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[SuperginraiX]

wait,

there's a Ghost Rider ongoing?

There WAS. The first four issues tied into Fear Itself.

I don't know. My faith in the industry is WAY down since Siege ended. Granted, my comic buying habits have been way down since then as well.

I'm of the opinion that books like Uncanny X-Men would never have happened in this climate. The title never would have made it to the Dark Phoenix Saga. It would have relaunched with Giant-Size X-Men #1 and fizzled out within a year.

And that sucks because most creators need about six months to actually get good at the title and characters. I wish we lived in a world where these books got more time to breath before getting canned.

And books like X-23 and Black Panther? Ones that had definite fan followings? It would be nice if Marvel tried to push them a bit more into the spotlight before dropping them. Yeah, X-23 was in some Wolverine crossover and Black Panther tied into Fear Itself but that's just stories and not really promotion. Promotion is more ads. More PR's. You can't build a company on five Avengers books and ten X-Books. I mean, you CAN but it's like building on sand.

The industry is in a bad place right now and no one really knows how to get OUT of it. It's been here before and we got out by accident every time. It would be nice if we accidentally got out again.

[GLX]

your point? Legion of Monsters wasn't ever billed as anything more than a mini series. so of course its not gonna sell gangbusters like say a Bendis Avengers book.

It's a mini filled with characters that aren't that popular. If Marvel wanted to solely create things only based on what'll sell boatloads, then they'd never would have published that comic (especially since the writer is practically an unknown). They went with the series because they liked the proposal and felt that the creative team would put out a quality product that'd obtain some readers. Hell, even with established creators like Nick Spencer and Becky Coonan, the Doctor Doom mini got canned. Did the editor shakeup affect it? Of course, but they had material in the can. Marvel could've pushed it back, re-worked it (if needed) and publish it - but they're not doing that. It's not a good time for comics at Marvel that aren't heavily tied to "important things".

[GLX]

There WAS. The first four issues tied into Fear Itself.

I don't know. My faith in the industry is WAY down since Siege ended. Granted, my comic buying habits have been way down since then as well.

I'm of the opinion that books like Uncanny X-Men would never have happened in this climate. The title never would have made it to the Dark Phoenix Saga. It would have relaunched with Giant-Size X-Men #1 and fizzled out within a year.

And that sucks because most creators need about six months to actually get good at the title and characters. I wish we lived in a world where these books got more time to breath before getting canned.

And books like X-23 and Black Panther? Ones that had definite fan followings? It would be nice if Marvel tried to push them a bit more into the spotlight before dropping them. Yeah, X-23 was in some Wolverine crossover and Black Panther tied into Fear Itself but that's just stories and not really promotion. Promotion is more ads. More PR's. You can't build a company on five Avengers books and ten X-Books. I mean, you CAN but it's like building on sand.

The industry is in a bad place right now and no one really knows how to get OUT of it. It's been here before and we got out by accident every time. It would be nice if we accidentally got out again.

Have you sampled some of the non-"mainstream" comics that are out?

[mrorangesoda]

Twigg's suggestion of a 12 comic Marvel U sounds unbelievably boring- they'd all be written by the same 5 dudes and star characters that never change.

The mid-list (and low list) is great because it can be surprising- which is why it creates series with very devoted fans. Almost none of these books last more than a few years, but it'd be nice if they could promote endings rather than announce cancellations.
The midlist is also where new properties get born. You've got to go through a lot of series before you get to your Runaways of the decade.

[SuperginraiX]

Have you sampled some of the non-"mainstream" comics that are out?

Well, I only have enough money for, like, three books a week nowadays (and, actually, funds are so low right now that I'm down to ZERO books) but non-"mainstream" stuff doesn't interest me. I'm a capes and super-powers fan, tried and true. I've sampled some of the more critically acclaimed stuff out there but it rarely clicks with me. I'm not a big fan of anything horror. I don't like too much adult themed crap (which always turns out to be boobs, blood, and vomit). That would include stuff like Invincible which did nothing for me.

BK lent me the first Chew trade which was... interesting but not my kind of book at all. I used to love me some Bone back in the day and there used to be some fun swords and sorcery books that held my interest. I'm a gigantic Transformers fan but dropped the last ongoing about nine issues in because of lack of funds and never looked back.

I still enjoy some Big Two books, of course. Journey Into Mystery is one of my favorite reads but I'm pretty sure it's only got about half a year or so before it, too, gets the axe. Snyder's Batman is the bee's knees and I'm not even a big Batman fan. There's certainly stuff to read that gets me excited.

But there's an undercurrent of bad stuff happening here and poor editorial direction that borders on incompetent at the moment. I don't mean to say that lightly or in a fanboy rage or anything. I've seen more balls being dropped in the past six months, editorially speaking, than I've witnessed since maybe the early nineties. Marvel, especially, seems like a company that's just going through the motions and isn't taking their product as seriously as they should.

Or I could just be still cranky after suffering through Fear Itself. Who knows?

[sdsichero]

Or I could just be still cranky after suffering through Fear Itself. Who knows?

I'm not saying you are entirely wrong, but I think there may be a bitter taste due to that.

[SuperginraiX]

I'm not saying you are entirely wrong, but I think there may be a bitter taste due to that.

Yeah. I'm probably a bit more doom and gloom than usual because of that.

[mrorangesoda]

I've seen more balls being dropped in the past six months, editorially speaking, than I've witnessed since maybe the early nineties. t

It's cause fewer people are doing the same amount of work in the editorial department.

You should check out Atomic Robo or Mark Waid's Incorruptible. I re-read my collections of both recently, so much fun.

[SuperginraiX]

It's cause fewer people are doing the same amount of work in the editorial department.

You should check out Atomic Robo or Mark Waid's Incorruptible. I re-read my collections of both recently, so much fun.

I do like the little I've read of Atomic Robo and I remember enjoying the first issue of Incorruptible. I might check 'em out.

[sdsichero]

Yeah. I'm probably a bit more doom and gloom than usual because of that.

I think Marvel's certainly not firing on all cylinders right now. Just a short time ago, things seemed a bit more coherent and there were a bunch of titles coming out regularly that I really liked (eg. Herc, GotG, Nova, initiiative, Dark Avengers, etc). It seems that the smaller titles, titles I like are getting canned nowadays which is sad. Still, there are a bunch of titles I am enjoying but who knows how much longer that will be.

I will be sad if I ever have to quit comics due to lack of interest, but I'm sure I'll find something to spend my money on.

[sdsichero]

It's cause fewer people are doing the same amount of work in the editorial department.

You should check out Atomic Robo or Mark Waid's Incorruptible. I re-read my collections of both recently, so much fun.

It's funny, I never quite got into Atomic Robo, but I hear a bunch of folks recommend it. Wasn't terrible or anything, just never grabbed me.

[Punchy]

I mostly agree, but also reckon that Marvel in particular have been awfully trigger-happy of late. Books tend to die very quickly, and that has the unfortunate effect of creating an environment where fans are unwilling to pick up new titles because they don't want to get invested in a book that's just going to get canceled out from under them. It's a crazy self-fulfilling prophecy, I know, but it's also an understandable reaction.

I don't think it's understandable, I think it's fucking stupid.

[alaska1125]

I don't think it's understandable, I think it's fucking stupid.

Why? You yank the rug under a fucking miniseries before it actually finishes? Yeah, I think "understandable" might actually be an understatement.

[Jubilee]

Super I remember when siege finished I said that the marvel u had given up any attempts to move forward and would just repeat the same shit.

I think time has proven me right. Bringing back steve was a woeful decision.

[Punchy]

Why? You yank the rug under a fucking miniseries before it actually finishes? Yeah, I think "understandable" might actually be an understatement.

No, what I'm saying is fucking stupid is the attitude of 'I'm not going to buy this series because it might be cancelled' because by not buying it, you're only making it more and more likely for it to be cancelled.