User Editorial: Stop Buying Bad Comics

User Editorial:  Stop Buying Bad Comics

The comic industry is at a pivotal stage. The power to set its course for the future is in the hands of the reader...so why aren't we doing anything about it?

Editorial Opinion
By Blagyver - Feb 16, 2012 07:02 AM EST
Filed Under: Other
Source: Image source: GuerillaGeek.com

Here’s a riddle for you, CBMers:

Q: Why do Marvel and DC put mediocre writers and artists on flagship titles like Detective Comics, Superman, and Uncanny X-Men?

A: Because you’ll buy them anyway.

For the last few weeks, there has been a lot of hubbub amongst the comic community regarding the state of the industry. Between Before Watchmen, Avengers VS X-Men, and numerous creative team shifts, there has been much fodder for this discussion. The dialogue has come from fans and creators alike. While the actual issues at hand are vast, the general consensus is that something needs to change.

Consider this: Right now, the title that gave DC Comics its name is being written by Tony Daniel. Let me reiterate this: Detective Comics is being written by Tony Daniel. Tony Daniel is possibly the epitome of mediocrity in comics. And yet, the first issue of the relaunch went into four printings.

People didn’t buy this title because they were excited to see what Tony Daniel did with the character. He’s worked on Batman plenty of times before and anyone that’s read his work knows that the answer is going to be “nothing new.” No, people bought the first issue of Detective Comics because it’s Detective Comics. Similarly, some of the biggest titles in the comic industry right now (Superman, Uncanny X-Men, Justice League, etc) are being subjected to sub-par, if not downright lousy, runs. Hell, between the first half of Grounded and its current run by George Perez, it’s a wonder anybody still reads Superman. If it wasn’t for the fact that, you know, it’s Superman, this book probably would have been cancelled a while ago. It’s sad. It’s sad that DC is letting this happen. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Marvel reader or a DC reader. Everyone can recognize that Superman is one of the titles that DC should be putting grade-A talent on.

But the thing is, they don’t have to. They don’t have to put any effort into Superman because people will buy it anyway.

This is why Tony Daniel is writing Detective Comics. This is why Marvel is putting out their umpteenth “biggest-event-ever-no-seriously-guys-we-really-mean-it-this-time-really-really-for-real-seriously” crossover. This is why Rob Liefeld has just been put on THREE TITLES. It’s because we’re sheep. We’ve been following these characters since we were kids and we’re going to buy their titles out of sheer habit.

But we don’t have to.

This began to occur to me a few months ago. I looked at my pull list and realized how many titles I was reading out of habit, out of loyalty to the character and not the quality of the title itself. I then began looking at just how many books there were on my local shop’s shelf, and specifically how many of these titles weren’t published by Marvel or DC. That’s when I started rearranging my list. I stopped reading any titles that were not absolutely stellar. This left me with four DC books and two Marvel books. Ultimate X-Men? Gone. Didn’t deliver like I thought it would. Aquaman? Good….not great. Justice League? I got tired of reading a comic that read like it was being written by people that didn’t actually like comics that much. One by one, these titles dropped, and one by one, I added new independent titles to my pull list. Memorial. The Strange Talent of Luther Strode. Morning Glories. Fatale. Chew. iZombie. Heart. All of these are incredible titles that deserve far more readers than they have.

Here’s the thing: DC and Marvel do not care about blogs. They do not care why fans are buying their titles and they do not care if you like what you’re buying or not. They only care that you are buying, period.

The best way to make your voice heard as a comic book reader is to stop buying titles that are anything but great. You are not obligated to buy these titles. If anything, Marvel and DC are obligated to put out great material for you to purchase. THEY owe YOU for your years of support and they are not delivering. They may not listen to comments on CBM, but they WILL listen to your wallets.

So I’m begging you. Take this to heart. Stop supporting mediocre comics. Stop buying comics that you don’t enjoy reading, and stop passing great titles by because they don’t have Wolverine fighting every member of the Marvel Universe in one issue. What you should start doing is putting quality over quantity, and quality over familiarity. There are some fantastic creator/independently-owned reads out there and I can't recommend putting your money towards them enough. If enough people do it, believe me, the Big Two will get the message. We are capable of changing this industry and it’s high time we started doing it.

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Blagyver
Blagyver - 2/16/2012, 10:00 AM
Thank you, man. Really. And from what I understand, they couldn't get Waid out of his Marvel-exclusive contract.

And if you wouldn't mind (shameless self promotion), share this around a bit. I'm trying to get a footing for where I am writing-wise. If you liked it, also feel free to chat on twitter (@shutuptres) or tumblr (deadmentellnotales333.tumblr.com). I'm always down to talk comics and movies. The Tumblr is where the rest of the stuff I write is, as well.
marvel72
marvel72 - 2/16/2012, 10:51 AM
i think the amazing spider-man has the worse artists of late.

get ed brubaker writing it & any of the great artist working there steve mcniven,olivier coipel,stuart immonen,steve epting & so on.
smithonator
smithonator - 2/16/2012, 11:42 AM
It is difficult to generalize what constitutes a bad comic book (for me its Deathstroke), but I understand the frustration.
Blagyver
Blagyver - 2/16/2012, 11:52 AM
Agreed entirely (and it happens to be one of the three books Rob Liefeld is hopping on...).
Blagyver
Blagyver - 2/16/2012, 12:01 PM
Also, thumbs ups would be hugely appreciated if you liked the article :)
Denn1s
Denn1s - 2/16/2012, 12:43 PM
plz no liefeld on deathstroke. i like the new series so far, but if liefeld gets his hands on it will become flooded with useless '90s pouches
Denn1s
Denn1s - 2/16/2012, 12:46 PM
and i agree with your article. you got thumbs up from me although i admit that i can't stop reading something because it is bad. it is a collection matter and a loyalty one too. i just cannot stop reading superman although his comics SUCK lately. the reboot is meh so far and before that, 'grounded' started interestingly enough but became silly and before grounded everything superman related sucked too.
Denn1s
Denn1s - 2/16/2012, 12:48 PM
the last good superman story was up, up and away and it was 6 years ago
Blagyver
Blagyver - 2/16/2012, 12:50 PM
I've been in the same boat. Thank you for the feedback, really. And I appreciate the thumbs up. I'm trying to get this shared around as much as possible. It's the first time something I've written has been featured on something other than my Tumblr.
BatmanBruh
BatmanBruh - 2/16/2012, 1:17 PM
This is so good. More people need to see this.
Blagyver
Blagyver - 2/16/2012, 1:45 PM
By all means, share it with friends and get it around. This is a message that the comics community needs to strongly consider. And I appreciate all the feedback on it. The best way to get more people to see it is to thumbs-up it, share it on facebook and twitter, and send the link to friends.
headlopper
headlopper - 2/16/2012, 3:29 PM
Never go wrong with Remender on Uncanny X-Men! Guy's a creative genius.
Blagyver
Blagyver - 2/16/2012, 3:36 PM
I'm so thrilled that Remender is killing it as of late. His Secret Avengers should be something special.
manymade1
manymade1 - 2/16/2012, 4:40 PM
I agree, we fans need to do more to get what we want.
Blagyver
Blagyver - 2/16/2012, 4:42 PM
On a more positive note, has anybody been reading Luther Strode, Morning Glories, or Fatale? Good shit.
shadow314
shadow314 - 2/16/2012, 5:53 PM
I never know where to start with the "independent" comic guys. I like super heros only... where would I begin?

I almost started reading Conan the other day until I realized there were like different books, got overwhelmed, didn't buy any.
Blagyver
Blagyver - 2/16/2012, 7:37 PM
I would recommend the first trades of Invincible and Irredeemable. From there, you may enjoy the first volume of Incognito by Ed Brubaker (it's a villain story, but it's got some cool typical superhero-ey moments).

Shadow, if you're interested, hit me up on twitter or Tumblr and let me know what you think of those if you check them out, or if you want to exchange recommendations. My account names are up a few comments.
golden123
golden123 - 2/16/2012, 7:55 PM
It's not exactly the companies' faults all the time. Sure, keeping Tony Daniels as a Batman writer is odd, but DC had no idea the JMS Superman run was going to be so bad. Hiring the popular JMS seemed like a good idea at the time, from all angles. JMS is no longer writing a DC ongoing anyways.
golden123
golden123 - 2/16/2012, 7:57 PM
Also, people have begun to learn to not pick up anything with Liefeld's name attached to it. Everything he is involved in now gets canceled. So, he's not really a good example.
Supes17
Supes17 - 2/16/2012, 8:42 PM
That's Right, Stop Buying Marvel!
Just [frick]ing with you guys:P

Blagyver
Blagyver - 2/16/2012, 9:02 PM
Golden, that's a fair point. I think moreso what I mean is that if you look at the ridiculous amount of talent present in the industry today, there's no reason that ANY title by Marvel or DC should have shoddy creators working on them.
Blagyver
Blagyver - 2/16/2012, 9:03 PM
Also, I'm about three thumbs-ups away from being featured on the main page. If you could help out, I'd really appreciate it.
bgharcourt
bgharcourt - 2/16/2012, 10:33 PM
@Blagyver: Good write up, bro(morning glories for the win). I figured this out after Siege. Haven't bought a Marvel book since. I really got into Noble Causes, Invincible, Savage Dragon.
golden123
golden123 - 2/17/2012, 4:22 AM
THUMBS UP!
CraptainAmerica
CraptainAmerica - 2/17/2012, 5:05 AM
Very true.

There are particular writers/artists that turned me off Batman and Superman titles when the new 52 hit. I'm in the minority when it comes to the Batman title I think.

But I do love the way they are changing creative teams around. It allows us readers to still buy into a title at some point because we love the respective creative team.

I agree with what you are saying in the article. I've stopped buying comics just for the sake of it (with the exception of Green Lantern titles). The ones I do just buy to buy have up to #10 to keep me engaged...otherwise they don't make the cut.
xcrementus
xcrementus - 2/17/2012, 6:28 AM
hate the way you slagged on Uncanny XMen. Keiron Gillen has been a real breath of fresh air to the title, and his run so far has topped Fraction's already. The team is focused, there's action AND character moments, and everybody's written the way they should be.

If anything, Deadpool and adjectiveless XMen are the titles that aren't delivering at the moment from the Marvel camp. steer well clear from those. Everybody else is doing their job fine.
Blagyver
Blagyver - 2/17/2012, 6:57 AM
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Gillen's run. That said, you're definitely right in that X-Men is really poor in quality as of late. I'd also say that it's tough to stack up against Wolverine and the X-Men right now. That's my favorite book in print. So Gillen's run, for me at least, isn't quite up to snuff when I'm also reading Wolvie.
Blagyver
Blagyver - 2/17/2012, 7:00 AM
And Craptain, I'm the same way. If a title at least holds my interest, I'll read through 6 (usually the end of an arc and such). Right now, I think Defenders is GOOD, but if it doesn't get GREAT by the sixth issue, I'm gonna drop it and maybe just tradewait.

Also, if anyone's interested/wants to share theirs, here's my pull list right now:

Suicide Squad, Wolverine and the X-Men, Swamp Thing, Batman, JL Dark, Memorial, Luther Strode, Morning Glories (HELL YES, BGHARCOURT), Fatale, Chew, iZombie, Hack/Slash, Defenders

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