Marvel has this tiny Secret Invasion thing going on, I don't know if you've heard about it, but some of the kids are really getting into it. It might catch on, so buy your Marvel stock post-haste! DC has this other thing--this massive crossover written by Grant Morrison, who's been known to do a bit of writin' now and again. It's called Final Crisis and people don't really seem to like it because there (a) aren't enough aliens that have the powers of three or more heroes, (b) isn't a lot of repetitive dialogue and/or T-Rexes, and (c) is an expectation that readers will look at the words AND the pictures to figure out what's happening.So now that Final Crisis #2 is out, Chad Nevett and I though it was time to discuss the grouchy reception some critics gave the first issue, and to talk about how it compares to that little Secret Invasion thing.
Also, we mention Saved by the Bell and Degrassi. Without any good reason, really. Read all about it in the newest installment of what some might consider the most profound work of comic criticism to ever hit the transnational internet spaceways, The Splash Page.
Some might instead click HERE.
I just want to know why I'm paying $3.99 for Secret Invasion and I'm getting the same number of pages as a regular $2.99 book.
ReplyDeleteThat and the fact that Secret Invasion 3 was a snoozer and Final Crisis 2 was a major leap from 1 (and I liked 1!), makes me worry about Bendis. They should send him to the Ultimate Universe exclusively for a year to rehab him.
I'm really enjoying Final Crisis, but at the same time I understand why people are frustrated now. It's so easy to be frustrated with a story when you want to know who a character is, but you have to wait a whole month for the next bit of the story. In a movie, that information comes pretty quickly so it's right to slap that person upside the head for asking you questions during the movie. But in comics, there's a whole month of intermission and we're not a very patient society in this day and age in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, I'm a bit frustrated with Final Crisis #2 in my own way. Not by the story or the characters (I am following the story fine and I know almost all of the characters that aren't brand new) but that most of the information about the story in both issues 1 and 2 have been out there for months from interviews and solicits. Unfortunately that's also part of the society we live in, where so much hype has to be generated and therefore so much information has to be let out that the slow buildup which I would have otherwise enjoyed is a bit tedious because I already know what to expect. There are some exceptions, like the bullet going backwards through time, but overall I'm still waiting for the story to surprise me. Maybe I need to avoid solicitations and interviews from now on, but the month is so long...
I kind of figured out the bullet thing early in the issue, but I'm good at forgetting stuff from interviews, apparently.
ReplyDeleteThat image looks vaguely like the fill-in guy for X-Statix. Pope? Looked up who did this, I should read some of Thomas Pitilli's work.
@ marc caputo it's $3.99 because it's printed on cardstock? Or maybe it's the big universe wide event?
ReplyDeletedunno, I read all these books for free at Borders.
You're paying $3.99 because you WILL pay $3.99.
ReplyDeleteBy next summer, all comics will be that price, anyway.
A 33 1/3% increase in one year?
ReplyDeleteThat'll make some real easy decisions.
Has someone charted the average price increases on mainstream comics over the past couple of decades?
ReplyDeleteBecause comics seemed to jump from $1.25 to $1.99 to $2.99 rather quickly. What's the data on this kind of thing?
When I came back at the end of 2003, I think most books were $2.25 or $2.50. Then they all went to $2.99, where they've been.
ReplyDeleteI'm fine at $2.99. But I understand things go up. However, I'm going to want real quality for my money.
Well, better quality.
For me, comic prices actually fell this past year, so I wouldn't be too upset with an increase, because that would put prices back where they were for years here...
ReplyDeleteI graphed about it.
ReplyDeleteThe cost of gas being what it is, and it's effects on shipping and manufacturing, the cost is going up regardless of quality.
ReplyDelete