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Post by impulse on Mar 23, 2022 10:16:36 GMT -5
The example of The Simpsons is interesting but not quite comparable to Big Two Superheroes. While yes, the general status quo is the same, unlike comics, it is the same. They are not telling an ongoing sequential story at all. It's basically just a perpetual timeless show. Granted there have been a handful of story points that persist past a single episode, such as Maude Flanders dying, etc, but those instances of continuity are incredibly few and far between.
Contrast that with Big Two superheroes that try to eat their cake and have it, too. They try to tell a story and have lasting impacts while also keeping it basically the same to keep it marketable. After a certain amount of decades it just hard to accept.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2022 10:30:28 GMT -5
The example of The Simpsons is interesting but not quite comparable to Big Two Superheroes. While yes, the general status quo is the same, unlike comics, it is the same. They are not telling an ongoing sequential story at all. It's basically just a perpetual timeless show. Granted there have been a handful of story points that persist past a single episode, such as Maude Flanders dying, etc, but those instances of continuity are incredibly few and far between. Contrast that with Big Two superheroes that try to eat their cake and have it, too. They try to tell a story and have lasting impacts while also keeping it basically the same to keep it marketable. After a certain amount of decades it just hard to accept. I have a little bit of a different perspective on Big Two superheroes. At their worst, over time it can be the recycled soap opera. But another part of me says, is it more of a "Valhalla" concept? While at times the lack of lasting change can be limiting in terms of "real consequences" that can add gravity and depth to the storytelling, another aspect to me is that these are idealizations of heroes and villains engaged in the never-ending conflict, and the journey can often be more compelling than the destination. Captain America is always going to be this great patriotic guy, the heart and soul of the Avengers, a hero in every sense. And not dead. I'm good with that part. What I'm not good with is bland storytelling/art, and of course after so many years it becomes that much more difficult for a creative team to truly do something inspiring with the character. Kind of darned either way...too much change is bad, but not enough is boring. But honestly, I'll take yet another Red Skull story in this example if the art looks good and the writing is at least fun and hopefully a bit clever as well.
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Post by impulse on Mar 23, 2022 10:50:38 GMT -5
Yeah, it's kind of the nature of the beast. Nobody wants to watch Steve Rogers get arthritis, go to the eye doctor and get some new bifocals, then off to get a fiber supplement because he's 95 now.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2022 6:37:40 GMT -5
I hate that THE WEST COAST AVENGERS became AVENGERS WEST COAST. Whose bright idea was that? Doesn’t roll off the tongue as naturally.
Suppose I set up a business (I’ll call it Auto Parts). What rolls off the tongue more naturally if I set up a Californian offshoot? West Coast Auto Parts or Auto Parts West Coast?
Who can I complain to at Marvel?
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Post by commond on Mar 24, 2022 7:28:23 GMT -5
It was part of a branding effort. I believe this was the official explanation:
"We recently looked at our enclave of Avengers titles... and realized that due to the fact that they all began with different letters, our retailers who display books alphabetically were placing them all over the rack. Net result? No Avengers line identity."
Solo Avengers also changed its title and became Avengers Spotlight.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2022 7:40:45 GMT -5
It was part of a branding effort. I believe this was the official explanation: "We recently looked at our enclave of Avengers titles... and realized that due to the fact that they all began with different letters, our retailers who display books alphabetically were placing them all over the rack. Net result? No Avengers line identity." Solo Avengers also changed its title and became Avengers Spotlight. Interesting and logical, but what about BATMAN, DETECTIVE COMICS and ROBIN?
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Post by tartanphantom on Mar 24, 2022 8:02:42 GMT -5
I hate that THE WEST COAST AVENGERS became AVENGERS WEST COAST. Whose bright idea was that? Doesn’t roll off the tongue as naturally. Suppose I set up a business (I’ll call it Auto Parts). What rolls off the tongue more naturally if I set up a Californian offshoot? West Coast Auto Parts or Auto Parts West Coast? Who can I complain to at Marvel?
Tesco, West-Tesco, Tesco-West, Tesco-Guernsey, Tesco-Cymru, Tesco-Hibernia-Nordland, Tesco-Cambria, Tesco-Gibraltar, Tesco-Shetland, Tesco-everything-north-of-Hadrian's-Wall?
The possibilities are endless...
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Post by commond on Mar 24, 2022 8:07:04 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure that in 1989 Batman books were selling better than Avengers titles. The main reason for the name changes was flagging sales. That's why Byrne was brought in.
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Post by jason on Mar 24, 2022 8:20:32 GMT -5
It was part of a branding effort. I believe this was the official explanation: "We recently looked at our enclave of Avengers titles... and realized that due to the fact that they all began with different letters, our retailers who display books alphabetically were placing them all over the rack. Net result? No Avengers line identity." Solo Avengers also changed its title and became Avengers Spotlight. Around that time the Avengers logo also went back to the 70s-style logo, which they've pretty much used since. Spider-Man did something similar, while the names of the books stayed the same, the logos for all the books (even Marvel Tales) all had the same Spider-Man logo, as opposed to them all having different logos.
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Post by commond on Mar 24, 2022 8:36:31 GMT -5
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Post by impulse on Mar 24, 2022 10:33:33 GMT -5
Oooooof. I just read an article on the current high level plot of the X-books, and...wow. Granted it's just a summary, and the actual issues might be better than the Cliff's notes, but it sounds awful.
Comic books are one of the reasons I don't read comic books right now. There, I said it.
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 24, 2022 11:24:28 GMT -5
I hate that THE WEST COAST AVENGERS became AVENGERS WEST COAST. Whose bright idea was that? Doesn’t roll off the tongue as naturally. Suppose I set up a business (I’ll call it Auto Parts). What rolls off the tongue more naturally if I set up a Californian offshoot? West Coast Auto Parts or Auto Parts West Coast? Who can I complain to at Marvel?
Tesco, West-Tesco, Tesco-West, Tesco-Guernsey, Tesco-Cymru, Tesco-Hibernia-Nordland, Tesco-Cambria, Tesco-Gibraltar, Tesco-Shetland, Tesco-everything-north-of-Hadrian's-Wall?
The possibilities are endless... Tesico Del Rey.......
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Post by The Cheat on Mar 24, 2022 13:56:40 GMT -5
To be fair, during the 90s I seem to remember Detective being called "Batman - Detective Comics", with the Batman being in a far larger font than the Detective Comics.
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Post by MDG on Mar 24, 2022 14:00:32 GMT -5
Tesco, West-Tesco, Tesco-West, Tesco-Guernsey, Tesco-Cymru, Tesco-Hibernia-Nordland, Tesco-Cambria, Tesco-Gibraltar, Tesco-Shetland, Tesco-everything-north-of-Hadrian's-Wall?
The possibilities are endless... Tesico Del Rey....... The guitarist who named himself after a cheap Japanese guitar.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2022 16:44:02 GMT -5
Oooooof. I just read an article on the current high level plot of the X-books, and...wow. Granted it's just a summary, and the actual issues might be better than the Cliff's notes, but it sounds awful. Comic books are one of the reasons I don't read comic books right now. There, I said it. I'm not up to speed on the most recent books, but a good friend of mine strongly recommended House of X/Powers of X written by Jonathan Hickman when that came out. I actually DID like Hickman a bit on his FF run, as far as modern comics go. More his ideas, his character dialogue I thought was flat. The X-books were terrible though, I couldn't even recognize what he was trying to do with the characters. Any sense of nobility was just completely lost. I actually think it was the worst X-Men I have ever read, and I've read some pretty bad X-titles over the years!
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