Comic relief….
So, on hearing that D.C. Comics is doing a total reboot of their universe I was, at first, a bit nerdraged. I mean, come on, they’re actually getting rid of over 50 years of continuity/history and hitting the reset button? It’s things like this, marketing ploys designed to snag a newer, hipper, audience (willing to pay more for comics, more than likely, as well…) that always seem to turn older fans off. I’ll admit, I was initially against it. Then, I got to thinking….maybe this could be an opportunity for me. I’ve been reading comics for over 30 years, only recently giving them up due to a combination of price and sub par stories. There’s a lot of good art out there, but a lot of the stories just weren’t….fun. In my view, comic books should be about FUN!
The more I started reading about the new titles, the more I got to thinking that this could be a good jumping on point for someone like myself. Someone who hasn’t picked up a comic (regularly) in a few years but, maybe, looking to get back into collecting. I’m not sure if I’m the demographic D.C. was looking to grab, but at this point I’ll admit, I’m intrigued.
Here’s a shortlist of what I’ll probably be picking up as soon as the reboot happens:
- Justice League: The ‘flagship’ book for the new universe and I’m a sucker for team books. Plus, superheroes are “strange and new”?
- Justice League International: Loved the original and want to see how this stacks up.
- Mister Terrific: I’ve always been interested in this character, so this seems like a good starting point.
- D.C. Universe Presents: Besides team books, I also really like anthology books.
- Green Lantern: New Guardians: No real reason for getting this one…again, a team book.
- Red Hood and the Outlaws: Very “Batman and the Outsider”ish to me and it piqued my interest.
- Justice League Dark: Again, a team book and I’m always a sucker for the ‘occult investigator’ sort of story.
- Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E: I think the title says it all…
- Resurrection Man: Sounds like an interesting character that, again, I really know nothing about.
- Legion Lost: I’ve always liked the Legion, but haven’t really read much with them in it (that I’ve liked) in a long while. Hope this changes things.
- Suicide Squad: Totally enjoyed the old series and love the concept. Villains working for the government….as if there aren’t enough villains in government already… 😀
Guess who’s NOT coming for dinner….
Ah memories. This series, by George Perez and Marv Wolfman, was one of my favorites back in the 80’s and a book I looked forward to every month for over three years. “What’s your point?” you may ask.
Well, first off, I’ve been looking at a new Marvel blog with some really neat stuff from the 70s and 80s and I’ve been getting nostalgic for the older, simpler, books. I mean, just look at the price of the above book….$.50! These days you’re paying almost $4.00 and, a lot of times, you’re getting nothing but badly plotted books whose only purpose is to hook you into needless crossovers (Yes Secret Invasion and Blackest Night/Brightest Day, I’m looking at you..)
Secondly, I had a chance this past March to go to Megacon ,in Orlando, and actually saw George and Marv (I can call you George and Marv, right?) in person. Maybe it was just me, but how these two seemingly different personalities could put out such greatness like the New Teen Titans is a mystery.
I first met George Perez waaaay back when we both had hair, around 1986-87 (I’m guessing on the dates) at my local comic book store, Comic Book World. I remember being so excited when I heard he was coming, but then thought, “oh man, what if he’s a jerk….what if he won’t sign my copy of Titans 1?” Well, he wasn’t a jerk. He was extremely nice and did sign my copy of Titans 1 (we were told that we could only bring one book in for George to sign or I would have brought more) as well as other things that people brought. In fact, while he talked, he signed almost every issue of NTT that someone had brought in, obviously this person didn’t get the ‘one book per person’ memo. I remember asking him about the White Tiger, a character he was obviously proud of and how he got into comics. Standard stuff, really, but George answered every question as if it was the first time he had heard them. A real class act all the way. At Megacon I saw him at his booth and was going to talk to him, but he was busy doing commissions and was telling someone he didn’t have time to sign anything….then signed it anyway and stopped for a picture. Again reinforcing my view as one of comic’s nice guys. If I had been more bold I would have spoke to him but, again, I didn’t want to disturb the man’s work.
Then, as we made our way around, I saw Marv Wolfman’s booth. Having never met Marv before, I didn’t recognize him until I saw the banner, so my fiance’ and I went up to meet the other half of amazing NTT creators. First off, he was sitting alone with everyone passing by and not stopping, or even glancing over (remind me to tell a similar tale of Spike from the Buffy show, sometime..). When we got up there, I saw that he had a bunch of scripts from the anime Teen Titans Go! cartoon spread out….and priced. No big deal, a guy has to make a living, right? Well, anyway, I went up and said something to the effect of ‘nice to meet you, a big fan of your work’ to which he replied ‘thanks’ and then looked past us to all the people walking by. No big deal, it’s not like I’m a dynamic personality, or whatever, to him I was probably just another fanboy. No attempt at any conversation,though, nothing from ole Marv. I then picked up a copy of one of the scripts, as we basked in the awkward silence, and mentioned that I didn’t know he had written for the cartoon to which he replied, “Yeah, they’re for sale…want to buy one?” I politely declined and left. Now, I don’t want to be too harsh on Marv. For all I know he could be a really nice guy and just having a bad day or a million other things going on in life and I just caught him at a bad time, but, ya know, when you’re at a con you need to realize that people are going to want to come up and just chit chat. I’m not saying you have to sit there and talk to them for any lengthy period of time, but more than ‘want to buy my stuff?’ It just didn’t sit well with me and I know that everyone’s different and that some writers (and artists and anyone else in the comics biz) are, well, dorks/nerds/socially retarded, whatever label you want to slap on them, but I guess I just expected more from someone so prolific. Maybe I was more disappointed than I should have been, but that meeting has been bugging me since March.
Marv, if you’re out there, I still love your work but don’t be looking for an invitation to dinner anytime soon, ok?
The Phantom M-pire 