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Post by hondobrode on Oct 1, 2017 16:55:04 GMT -5
I would think Spider-Man, Batman and Superman would be the biggest and oldest offenders with Wolverine, Deadpool and maybe Harley Quinn being more recent ones. Yes, Spidey, Bats and Superman have tons of material, and yet, they don't feel exploitative, at least to me. I like Spidey but have never been a mega-fan, but am a big fan of both Superman and Batman and recognize DC as pounding out lots of material with both of them, but, I don't feel like I *** have *** to get all of them. The characters are so strong, and resilient, and have been with us nearly 80 years now, but have had all kinds of different stories, a huge spectrum of stories. Deadpool, Wolverine, the Punisher, Harley Quinn, etc are all, or at least feel, like the same story, or type of story done again and again and again I have a few solo Wolverines but not many Almost no Deadpools or Harley Quinns Punisher is the exception. I have some Punisher but it's mostly his early appearances and then entire runs of his Max series, which I greatly enjoyed |
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Post by tarkintino on Oct 1, 2017 19:05:33 GMT -5
If there is one thing that I find really annoying, it is when a character that I initially enjoy becomes oversaturated to such a degree that I can barely stand them. I blame a lot of it on greed and wanting to sacrifice the character for financial gain. Number one on my list...Venom. In 1990, he was nice breath of fresh air....he was in his prime...and then Marvel kept using him and using him and using him some more. It is now to the point that I don't feel the same about the character. I won't say that I dislike him, but I cringe when I see him. The same would also apply to Ultron, and Thanos. I enjoy them, but they don't hold the same degree of enthusiasm or excitement that they did whenever they appeared in a comic book many, many years ago. Thoughts? Companies are by nature, motivated only by profit, not quality, so the oversaturation of certain comic characters is just part of the game, until the publishers abuse the readers so much, they lose said game. Recall the late 1960s, when the Adam West/Burt Ward Batman TV series became an overnight pop-culture phenomenon; from that point forward, DC either shifted the focus of existing titles to prominently feature Batman: - The Brave and the Bold shift to his team-up title started with #67 (September, 1966), forever altering it from the anthology/try-out title it once was.
- The Justice League of America and other superhero titles shoehorned Batman into a greater role than he had before, often dominating covers.
- While Robin was always the founder of the Teen Titans, by issue #5 (October, 1966), the cover also plastered a vignette of Robin, with the banner, "Featuring Robin, the Boy Wonder", thanks to the character's popularity on the TV series.
ABOVE: the aforementioned Justice League of America, in this case #46 (August, 1966), with less than subtle use of the kind of onomatopoeia familiar to the TV series. Issue #6 of DC's superhero parody comic The Inferior Five (January/February, 1968), which already featured "Averageman", a clear Batman/West nod, and The Adventures of Jerry Lewis #97 (November/December, 1966) with no less than the Joker, the Dynamic Duo, and their logo, as if the cover needed the extra Bat-selling point. That is just a VERY small sample of Batman (and Robin's) oversaturation while the TV series was first-run. That soured some fans on DC titles, as they were tired of seeing Batman popping up, or dominating everything. Others have mentioned Wolverine and Venom (two characters I have always avoided as much as possible), but Spider-Man was just as bad in the 70s, with Spidey Super Stories, Marvel Team-Up, Peter Parker: the Spectacular Spider-Man, and endless guest appearances in other titles, including several of Marvel's horror titles. Personally, I have gone through eras where I felt like those 60s DC readers, usually sticking with the parent title unless an additional book was so good it was unavoidable (e.g. Detective Comics in the late 60s). |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Oct 1, 2017 23:39:34 GMT -5
I'm honestly surprised it didn't happen sooner in the Marvel age. Marvel/Atlas was historically all about flooding the market with whatever genre was possible to the best of their ability.
Back in the early Golden Age the Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, and Captain America were featured in (at least!) three separate books.
So why weren't there 3 Spidey titles in 1969, once the 8-titles-a-month limit was lifted?
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Post by Outrajs on Oct 2, 2017 5:55:20 GMT -5
If there is one thing that I find really annoying, it is when a character that I initially enjoy becomes oversaturated to such a degree that I can barely stand them. I blame a lot of it on greed and wanting to sacrifice the character for financial gain. Number one on my list...Venom. In 1990, he was nice breath of fresh air....he was in his prime...and then Marvel kept using him and using him and using him some more. It is now to the point that I don't feel the same about the character. I won't say that I dislike him, but I cringe when I see him. The same would also apply to Ultron, and Thanos. I enjoy them, but they don't hold the same degree of enthusiasm or excitement that they did whenever they appeared in a comic book many, many years ago. Thoughts? I guess anyone used in the MCU is eventually going to get oversaturated. It's all some people are ever exposed to so the powers that be will milk them for everything they're worth... |
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Post by MDG on Oct 2, 2017 8:36:20 GMT -5
shaxper , the Batmania of the 60s was a true fad; it burst into existence overnight, burned out quickly, and became not just regarded as passé, but mocked and even vilified. Not to say there weren't lingering after-effects ... ... If Batmania were saturation, what we've seen since the 90s is inundation. Also, the 60s Batman fad was, if not unexpected, not planned for the way things are now, with coordinated licensing agreements and marketing plans with every launch or opening. (The real prototype was probably the Davy Crockett fad of the 50s.) And, personally, I find quicky cash-ins sold to mom and pop stores and tone deaf "me-toos" pretty damn charming compared to a Target aisle of merchandise all using the same style guide.   |
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Post by Duragizer on Dec 3, 2017 22:15:17 GMT -5
Oversaturation coupled with increased grim 'n' grittiness, Nolan-style "realism", and fanboy worship have done much to lessen Batman in my eyes. Same with Wolverine, I suppose (though "realism" probably isn't a factor in his case). I still like those characters, but not as much as I once did.
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Post by Icctrombone on Dec 5, 2017 6:59:51 GMT -5
I might be in the minority but the comic version of Wolverine was never better than when he was a supporting character in the X-men series.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Dec 5, 2017 7:31:06 GMT -5
You may be in a minority, but I'm right there with you.
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Post by brutalis on Dec 5, 2017 7:40:14 GMT -5
I'll join the minority because to me the very best Wolverine stuff was those early issues with Claremont and Cockrum where Wolvie was an unknown quantity and mysterious where we had only small clues and hints spread out over the issues and he was becoming PART OF the team, NOT THE TEAM all by himself...
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Post by Mormel on Dec 5, 2017 7:59:45 GMT -5
Another member of your minority reporting here, I always felt Wolvie works best if he can act as a foil to others like Cyclops or Nightcrawler.
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Post by brutalis on Dec 5, 2017 8:20:45 GMT -5
Another member of your minority reporting here, I always felt Wolvie works best if he can act as a foil to others like Cyclops or Nightcrawler. Man I miss those days. I thought Wolvie and Crawler made a great buddy/friendship because in most instances it is the differences which draw us into friendship where we connect with the similarities and the bonds of friendship are built. And it is the personality clashes which were most interesting during the early new X-Men days as they were all newbies used to being alone and not yet connecting as a cohesive team. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 5, 2017 9:22:29 GMT -5
Another member of your minority here. By the time Wolverine got his ongoing series, I was totally burned out on X-books in general and Logan (he'll never be James whatever-it-is to me) in particular.
Cei-U!
I summon the mutant overdose!
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Post by brutalis on Dec 5, 2017 13:35:37 GMT -5
Another member of your minority here. By the time Wolverine got his ongoing series, I was totally burned out on X-books in general and Logan (he'll never be James whatever-it-is to me) in particular. Cei-U! I summon the mutant overdose! I actually enjoyed those early Wolverine issues with him in Madripoor, the poor man's Casablanca where he played around as Patch getting away from "work" so to say. With John Buscema art to set the mood  |
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