The Four Color Media Monitor

The East Tennessean writes about Civil War, and shows once again that something is terribly wrong with university mindsets:

I don't want to spoil the ending, the ramifications are still playing out today, so I will just say that the writing was brilliant and the artwork was equally beautiful.

No need to spoil it, because Marvel's editorial already did.

Even if you have never read a comic book I believe that it has something to appeal to everyone, and the issues are very relevant in the real world.

But not in Civil War, I don't think.

Since then, I have gotten hooked on comic books. I make my weekly trip to the nearest comic book store to pick the current week's titles.

Boy, is this getting bad now. Earlier in the article, the writer spoke about how he couldn't afford to buy all the titles in the crossover, so he opted to just buy the main storyline in 15-dollar trade format. Just how many titles does he pick up now, and from what companies? And to say that he got hooked onto comics because of a dreadful crossover story with leftist overtones and too much of a focus on heroes battling each other instead of the villains, that really is weird. And considering that World War Hulk dragged a lot of titles into an expensive crossover yet again, can he still afford to buy whatever he may from Marvel even now?

With many A-list writers from television and film, comics are not what they used to be.

They flow like a movie from issue to issue and the artwork is some of the best I have ever seen. Some critics have begun calling this the "New Golden Age of Comics" because of the acclaim of many story lines and the repeated second, third and fourth printings of some titles. Many comics sell over 100,000 copies per month.

I've seen fluff-coated coverage in papers outside the college circuit, but this is really missing the boat. Some other critics have said that 2007 could one day be looked upon as the year that killed comics, because of how they're doing things including - but not limited to - crossovers, that make it near impossible to get absorbed in any story, or allow for any independent flow or creative freedom for the writers on many of the mainstream series. And contrary to what this head-in-the-clouds writer for the college paper says, only a small number of books are selling more than 100,000 copies a month, while many more are selling just barely 50-60,000. But even if they were selling more than that, is 100,000 that great a number by today's standards? Not really. It's a very far cry from what comics sold almost 2 decades ago before they were banished from mainstream bookstores.

And if the whole purpose of Civil War was in order to lead to what happened in One More/Brand New Day, then what good was it to begin with? I'd suggest to that writer at the college paper to take his head out of the clouds and return to earth to take a closer look at reality.

Labels: crossoverloading, marvel comics, msm propaganda