Thandran said:
They never seem to end. Or whenever a radical change happens something happens after that returns the situation to the status quo. Like when an important or popular character dies they always find a way via either technology or magic to revive him. Except Uncle Ben.
The other thing I dislike is the whole myriad of parallel universes with Earth Reality ranging from original to upside down, twisted out, our world, mix up and etc. I don't know if what I'm reading is canon, non - canon, fan - fiction, side story, what if scenarios and such. Because I don't strictly follow comics I get overwhelmed with all this. Then I stop reading for a bit until I get interested again. Though when I've discovered wikis it seems to fill my apetite because all of the information is presented in a mory... ?cozy? fashion.
Please don't think that I dislike Western Comics in general... heavens no. Some of the characters I actually adore like Bruce Banner and Mr. Freeze. And after reading some of the arc synopsis they seem like really good developed stories. It's just that these two things keep me from truly enjoying Western comics.
I think it's also why I prefer manga. They have a beginning, a middle and end. Of course they're riddled with their own cliches depending on the genre. And there are also some of them that don't want to end even though when they should have (Hajime No Ippo I'm looking at you - 1000+ chapters) but generally you'll find a lot to have 200 chapters and that's that. Varying quality of course.
Maybe that's my problem... I'm only really moderately versed in Marvel and DC universes because I was exposed to them as a child. I recall reading the Watchmen and quite enjoyed it. Think I'll have to find comics like it... so are there any? I've decided to make a topic to ask some of the posters who enjoy comics.
Thanks for your answers.
nine times out of ten you'll know if something is alternate universe. Marvel always marked the Ultimate universe with 'Ultimate Avengers' or 'Ultimate Spider-Man' or whatnot. DC at this point doesn't really have anything that I know of, but again if it's AU, it's gonna be listed. Stuff like the Flashpoint universe is literally on the cover as Flashpoint and you can usually tell pretty quick that those are NOT the characters we're used to. For all the tinkering creators like to do, they know that familiarity is also a BIG thing for the comic fandom. I mean look at the outrage when they removed Superman's red briefs from his costume when they made New 52. In basically everything else it's the SAME COSTUME, except no red undies, but that lack was apparently a cardinal sin to some people.
Yes, you do have multiple titles for the same hero: Batman, Detective Comics, Batman and Robin, Batman Incorporated, etc. That doesn't mean that a bunch of those are AU, it just means those are different titles where Batman plays a central part of the story, but each one portrays a different part of his endeavors. the basic Batman comic is usually the Dark Knight by himself, doing his own thing. Detective Comics can offer up other heroes such as the other members of the Bat-Family as central characters to a book, or contain a different type of story than what's going on in your basic Batman or Batman and Robin book.
It's a bit confusing, yes but think of it like this: each book caters to a different viewpoint. Scratches a different itch so to speak. Different people wanna see different sides to a character or their corner of the universe, so there's multiple books to accommodate those different tastes.
Honestly, Marvel and DC haven't really gone wild with the whole 'alternate universe' thing since the last time it was big back in the 90s or 80s. They understand how confusing and frustrating that whole thing was to the average reader. Sure they reboot on occasion, or have some big shake-up event like a Crisis, but when I go to the comic shop these days I don't have to worry about five different kinds of Green Lantern books and which one is the canon one, because they're ALL canon. They're just giving people different sides of the character and his part of the universe to explore. Don't like Hal Jordan? Read Green Lantern Corps. or Emerald Warriors. Don't like Green Lanterns in general? Red Lanterns has you covered. Do you want it all because it's YOURS?! GET AWAY FROM IT! IT'S YOURS! YOUR NAME IS ON IT RIGHT THERE!? You and Larfleeze the Orange Lantern should get along famously....if he's not bothering Lex Luthor anyway...
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The thing with everything returning to the status quo is that, as with the Superman example, people tend to get cranky about change. They forget that they ever really called for it when it happens, since there's no way to please everyone anyway so the changes will never be EXACTLY what every fan wanted. There will always be rage and cries to return things back to how they were. From a storytelling perspective this is annoying since one can't see the aftermath of how things happened normally, but DC and Marvel have been pretty good in terms of doing 'after arcs' that let people see how the events have affected their favorite heroes, and then...yeah. Eventually things return to normal. In real life that's how things work.
Granted, yes. There are times where nothing can ever be normal again. There's no bringing back a loved one who died like they do in comics. But...well...in time you move on. In a sense, the status quo does return. You go back to your life as best you can because you're done mourning and it's time to move on. It's a human trait and it's one that we normally find admirable except when applied in this situation.
Sure, when someone comes out in a comic and does a magic hand-wave and makes everything as though it never HAPPENED, that's a ripoff. But when the buildings are repaired, the MacGuffin is destroyed/locked away, and the heroes begin doing their usual thing again...that's not really a ripoff. That's moving on and doing what they do like the rest of us. It may seem strange that some of them don't seem to be as affected by all the big events that just happened but seriously? They kinda see mind-bending, world-breaking weirdness a lot. They're also supposed to represent the best of us. So yeah, I'd imagine that eventually they hit a certain point where you're gonna be a bit jaded. The sheer EFFECT of saving the universe and/or reality is gonna lose some of it's impact after awhile because that is LITERALLY their job and personal status quo. Plus I think if everyone sat around being SO DRAMATICALLY AFFECTED! by the events of each major or even semi-major shakeup in their universe, we'd be complaining because our heroes are in constant angst and why can't they just get over it and go back to punching bad guys?