Let us continue the discussion (ranting) about Marvel’s “big events“. So now we have Dark Reign. Now everybody that knows Norman Osborn and his past can figure out that eventually he is going to snap in a major way. So that begs the question: Why do this whole arc? My hope is that Marvel has some plot twist forthcoming that will be unexpected. I do believe Dark Reign has been way better than Secret Invasion, but still in some way seems to be lacking that big moment to change it from being good to great. Now I guess I’ll answer the question of ” How many titles did you buy”. Well let’s see, until this point I have bought: Dark Avengers, Dark Reign: Lethal Legion, Goblin Legacy, Dark Reign: The Hood, Dark Reign Hawkeye, Dark Reign Zodiac, Dark Reign: The Cabal, Dark Wolverine, Dark Reign The List: Avengers, Dark Reign The List: Daredevil, Dark X-men The Beginning and Utopia (although that was its own self contained story it’s still tied into Dark Reign). Now keep in mind I also buy regularly: New Avengers, Avengers Initiative, Mighty Avengers and Wolverine Origins. Wow! I think that covers it. I did steer away from Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, Deadpool, Thunderbolts, Elektra and The Fantastic Four tie ins (except issue #570). See, I can show some restraint.
Alright, so I’ve been duped again, but hey at least I won’t miss out on anything important right? This arc is definitely keeping me on the edge of my seat more than SI did. I mean there were times during SI that I didn’t really think ” ooh I cant wait for Wednesday.” I always did look forward to Guardians of the Galaxy though.
There does seem to be less of a media blitz on DR and I think it will pay off in the end, because hardcore fans don’t need to be dazzled with advertisement out the wazoo; they need solid writing and good artwork. I for one would be OK if they stopped the over-hyping for a while, and had the creative teams just dig deeper into characters and their development or history.
So let’s review what we’ve learned here. Marvel is not so secretly trying to sell comics that don’t contain top notch writing or artwork. They also seem hell bent on making five to ten different limited series that also drain our wallets with little or no reward. In the end though, I still buy a good chunk of the worthless stuff to appease my comic appetite. Next week I am going to talk about everything Avengers. So fasten your seat belts for some unbridled action.
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
Billy, I love your honesty! This is a great angle that most fans never say out loud. Can’t wait to see what issues you dig up for next week!
I’m really liking Dark Reign so far!!
I think they decided that letting one of the good guys finish off SI would be to predictable. Show of hands of who thought that some one like Wolverine or Fury would take the Queens head off…see that is what I thought. No one saw Osborn as the savior. That is what makes it great and watching him and the Sentry battle it out for captain insane-o of the year is entertaining as well.
Well Jason, I’m not liking the “how” it ended. The “who” is ok. I just wish more thought would have been put into the finale. Do you actually think Bendis and crew were up all night and the best they could do was “bang” she’s dead? It seemed like a cop-out or just plain lazy writing to me.