The interview

Translation: “If you don’t like what we’re doing, too ****ing bad, fanboy!”

This might tie in with what Paul Levitz said earlier tho’. Suppose as a fan, I don’t want to go where this bus is headed? Suppose I’m tired of being told that I’ll love where I’m going, that I just have to be patient and that I’ll love the new place? I’m thinking maybe I just want to stop and get off the bus and not bother anymore.

To change a quote from a well-known movie:

“Trust me! I know the way!”

“He got lost in his own editorial offices, didn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“…We are building to something called Final Crisis.”

Christ, you mean ANOTHER rehash of Crisis On Infinite Earths??

No… no no no no no

It’s a FINAL Crisis. No, really, we MEAN it this time. EVERYTHING will CHANGE. PEOPLE will LIVE. PEOPLE will DIE. GIRLFRIENDS will be found in a FREEZER. GODS will become HUMANS who will become NEW GODS!

*starts singing*

“From the day we arrived on the planet/and blinking, step into our suits/There’s more to plot/than can ever be plotted/more to fight/than can ever be fought/It’s the CIIIIIIIIIIIRCLE of LIFE… and it MOVES US ALLLLLLLLLLL…”

But see, at the point when Green Arrow is stabbed through the neck on his wedding night while trying to kill his wife, both more or less naked, that’s the point where I say ‘This is a very very stupid story’.

DC will always be #1 (out of the 2) for me for making products with the creators individual voice (Jeff Smith, Solo, Darwyn Cooke…). I like those because they’re good stories though. If Darwyn Cooke killed Sgt. Dolan, I’d be interested in what happens next and how the characters feel. With GA’s death I was wondering how they’d convolutedly bring him back next time, and what sort of stupid crap will happen afterwards.

Another thing– these comics should be cheaper. Especially if the company wants us to follow the unfolding adventures of… waiting for another adventure.

Wait a second! I just read the entire interview! The dead will rise!? That’s awesome! Zombie attack by well known dead DCU characters in continuity!? Spectac!

That’s… hmm… Elongated Man and Sue Dibny… The Question… and I don’t know who else. Oh yes! The New Gods! Possibly also Deadman. Sweet.

I don’t know, maybe what Levitz is trying to say is “hey, if you don’t like the ride, get off the bus…don’t bitch about it endlessly on your blog or message board”

Which, you know, is a good message for 99.99% of all Internet pundits.

The only way DC (or Marvel, or any other publisher) will get “the message” from fans is if they vote with their pocketbooks. Yes, it’s a cliche, but I think it’s true. No publisher gives a crap that a bunch of nerds put together 1000 different website petitions to bring Hal Jordan back. They give a crap when Green Lantern doesn’t sell well, and they need to try something different (notice I didn’t say “new”) to see what will sell.

Dara, very sensible advice.

As long as people buy it, they will do it. End of story.

Dara wins!

You can all beat this addiction! Seriously! CAA! Comics Addicts Anonymous! If you go without a corporate piece of poo like Countdown: Arena of the Final Crisis for more than 12 weeks, you are rewarded by the re-growth of a single brain cell!

Sorry, I feel in a particularly jokey mood tonight.

No more Glühwein for this German.

The only way DC (or Marvel, or any other publisher) will get “the message” from fans is if they vote with their pocketbooks.

The problem is, I already have, with both DC and Marvel, and yet, the damned things keep getting made, and they keep getting worse.

What both sides of the “boycott” argument fail to recognize is that it only works once. I stopped buying Spider-Man titles after I decided I couldn’t stand what J. Michael Straczynski was doing to the character, but now that “One More Day” promises to do even worse things to the character, the fact that I’ve already stopped buying means that I can’t “vote with my wallet” any more than I already have.

Kirk, I see your point. And maybe what I’m about to say isn’t of much consolation, but if you’ve tried “voting with your pocketbook” and you’ve written letters to the EIC, and the books still are bad…well, maybe the thing to do is just walk away from it. Sure, it sucks to have to give up on one of your hobbies or favorite forms of entertainment, but the constant aggravation and disappointment isn’t worth it. At least, to me it isn’t.

I grew up on Marvel comics, and then got into DC, and then independents. I still read some DC titles these days, but I gave up on Marvel a long time ago. It just wasn’t worth getting upset over. The good “era” of comics from my youth are still available in my longboxes, as well as collections of older material. Do I wish I could read some of the same types of books I enjoyed in the 80s? Sure. Is it worth getting bent out of shape over what the 90s, Jemas, and Quesada have done to the style of Marvel books? No.

It’s just comics. There’s always something good to be found. Maybe that means you have to give up on Spider-man for 5 or 10 years, and find some other titles and creators that are doing things the way you like. But one thing’s for certain: change is inevitable, and things might take a turn for the better. Eventually.