Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Comics taking our money

You ever feel like some publishers are just putting out comics to take your money?

Yes, I know, companies are in business to make money. I don't have a problem with that. Obviously. But as I look at the previews from the Big Two for the next couple of months, there seem to be a lot of one-shots or mini mini-series that, to me anyway, seem like a cash grab; like there's no real organic reason for the story beyond the marketing tie-in to a big event. In other words, I don't think they heard an awesome pitch for character X and then decided to do it, boot-strapping it to Heroic Age and Brightest Day. No, from the looks of a lot of these books, I think they said, "We need an additional 15 books for the third quarter's balance sheet, what can we print?"

As someone who wants to make money writing for these guys, maybe I shouldn't complain. These "extra" books are usually where new writers and artists get their break. But then at the same time, I want to make great comics, not throwaways. And when you're chasing the sale over the storytelling, you aren't likely to get either. Can you name one one-shot tie-in comic that you read--ever--that made you think, "That was awesome." I can't think of any in a long, long time.

I sure some of the one-shots and minis over the next few months will be good, but there's another reason I'm not likely to try them. At a buck-fifty, buck-ninety-nine, I might pick up a random one-shot or an extraneous mini--but at four hundred pennies minus one. No, not gonna happen, folks.

On the upside, it does appear that the Big Two are eschewing big events. For now. I hope that means they focus on storytelling: real, organic character arcs. Let's let all these great creators take the characters and run with them without having to stop every other issue to shoehorn in the Event. That's what I'm looking forward to.

See, I love you, Big Two. You can have my money.

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