Drawing the Line at $4.99

Brightest Day #24 (2011)

Yesterday, I stopped into my local comic book store and picked up the past two weeks' comics from my reserve bag.  Included in the stash were the last issue of Brightest Day, the last issue of Justice League: Generation Lost, Action Comics #900, and Avengers Academy Giant-Size #1.  The first two were $4.99 each, Action Comics $5.99, and Avengers Academy was $7.99!  Are you freakin' kidding me with all of these jacked-up prices?!  I bought the first three because they're part of the ongoing series that I've collected, but I couldn't justify spending $7.99 (really?) on the Avengers Academy book.  I can honestly say that I've never seen such an expensive "regular" comic book.  Even Annuals don't cost that much!  I hope whatever's in it isn't integral to the regular series' storyline, because if it is, I'll never know about it.  How many people does Marvel think will actually fork over $7.99 for a single comic book? 

Avengers Academy Giant-Size #1 (2011)

I read the Brightest Day and Justice League issues one evening.  While they were enjoyable, they certainly didn't provide more excitement than a $2.99 comic.  In fact, BD had several two-page spreads, so it wasn't even more story, just bigger pictures.  I felt a little violated.  

A few days later, I read Action Comics #900, hoping for some big revelation or big conclusion to the "Reign of Doomsday" storyline.  Nope.  It was just a mediocre segway story that was about the same length as a regular issue.  I can't even call it a "bridge" between two other issues because nothing much really happened.  If I hadn't read the story, I certainly wouldn't have been lost reading Superman or another Super-title.  The additional $3 I paid for this "100 page" issue were random Superman stories that weren't part of current continuity...and weren't very good themselves.  

DC may be "Drawing the Line at $2.99," but I'm drawing it at $4.99.  No $5.99 or $7.99 comics in my future (even $4.99 was severely pushing it!).  It's time for me to re-evaluate the comics I currently read and shave a few off the list accordingly. 

He's Here, He's There, He's Everywhere!

Etrigan, taunting DC readers

Is Etrigan the Demon the new Lobo?  Anybody remember back in the 90s when Lobo was turning up EVERYWHERE in DC comics?   Did anybody really like him?  Or was it a just a marketing push, thinking that if we were exposed to him enough, he'd eventually wear us down, and we'd begin to want to see more of him?  You know, kinda like Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan.  

It seems that DC's new Lobo is Etrigan the Demon.  He seems to be popping up in all of the DC comic books I read, and his rhyming speech is as annoying as reading Zatanna's backward spells.  Are there people out there that go ga-ga for Etrigan appearances?  And, if so, are they aware of this ailment from which they suffer?  

Tiny Titans Etrigan

Even the Tiny Titans aren't safe!

Enough with Etrigan, I say!  Let's put him in Hell and leave him there! 

Daken, Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are!

My wish from my September 2009 posting came true: Daken -- Wolverine's son -- received his own series.  Unfortunately, that's where my enthusiasm ends. 

Having a day off recently, I sat down and read 4 or 5 consecutive issues of Daken: Dark Wolverine.  (By the way, I still hate that they use that title, left over from the Dark Reign days, only as an attempt to drive sales.) 

I didn't realize I had bought the new Tyger Tiger, Crime Lord of Madripoor series.  Each issue that I read of Daken was about crime lord (lordess?) Tyger Tiger, her henchmen, and other various criminals in the fictional country of Madripoor.   Did anyone bother to tell the writers that the title character should actually appear in his own comic series?  I'm all for supporting characters, but when title character BECOMES the supporting character, that's where I have a problem. 

There is so much depth, intrigue, and mystery to Daken, that to push him to supporting role status in his own comic book is equivalent to a slap in the face (and you don't want to be slapping Daken).  If I didn't already get to know him from previous comic book tales, I would have no idea who he is or what he is about from reading his new self-titled series.  The stories I recently read were of fair to mediocre quality, certainly not worthy of the complex character of Daken.  If he took over Wolverine's book for awhile and received his own title as a result of its success, don't you think he's worthy enough to have better stories written for and about him? 

Amazing, Spider-Man.

Amazing Spider-Man #655 was probably THE single best issue of Spidey that I've read since I started reading his adventures again three years ago.  To start, the cover was literally...well, amazing.  It said so much...in so little.  All the white space surrounding a genuflecting, sorrowful Spider-Man was beautiful and really set the tone for the story inside.

The story is set after J. Jonah Jameson's wife Marla dies at the end of issue #654.  As I opened the comic, I found page after page of wordless panels.  I studied each and every panel, as they all told a story.  The message was extremely powerful and well "written."  The image of J. Jonah Jameson lying in bed alone with his wife's side undisturbed.  Him getting up to turn off the alarm clock that was still on her side of the bed.  The wedding ring he still sported.  The dual bathroom sinks no longer being used simultaneously.  These images were so striking.  No words were even necessary.  It was a refreshing change of pace to see JJJ humbled, even under these unfortunate circumstances.  

I won't reveal anything more about this issue because I think it speaks for itself and should be read in full to really appreciate it.  This was the kind of story that Spidey has been missing for a long, long time.  Thank you, Dan Slott, for coming in, taking on consistent writing chores for ASM, and providing us with such a memorable story that will surely go down in Spidey history as a classic.

Joking Around With Lex Luthor

Action Comics #897

I recently read Action Comics #897, where Lex Luthor is headlining until the milestone 900th issue when Superman is supposed to return to the title. 

In Luthor's quest for the Black Lantern energy (see: Blackest Night), he has to visit Batman's arch-nemesis, The Joker, in prison.  What results brings out the best of Joker.  He's comical, yet cunning.  He's a smart-ass, yet sedate.  He's not the maniacal Joker we're used to seeing in the Bat titles.  Paul Cornell writes the Joker as if he has a real sense of humor, a trait sorely lacking in other Joker appearances.  He is not only The Joker, he's a joker.  After reading this interpretation of the Clown Prince of Crime, I would love to see a mini-series featuring the Joker, with Paul on writing chores.