No "event" involving death should be something big
The Penn. Express-Times' comics columnist wrote earlier about DC and Marvel's next "big events". But when one of them seems to be hyping itself on death, and the other is just as much a case of overkill, then I don't think I'd call them big events at all. First, DC's Final Crisis:
This is exactly the problem with DC lately, and by now, it's tired, and I'm not going to pick up a book just to see characters die for the sake of it. There's even rumors that Barry Allen might be brought back (again?) by Geoff Johns, after how his death happens to be one of the few that's actually worked, and done at a time when, even if it wasn't perfect, it done reasonably well, and served as a motivation for Wally West to remain in uniform.
In principle, I am not against resurrections, and if there's any time when I advocate them, it's when the deaths were as badly done as what Zero Hour, Identity Crisis and Infinite Crisis, to name but some, featured. But when a death is done tastefully, and has a modicum of meaning to it, as Barry Allen's death did, that's when I would think it best that the heroes remain dead. The same goes for at least 4 of the deaths seen in Spider-Man's world years ago, at least 2 of which were undone as ridiculously as they were.
Speaking of which, let's move next to what the columnist says about Marvel's Secret Invasion:
All these silly would-be events are something that years ago could've been told in just a few issues of a single series. Now, they have to spread out from coast-to-coast, costing a lot of money in the process. And sooner or later, it's going to slay comics. The twilight moment is coming, if readers don't learn when and why it pays to say, "no more."
"Batman" writer Grant Morrison and "52" cover artist J.G. Jones take on DC's biggest event with world-changing "Final Crisis."I think it'd be better if he were to declare that this death parade is tired, worthless and futile already. The rumors now are that Aquaman and Martian Manhunter could be the ones to bite the dust. As far as Aquaman is concerned, while it could be replacement he may have had recently who could die, if it's the Sea King who's slated to get a watery grave, he already has been to the point of death already. And Martian Manhunter, often described as a heart-and-soul for the JLA, a possible victim of death as well?
Even with the event months away, rumors are rampant on the Internet about the death of a major hero.
And while every past Crisis event has had a Flash die, most rumors point to the demise of Batman.
But other heroes in the suspected line of fire include Superman, Wonder Woman and Hawkman, among others.
With all the Internet speculation, my pick for the hero that will be pushing up daisies is Nightwing.
The original Robin (Dick Grayson) was picked by DC Editor-in-Chief Dan Dido to perish in "Infinity Crisis" but was saved by the creators attending the meeting.
I hope I'm wrong because Nightwing is my favorite DC hero.
This is exactly the problem with DC lately, and by now, it's tired, and I'm not going to pick up a book just to see characters die for the sake of it. There's even rumors that Barry Allen might be brought back (again?) by Geoff Johns, after how his death happens to be one of the few that's actually worked, and done at a time when, even if it wasn't perfect, it done reasonably well, and served as a motivation for Wally West to remain in uniform.
In principle, I am not against resurrections, and if there's any time when I advocate them, it's when the deaths were as badly done as what Zero Hour, Identity Crisis and Infinite Crisis, to name but some, featured. But when a death is done tastefully, and has a modicum of meaning to it, as Barry Allen's death did, that's when I would think it best that the heroes remain dead. The same goes for at least 4 of the deaths seen in Spider-Man's world years ago, at least 2 of which were undone as ridiculously as they were.
Speaking of which, let's move next to what the columnist says about Marvel's Secret Invasion:
Marvel's big storyline for 2008 is "Secret Invasion."I wonder if Harry Osborn will turn out to be a Skrull too? But after all the crossover nonsense Marvel's been hammering us over the head with for almost 4 years now, I'm not waiting around to find out. We don't need this anymore, as it's brought any and all characterization to a virtual standstill, and in the end, all it's proven to be is a waste of time and money. Someday, those who spent all their hard-earned money on this crossover nonsense from Marvel are going to realize just how much they wasted on utter nothingness. We can only hope they'll come to their senses now, but chances are they won't.
As many fans know, the shape-shifting alien Skrulls have infiltrated Earth and have taken the place of several heroes.
Two of the heroes reviled as Skrulls were Elecktra and Black Bolt.
This year they make their move.
Fan speculation as to who's a Skrull is nonstop. Everyone in the Marvel universe is a suspect, including Iron Man and Captain America.
My bet for who's a Skrull goes to the former X-Man Storm.
In the past year, she's left the X-Men, married the African king Black Panther and with her husband became members of the Fantastic Four.
That gives her a lot of access to many of the people who could stop the invasion.
All these silly would-be events are something that years ago could've been told in just a few issues of a single series. Now, they have to spread out from coast-to-coast, costing a lot of money in the process. And sooner or later, it's going to slay comics. The twilight moment is coming, if readers don't learn when and why it pays to say, "no more."
Labels: crossoverloading, dc comics, golden calf of death, marvel comics
