Some thoughts on events

Hey all, been a while since I posted anything that wasn't just promotion. I've been incredibly busy lately, not least of all because we had a baby about three and a half months ago, and I've had a number of projects to work on as well.

I'd like to start using this blog more, specifically for comic-related thoughts and things like that, assuming I can find the time.

In that spirit, there's something that's bugged me for a long time now, and I wanted to post something about it. This isn't like a big social issue or anything, just some standard bitching about comics, and it'll probably be a bit disjointed because I'm writing this in bed while my daughter sleeps next to me, hoping I can finish before she wakes up.

So, anyway, Marvel's been putting out a lot of teasers lately, and while I've been seeing a decent amount of speculation about what they might be about, trying to figure out what next year's big events will be, are they all tied into Secret Wars, etc, what I've mostly been seeing are fans bitching about it. Talking about event fatigue and how much of a mess Marvel is making of everything. Talking about a "Crisis-style" reboot. Things like that.

Look, I get it. Events can be annoying. They rarely live up to the hype. Even the best events really only start out strong, and always seem to end on more a whimper than anything. They make these "huge, sweeping changes" to the status-quo that never last long enough to really sink in because they just lead into to the next event and it's "huge, sweeping changes." It almost seems like they're more of a tool to make the changes in the first place than they are any real storytelling device.

(I know a lot of people put a lot of hard work into these events, so I don't want to sound like I'm dumping on them, there have been many events that I've very much enjoyed, I just think that they're a tough thing to get to work quite how the publishers usually want them to. Especially when the ending is more often anymore just a set-up for stories to come.)

So I understand that they're annoying. I've dropped many titles solely because they lost their momentum and got dragged into these events. I've tried to get on board with the events only to find that I lost interest halfway through. (And lest you think I'm picking on Marvel, I dropped a lot of my DC titles for similar reasons, and I think every September was basically "lose all momentum on the storyline you've been getting invested in" month.)

But, you know who I bet is more annoyed by the teasers and the event? Marvel. They have to put out teasers to keep people talking about them. They have to have regular writer's retreats to keep all these different threads straight. I'm certain they'd like to let their stories and characters build on their own, in their own titles, instead of having to have these events, one after another.

But every time someone brings it up, the response from anyone at Marvel is basically that the events book always sell. Probably better than the regular books. So I'm betting that everyone that complains about the teasers, and constant events, still goes out and buys them.

There's a type of reader that I'm sure I've complained about before. The sort of reader who will complain about a title, but keep buying it because it's their favorite character, or because they've been buying it since they were a kid. The type of reader who will buy every Batman title, ensuring that there are at least four on the shelves at all times, even if only one of them is any good.

These are the people who complain about renumbering a series to coincide with a new creative team or direction. These are the people who complain about a costume change, no matter how stupid the old costume (or, really, the very concept of costumes) is, because it's "a classic." These are the people who flip out over ever new storyline, every character that isn't treated exactly the way they want them to be.

(To be clear, I'm not specifically talking about readers who send death threats to creators, or even readers who get angry about "SJWs" and their "agenda" regarding black or Muslim or female superheroes. That's a whole different issue and one that I hope I don't need to preach to anyone here about.)

These are the people who buy every issue of every event, and hate every issue of very event. They buy it because they know it will "matter," and they have to be able to fill their knowledge-box with every factoid available to them. They hate it because it changes things, major things. They hate it because their favorite character didn't save the day, or someone got beat by someone else that, according to their knowledge-box shouldn't be able to defeat them. They hate it because they hate events, and it's an event, and therefore they hate it.

But even that strikes me as a disingenuous characterization. Because the truth is, I don't understand these people. I don't understand why they even read comics, or watch movies or TV shows. Certainly not for the same reason I do.

I read comics because I enjoy stories, and I enjoy comics as a storytelling medium. I read superhero comics because I enjoy superheroes, and I enjoy the worlds that have been created and the scope of them, and the unique storytelling opportunities afforded within them. I don't care if it "matters" so long as the story is well-told. I don't care how much it "matters" if the story is poorly-told.

I know it sounds like I'm putting myself on a pedestal here, and yes, to a certain extent I am placing myself above the sort of people I'm talking about. Maybe that's wrong, maybe I should be content to do my own thing and leave them to do theirs.

But when I hear the same, predictable complaints from people who are, at least in my estimation, causing the very problem they're bemoaning, I can't help but get frustrated and annoyed.

I guess you can take comfort, at least, in the fact that I'm pretty sure no one will read this.

Next Week: Why Spider-Man should never show up in the MCU! (maybe, if I feel like writing it).