Likes and Dislikes for the Week of August 22, 2018

You want to know what really grinds my gears?

Death to the Story Writers

We all know why the big publishers kill so many characters only to bring them back. Unfortunately for me, I dislike this sales and marketing tactic from the larger publishers, particularly Marvel who seems to deploy this tactic way more often than DC.

I get it, comics aren’t published in such high numbers as they once were so when a title starts to lose interest and the numbers start to dwindle down, they kill off a character to bring back the buzz to sell more issues. It’s a very simple approach. It gets nerds like us talking and buying.

Is this really the state of comics though?

Once upon a time comic writers would write interesting and compelling stories to captivate and retain readers each month without killing off characters just to bring them back at a later time, another tactic to boost sales when they start losing readers. Long gone are those days.

Instead we find ourselves in a state where there is death and resurrection all in the name of just boosting sales. Perhaps if the creative teams just focused on better story telling, they wouldn’t feel the need to resort to the same regurgitated tactics they seem to be stuck with.

Kelley Jones

I’m not sure about the rest of you all but Kelley Jones is back, drawing Batman in the new Batman Kings of Fear #1 out from DC this week.

This brings back some childhood nostalgia. A huge portion of my Batman reading days were read during Jones take on the caped crusader. Especially with the Knightfall story line when Bane breaks Batman’s back.

So I’m looking forward to this new series. Hopefully it doesn’t stop there and we start seeing more of Jones on future issues or series.

The Ant and the Aardvark

Growing up, I was a huge Pink Panther fan and watcher. So in turn, that made me an Ant and Aardvark fan as well.

I believe for the first time ever in comic form comes from American Mythology a new The Ant and Aardvark.

It’s the small things in life that make me happy and some funny reads like this while going number 2 always makes me happy. Maybe it can fill the void of when Bongo ends it’s run on the Simpsons book. Although I doubt this series will be a long running series, I will need more of these types of books to take place of my Simpsons reads while hiding from the wife and kids in the only quiet room of my house.

Mega Man Mastermix

I love Mega Man but I hate the quarterly release schedule. But then I remember how much I love Mega Man and forgive the creators of Mega Man Mastermix for their large gap schedule. They could seriously break down these 80 pages books into 20 page books and still charge $4.99 a book, I’d still be paying for them and they would make 4 times the amount of money.

Issue #3 hits stands this week and it makes me happy. Might even give me a reason to venture out this week to the shops since it’s not as big a week (despite me pre-ordering it, because waiting for it to arrive a week or so later is not as fun).

That’s all I got this week. What’s grinding your gears this week? Let us know in the comments below.

13 thoughts on “Likes and Dislikes for the Week of August 22, 2018”

    1. Yeah. You know, a good death every now and then is cool but most of the time I’m just like.. “I don’t care” and some of these characters who die should just stay dead. Instead of bringing them back, create new ones in their place. 🙂

      1. The over-use of the Death / Resurrection schtick is a direct reflection of the lack of Imagination that runs rampant through many things these days .. Great Artists are a dime a dozen .. Great writers are to be cherished .. as well, the old adage of “It’s all been done before ..” plays in the equation ..

    2. This same thought wave can be applied to the continued Hollywood habit of dredging up old shows and films and making new “re-boots” .. 😉

      1. Some reboots are nice but some or most are just unnecessary. I get it though, a rebooted movie saves one in so much time and resources compared to starting from scratch. It’s easy money for studios, unless of course it bombs out at the theaters.

      2. Oh, I get why they do it .. however, I still believe it’s lack of imagination more than anything .. and, in most, if not all cases, Hollywood pours the money into the re-boot .. and, sometimes, they get a hit .. I would never have thought that “Hawaii 5/0” would have had staying power ..

        An excellent screen writer such as Jonathan Nolan, Joss Whedon, etc, is hard to find .. and, they can pretty well write their own ticket .. I’d not be surprised to see Slott make the jump at some point ..

        1. Yeah, there is a lack of imagination. Probably why so many comic’s get options but never go the whole distance. Media companies just gobble up the rights… Likely review them and then scrap most.

          You know its an unimaginative media business when they start talking about bringing Alf back….

  2. Cates is killing it with his writing. I feel he is approaching his stories in the same manner that some great writers used to. Organic interest in quality story telling. Not superficial material for sake of sales.

    1. Yeah, that’s why I’m on the Cates bandwagon. I didn’t intend to read Death of the Inhumans but started picking them up just because he’s writing it.

  3. wow light list of dislikes. did you go numbet two a lot?? death in comics sucks today. really sucks overused . cates&arron are the two best writters marvel has. Charlie soul is third. o.k. love you all blind adam out

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