Cosmic Comix Conversations — October 2012
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Detective Comics #13? Batman #13? Hawkeye #3? Each dominated the week they were released but what was the Best Book of the Month? Our panelists answer that question and discuss many, many other topics including the end of Avengers vs. X-Men, the Walking Dead, Journey into Mystery and even some Marvel Now news! Just Listen! In order to listen, all you need to do is make sure you have speakers or headphones plugged in and click the "play" button you see below or right click here to download.
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I’m with Ken on the Before Watchmen stuff, it is good, but I’m not going to read it? It is one book a week with well done stories. I read comics for stories and while I like them being about characters I know, a well done story is always wroth reading. Hard to believe some of the panel is passing on it for some vague reason.
Another point is how much the Batman books dominate DC, the Batman stuff has gone from being the foundation of the line to being the foundation, first and second floor of the entire line. No other straight DC super hero book makes the chart.
This was my first time listening Cosmic Comix Conversations.
And I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I’m passing on them for the most part. I’ve read them. Like Minutemen and Silk Spectre, but for the most part they read like watered down versions of a great book. Part of my dislike is my natural disdain for prequels of any kind of story. Not a big prequel fan. They’re good, none of them are bad, but I wouldn’t want other writers and artists to give me prequels of Planetary either, especially if they are just decent and/or good. Of course, I probably like Watchmen more than Rusty or you do, so there’s that.
I can see your reasoning as a big Watchmen fan. As you said Rusty and I are not the same level of fan of that material. You have a rationale for passing on it, what I got from the conversation (which seems to be missing a certain voice) is most of the panel was passing on good material without a rationale. It is like me passing on Cobra because I don’t like GI Joe, I would miss a well done story. I see so many people pass on something for some implied idea in their head and not even give a book a try. I’m not a Vampire fan, but I would be missing two well done stories with AV and I,Vampire if I did’t at least try it. How many people do we all know who pass on any comic, because it is a comic book.
As I said on the podcast, I have tried every one of the comics, some of them more than once. I agree that there are some quality series, but nothing that amazing. Are they some of the best comics each month? Probably, but they are not the best. I’ll read the best comics no matter who the characters are, or I’ll read good comics with characters I’m invested in. For me, Watchmen fits neither category. I’m not invested in the characters and the comics are good but not good enough for me to clear that bar. To take your example, I don’t like GI Joe either but Cobra was a great comic so I started reading it and now I care about the characters. It may be also be the prequel thing, because I know how the story ends up I’m never going to get invested in these characters the way I did with Chuckles.
Matt – We know how all the stories end – hero wins or hero dies and comes back to life. All books are about the journey and you don’t know that part. I would strongly recommend Minutemen and Silk Spectre regardless.
I’d love for Alan Moore to write these books… But Ike John Byrne, and perhaps, Frank Miller… He’s lost touch with the medium. It can be because he’s just done and what else is there to say. Or it can be that there’s a bitterness to the business. As far as Watchmen fans go, I think I’ve established my creds on this subject. While I could live with the original trade alone, I have always thought there was potential for the earlier stories. You could argue that the point of the Watchmen was to put a final note on the superhero genre. That’s fine and true. In that sense, maybe Alan Moore shouldn’t be the one to write the prequels. It makes moore sense to have regular comic book writers create these stories so that the common stories have room to grow into the masterpiece. The fact of the matter is that these stories are being done with care and the quality shows. The fact that they are woven together and to the graphic novel is an added bonus. If they were not associated with Watchmen and original characters and stories, this conversation would be quite different. It would be about how great these books are and how everyone should be reading them. To each his own though. If DC wants to print books just for me, I’m cool with that. It’s just that with the cost of books versus he quality of enjoyment you get for your return, it makes sense to be reading the best stuff out there. Jim’s point about G.I.Joe hits home for me. I hate the Joes. Always have. Love Cobra. Still to this day, I want to stop buying it. Give me two bad issues in a row and I will. Yet, still enjoying it. This is true for most of the books I buy that I enjoy. I’m following the talent at this point. Very little enjoyment from the capes and masks anymore. Can’t wait for that to change, but not letting great work get by…. Except maybe for Chew. I hate talking animals.
Ken – Good points, certain creators have lost touch or no longer care to be in the industry anymore, some stay past their time.
I almost stopped buying Cobra during the cross-over, if it had gone on one more issue I would have dropped it too. I have a few books like that, I like what they are doing, but I’m not predisposed to buying it.
Money, pure and simple. Too big an investment for a number of series that to me have been hit or miss.
$4 a week and you don’t need to get all the books. I understand, only so much you can follow, just think that we all dismiss books for reasons that define rational thought.
http://comicsand.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-underwater-welder-by-jeff-lemire.html
One more note – here is a great book by a creator we all seem to like that I bet most have missed. Worth reading.
You read our mind! We’ll be posting something about this book on Saturday. And it will be included in next week’s Whiz Bang! – Andy
Jeff Lemire’s Lost Dogs is also great. It’s one of his earlier works so it’s somewhat rough, but I liked it even more than Underwater Welder.