Posted by
Icarus on Thursday, March 20, 2008 9:08:39 PM
I noted, a few days ago, that Marvel's
summer 2008 event is a massive crossover story running under the tag line: "Who do you trust?", which will go well into September, or perhaps further.
Michael Diaz, over at the Comics Bulletin, is beginning to wonder if this harbingers comics doom. He writes:
In the late 90s comics were in trouble because of incentive covers and
the glut of far too many crossovers. I remember when Joe Quesada came
to power as EiC of Marvel he said that there were far too many X-titles
and too many crossovers within the company.
When Joe Quesada made these comments, "far too many X-titles" meant two core X-titles and several ancillary X-titles. Quesada's solution to this? Create
3 core X-titles
and
10 ancillary X-titles. And the solution to the problem of too many crossovers is to add
even more crossover titles. And when it comes to alternate covers, Marvel & DC are just as busy as ever publishing alternate covers for most their biggest titles. Though I think Marvel is guiltier in this than DC.
As the economy tightens and individual disposable income shrinks comic buying will undoubtedly decline. If the creators can keep the readers' interest this decline need not be all that steep. Readers will be hard pressed to keep interest high in the same story told by the same characters in spin off title after spin off title and crossover after crossover. Micheal Diaz notes that, as his personal and professional obligations increase, his free time decreases as does his interest in comics. I would argue that if the stories were compelling enough, then Mr. Diaz would probably find the time and interest in what was produced.
The stories are not compelling because the creators do not bring diverse world-views to the table. The massive Entertainment-Industrial Complex is a closed shop when it comes to diversity of thought. If you are of the Left you will be embraced and fetted by the EIC elite. If you are of the Right you will be cut out of projects and relegated to the veritable wasteland of independent production (and you'll be lucky if you can get that). If Marvel & DC wanted to attract new readers then they would be talking to the folks at
Charlie Foxtrot Entertainment or like the creators of
Matamoros, Sleet and Darius LaMonica.
Rather than end the blacklist against conservatives & libertarians creators, Marvel & DC would rather continue creating solely for the Scare-America audience.