Let’s take these points one by one.

1) Rising Costs

If I was to be honest, I cannot argue with this one.  Over the last decade the cost of my weekly pull has steadily risen alongside the rise in the price of paper. Of course, variant covers, special editions, and tie-ins all increase the bill, but I remain reasonably immune to the former two. (My weakness is the latter.)

However, as the world shifts more and more to digital technology, I can see that cost falling again, not that it has yet to any considerable degree. The politics of not undermining the traditional local comic book shop still manages to keep the price of digital content inflated beyond what it needs to be, and that is understandable. Who doesn’t love to have the physical comic in their hand? The smell, the feel of the paper all enhance the experience. Yet many years ago, I started running out of storage space and began the process of releasing my collection back into the world. (Thank heavens for eBay!) As a lover of the medium, whether I read it on the screen or in physical form does not bother me too much, and honestly? I now prefer the digital. They are so much easier to store.

2) Increasingly ludicrous depictions of the human form

Yup, got me there as well.  Yet then again, look at the various styles throughout history. This is no different to the manga-style eyes of the Nineties, or the more cartoony artists of all generations. It is a fad, it will pass, and many artists will just totally ignore such fashions and draw in a style that they feel comfortable with.

3) Too much hype, not enough depth

Now I can understand this one, but I have just come to expect that hype with every event, story or mini.  I do not feel it is new, many comics used to beat their own chests. Why, you only have to look at many of the Marvel comics of the Seventies to see exactly the same process occurring.  The thing that is different is the quantity of that hype, for which there is only one cause.  This is the internet.  There’s a great quantity of everything, and if you are into the comics sites, then you will see even more hype. After all, isn’t that what they are there for?

Now Robin also noted how fast the lineups change in the team books.

Case in point: how often do superhero teams like the Avengers, the JLA, and the X-Men change their rosters? These teams are revolving doors, with a single line-up never lasting long enough to let the characters stretch their legs and see how the new mechanics work between heroes who are suddenly working side-by-side.

Maybe we look at the stories differently.  I see both members and non-members as consistent members of the cast.  These titles are tales of a part of a well established world, through which various characters pass through regularly. In my view, once an Avenger, always an Avenger.  Moondragon may be part of the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Two-Gun Kid may be back in the Old West and who knows where the Living Lightning is nowadays, but all three are Avengers, and thus part of the Avengers story. Change in the real world can be rapid, but when we look at the big guns like the Avengers or the JLA, then many of those characters have their own titles to back them up, or minis to focus on them. Change can and should be rapid when it happens in the comics world. If that were not true, then mini-series like the Fallen Angels would never have happened.

4) Throwing endless ideas at the reader is not storytelling

No, it’s not, but then that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. Again, it depends on what you are looking for. This was the point that I really want to tackle, with great passion.

Introducing twenty new characters in a single story arc is not storytelling. Coming up with cool new ideas is not storytelling. Giving superheroes new powers is not storytelling. If characters don’t emote, if they don’t grow and change, if they don’t experience things that we as readers can relate to… then you don’t have a story. You have mind-blowing ideas and lots of cool imagery, sure, but there’s no substance.

I agree with every word of that, but on the other hand, I am in love with the throwaway concept. If these are introduced at a consistently high rate to the detriment of the core story, I am behind that statement 100%.

Yet every throwaway concept can be taken by a later writer and expanded upon. Look at how much we know about Boom Tubes nowadays? Look at the Legion Of Super-Heroes, that grew from such inauspicious beginnings. I would also be remiss if I did not mention the entire catalogue of work by the great god of comics Jack Kirby, whose work was peppered with such concepts that were repeated so often, they became standard fare, yet we still knew very little about them.

A shining example of this was Morrison’s Final Crisis. You either loved it or you hated it. I belong in the former crowd. I love the stories that tell you enough for the story construction, yet leave that much more left unsaid, inviting you to complete the peripherals of the story in your own mind. From such fertile soil is the best fanfic grown, and the future epics we have yet to see. I can read Final Crisis again and again, and every time see a new aspect that captures my attention.

I want to see the history of Wonder World from the JLA Rock Of Ages. Just because it was destroyed, does not mean it is finished. After all, wasn’t it not on some plane perpendicular (or some-such) to ‘our’ space-time. I want to see more of the Legion Of Legions as glimpsed in the backdrop of Flex Mentallo. I want to return to the world of DC One Million. (Erm, can you detect a theme here?)

Looking at the older stories, character development is not always a pre-requisite to me. Sometimes, the character can remain the same, as the world changes around them. Change for change’s sake is not a good thing. (I’m not sure if I agreeing or disagreeing with Robin there.)

I want my stories to have a beginning, middle and end, some consequences, (though not always for the central character) and even more importantly, to give that sense of recapturing that childhood wonder of whole new worlds that I first felt when reading Crisis On Infinite Earths, Squadron Supreme, or the Fantastic Four.

Long Live The Throwaway Legions!

Dharma contemplates his er, blind spot

And now, the story that you all have been waiting for. Well, that I have been waiting for anyway.

If you have been reading my column regularly, then you will remember how overjoyed I was that the Shadow Cabinet guest-starred in the Justice League of America last year, and I have been similarly enthralled by Static’s membership of the Teen Titans. However, learning that Dharma had ‘folded’ his world into the DCU, or New Earth, was a bittersweet pill. As glad as I was to see these characters again, I wanted to know how this has occurred, thus I was left feeling a little cheated.

No more however. With last weeks Milestone Forever #1, it looks like we will finally get to see the details of how this happened. More specifically, how this happened on the Milestone/Earth Dakota side of the fence, not Infinite/Final Crisis after-effects in the DCU.  I can’t believe that it has been seventeen years since the beginning of Milestone, and I hope their return to the big leagues remains strong for many years to come.

Milestone was a tidy little line, where you could read as many or as few titles as you liked, and always feel that you received a full story. Except maybe the pre-Zero Hour crossover Worlds Apart where the Superman titles encountered Earth Dakota, which remains one of my favourite crossovers. One of it’s selling points at the time was that just like the world itself, the characters came from a highly multicultural stock. It was never the ‘black’ comics company, but it highlighted a greater diversity than the other major publishers of the time.

To me that was slightly irrelevant, which I would like to think was the point the writers were aiming for. These were good solid characters, believable and flawed, entertaining and ones that you could not help but accept into your heart. Except maybe Holocaust, but then we were all supposed to dislike him.

It was interesting to see all the familiar faces again, but presented in a manner that also introduced many of them to new readers, yet I cannot help but think that the issue is only enhanced by familiarity with the characters, else certain scenes may seem a little blasé, such as Rocket destroying Flashback’s crack pipes. (Actually, even having followed Blood Syndicate from start to finish, I still find the scene a little blasé, but there’s a limit to how much can be fit into an issue.)

For continuity cops there appears to be glaring error however. We see Holocaust burn himself away to a skeleton, but supposedly after this, he appears in one of last years issues of The Brave And The Bold. I detect another rewriting of the universe.

But then again, that’s the point of the series. I highly recommend this, and I look forward to bigger and brighter things for the Milestone crew.

Now all I am waiting for is the Blood Syndicate/Mighty Crusaders crossover. Oh, the Crusaders haven’t happened yet? They will.

Action Comics #886

I’ve mentioned before how much I am enjoying the current direction of the Superman titles, especially Action Comics, and this weeks offering of #886 is no exception. In fact for a continuity cop for myself, this issue has raised the bar somewhat.

The main story featuring Chris (Lor-Zod) and Thara as the latest incarnations of Nightwing and Flamebird, is a telling of the Kryptonian creation myth and the tale of love and betrayal of the original divine duo. It a beautiful tale, full of the standard mythic archetypes and nicely illustrated. Okay, it’s not Alex Ross, but it suits.

What has really fired me up is the back-up story featuring Captain Atom. He seemed to have rather easily deflected criticism and retribution from the other heroes regarding his time as Monarch, and now with the assistance of the Shadowpact, he aims to take on Mirabai. The land here he and Natasha were trapped in, the kingdom of Mirabai has been revealed to be Sorcerers’ World.

Prior to the Final Crisis, erm, Infinite Crisis, erm possibly even Zero Hour back in 1995, Sorcerers’ World in the thirtieth century was what the Gemworld would one day become. This new view of the DC mulitiverse now states Gemworld is but one path to the Sorcerers’ World. I wonder if the old silver age tale of the offshoot of humanity, the Homo Magi remains in continuity? I do believe that there has been some mention of them in the past couple of years.

What I really liked about this is how the writer obviously knows his continuity, not only mentioning Myrra the home of Nightmaster, and the Land of Nightshades; also the Green of the Swamp Thing, the Grey of Matango, the Red of Animal Man (the Vertigo series at least) and even the Jejune realm of Vext!

It was nice to see the tip of the hat to those Vertigo series that featured characters that have returned to the all-ages DCU, as one thing I have been a little frustrated with was the total absence of reference to the old Animal Man series. After all, shouldn’t young Maxine Baker be practically a god nowadays?

That very feature, of retro-continuity and revamp is the only thing that detracts from the first story in this issue. How long will it remain in continuity this time? The DC Multiverse seems to reboot itself every ten years or so. I would hate to think that all this current crop of stories will be wiped away the next time a writer turns their attention to Krypton. The continuity originally lasted say thirty years, taking the pre-Crisis Silver Age as the longest lived example. Lets have the continuity remain in place for at least another thirty years this time.

Else what was the point in the title FINAL Crisis?

`Of course I’m talking about the final chapter of Final Crisis: Legion Of Three Worlds. And without gushing and revealing umpteen spoilers, all I can say is it was brilliant.

I have always loved the Legion, and to see Grant Morrison write a Legion story, with George Perez art no less, is enough to give this fanboy an earth-shaking geekgasm. That’s not even to mention the fact it is a team up between the 1980’s Earth One Legion, the Reboot Earth 247 Legion and the Threeboot Legion. (Just wait until you find out where they come from!)

Of course, we’re assuming it’s the Earth One Legion, but seeing how the mechanics have worked so far, I don’t think we can be so sure. Still, it’s a Legion each for the Super-Family, one for Superman, one for the Conner Kent Superboy, and one for Supergirl.

The series so far has been one massive slugfest, but this final issue more than makes up for it as the battle reaches its climax, and secrets are revealed. The nature of the Time Trapper is theorised upon in a way that makes lots of sense, an awesome change of direction for the White Witch and a glimpse of other Legions as well, including my favorite, the Five Years Later Legion. I know they got a raw deal in the reviews, but I always liked them, even the duplicate Batch SW6 Legion storyline, which after this issue, has the potential of making even more sense. Seeing the clean lines of the clean cut Legion is great, but I would hate to think that the Five Years Later Legion was simply forgotten and swept under the carpet. I’m sure I can’t be the only one.

Plus Earth Prime. Wanderers. Dawny and Wildstar finally professing their love for each other (I think I can reveal that one, but I really daren’t say anything else, almost anything I could comment on would be a spoiler). The destiny of Gates. How I’ve missed that little bug.

If you’ve ever been a Legion fan, then you HAVE to pick up this issue, if not the entire series. It’s too good to wait for the trade, and it has me really excited about the upcoming Adventure Comics series, coming August the 12th. I just hope it has plenty of Legion as well as Superboy, as some places have mentioned 8-10 pages.

Although in the style of the older stories, I’m sorry, 8-10 pages is just not enough. Three stories of that length, all Legion, now that would be fine but just one? C’mon, the Legion is far bigger than that. Nevertheless, it has to be said……….

LONG LIVE THE LEGION!