldn’t have happened as they were published. I don’t really find that any less convoluted, heck isn’t it the same “everything happened” attitude that DC has now?

Granted, but Marvel is easier for newbies to jump into as they can go back more easily and visit the major signs posts along the road if you will, not so with DC. Many young fans have told me they find it daunting to follow DC continuity in general because of all the hard reboots.

[Vordan]

Granted, but Marvel is easier for newbies to jump into as they can go back more easily and visit the major signs posts along the road if you will, not so with DC. Many young fans have told me they find it daunting to follow DC continuity in general because of all the hard reboots.

Hah really? Interesting. For me it was the opposite, DC is waaaay better when it comes to intro recommendations for people wanting to get into characters. DC has got tons of standalone stories that you can just pick up and read that only require a basic understanding of the character. I’ve found most people don’t care about continuity, they’re just looking for stories with characters they like that are entertaining. And most people balk at the idea of having to go back and read pre-21st century comics in order to understand Marvel continuity. But that’s just anecdotal evidence, although I think DC has always outsold Marvel in the trade department iirc.

[Adekis]

My pull list was pretty small before covid hit. Now it's nothing because I don't go to the shop; I only read older books on DCUniverse. Which is... okay. Like I said, it was a pretty small pull at the time. Pretty much just Jimmy Olsen and that Question book from Black Label. I was checking up on Superman every so often, and I got the first few issues of Bendis' Legion book, but I dropped that after a few issues because I was morally offended by the changes he made to Braal and Cosmic Boy, not to get into it too much.

Hah really? Interesting. For me it was the opposite, DC is waaaay better when it comes to intro recommendations for people wanting to get into characters. DC has got tons of standalone stories that you can just pick up and read that only require a basic understanding of the character. I’ve found most people don’t care about continuity, they’re just looking for stories with characters they like that are entertaining. And most people balk at the idea of having to go back and read pre-21st century comics in order to understand Marvel continuity. But that’s just anecdotal evidence, although I think DC has always outsold Marvel in the trade department iirc.

I find it interesting that people don't like to read older comics, because a lot of them are phenomenal, and I think it's easier to find standalone stories from the 20th century - but I guess I kinda get it. And I definitely understand where people don't want to get bogged down in endless continuity! I think comic fans have overestimated the importance of continuity for a long time.

[skyvolt2000]

Hah really? Interesting. For me it was the opposite, DC is waaaay better when it comes to intro recommendations for people wanting to get into characters. DC has got tons of standalone stories that you can just pick up and read that only require a basic understanding of the character. I’ve found most people don’t care about continuity, they’re just looking for stories with characters they like that are entertaining. And most people balk at the idea of having to go back and read pre-21st century comics in order to understand Marvel continuity. But that’s just anecdotal evidence, although I think DC has always outsold Marvel in the trade department iirc.

Looking through Amazon trade sales for about the past 5 years-Marvel has OWNED DC.

Stuff like OGN Raven, Jeff Smith's Shazam and Shadow of the Bat-they tend to do better than mainstream DC like DC Rebirth.

I remember looking through the top trades for kids-Jeff Smith's Shazam and Johns's 2006 GL and movie Wonder Woman was there. That was it.

Marvel had recent stuff like Miles and Moon Girl.

And when there is a Marvel Movie-Dc gets buried. I saw a lot of X-Men stuff related to the last movie and Thanos stuff there.



I don't think most kids care about history they just want a story to read.


I think in DC's case they have alienated too many folks.

[poroto678]

Hah really? Interesting. For me it was the opposite, DC is waaaay better when it comes to intro recommendations for people wanting to get into characters. DC has got tons of standalone stories that you can just pick up and read that only require a basic understanding of the character. I’ve found most people don’t care about continuity, they’re just looking for stories with characters they like that are entertaining. And most people balk at the idea of having to go back and read pre-21st century comics in order to understand Marvel continuity. But that’s just anecdotal evidence, although I think DC has always outsold Marvel in the trade department iirc.

That's so true for me. I mean yeah, DC continuity is a gigantic mess these days, but I wouldn't mind that much if the books were good.

[Waterfall]

I just don't have any patience anymore. I outright stopped buying comic books and only following spoilers to see if anything's worth the money. I was buying almost everything back in 2016 but it's been 4 years and Flash (my main title) has gone nowhere. Most of Williamson's run is filler.

Maybe I've become old. I want to earn something from the time I'm spending on something. I followed Rebirth mess for two years and it became obsolete after a while. So every penny I spent on it, every minute I wasted, I could have channeled those for something much more worthwhile.

To give an example; I used to follow Young Justice for the sake of Bart and Kon but the story kept spinning on it's heels. When I thought things were finally happening, they moved to Warworld. That's when I cussed and quit. People buy comics for a reason. You dangle a carrot in front of them, you can only do that for so long. After a while the carrot rots and it doesn't matter anymore.

[Digifiend]

Get back on YJ now. Bart and Conner's stories are finally being told - though Conner's was basically nothing that hadn't already been revealed in Action Comics, as despite having the same writer the two books somehow ended up out of sync! Bart's secret will be revealed next issue.

[scary harpy]

Get back on YJ now. Bart and Conner's stories are finally being told - though Conner's was basically nothing that hadn't already been revealed in Action Comics, as despite having the same writer the two books somehow ended up out of sync! Bart's secret will be revealed next issue.

Officially, yes; next issue for Bart.

But can't we just guess the universe rebooted without Bart just like it did without Conner?

I suspect because Bart was 'investigating' in the speed-force...similar to Conner being 'banished' to Gemworld.

[superduperman]

With the abolition of the Wal-Mart books, my pull list just disappeared.

[matt levin]

I know this's meant to be a DC page, but damn,
makes me sad to read lines like superduperman's above (my pull list just disappeared) and waterfall's 'I've just stopped buying comic books.'
And yeah, I KNOW this's meant to be a DC discussion,
but I sure hope those of you disheartened by DC's comics look into the "independent" comics selections.
All of the titles in my tag below are there 'cause I really enjoyed them, and I hope folks don't give up on comics, but look into titles from elsewhere.

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

Actually, kind of the opposite. This is, IMO, a good time for DC and my DC pull list has actually gotten bigger.

Continuity is a great tool, but you can't let it become a prison. If everything tied into everything, the books would be a mess. Tonal and aesthetic nightmare. Just read what you like!

Nobody is saying it should be. But literally the only thing that you need to do to maintain a coherent continuity is just not flagrantly contradict the important stories and milestones that form the basis of the canon. That's it. Even stories that contain small contradictions in terms of continuity are forgiven as long as it's not serious.

[Waterfall]

I know this's meant to be a DC page, but damn,
makes me sad to read lines like superduperman's above (my pull list just disappeared) and waterfall's 'I've just stopped buying comic books.'
And yeah, I KNOW this's meant to be a DC discussion,
but I sure hope those of you disheartened by DC's comics look into the "independent" comics selections.
All of the titles in my tag below are there 'cause I really enjoyed them, and I hope folks don't give up on comics, but look into titles from elsewhere.

I do read independent. Just not as a monthly.