I grew up with Spider-man as a child. He is who I pretended to be and even dressed up as for Halloween. My favorite beat em up game is “Maximum Carnage” which is based on my favorite graphic novel. I kept up with the X-men the animated series and saw briefly what was the Iron Man show. I couldn’t get enough of it. As I grew older, Marvel stalled while my mind continued to expand.
Anyone who knows me personally knows that I am a HUGE DC Universe follower. While Spider-man was a large part of my childhood (key word) Batman and Superman were always there and have evolved and kept up with me as my my mind and maturity sought new things. This of course excludes Joel Schumacher and Superman three through four. Going back to view their animated series I am blown away by the content, animation, and writing. Some of the stories of Batman the animated series really disturbed me knowing that this aired for children back in the 90’s. This also reflects how poor the children’s market is today when nothing can compare to power house these toons are.
As of this writing, the past year has been a journey to rediscover the things that make me myself and to rediscover those things that I enjoy and make myself an individual. Star Trek came back first, next came the comics. When I decided to pay real attention to the comic book world once again, I of course turned back to Marvel. What I got instead of my wall crawling web slinger, is a pathetic shell of a man who sold out his identity for a pay check and gave up the love of his wife for his aunt who, lets be frank, wouldn’t live for a few more years with or without a bullet wound. Marvel, in their mega even “Civil War”, effectively destroyed an icon of my childhood with no anesthesia.
I know Peter Parker is a feeler type of person. His life does suck. But what grown man would sell his wife’s love and memories in an exchange for his aunt’s life that would probably chastise him for such a gross misjudgment on her nephew’s part. It certainly isn’t rational. What makes it worse is that his then wife, Mary Jane, actually encouraged this after much deliberation. This event was completely out of character and invokes bitterness in this writer.
The X-men I don’t follow too closely on, but from other real die hard fans of the series I hear that the films were not done well at all. No where near as horrifying as the rape of Resident Evil, but serious misinterpretations were made in making the serious. I will say this much, my prediction for Professor Xavior came true as Sir Patrick Stewart portrayed him in the films. I was a little off on the Clint Eastwood as Wolverine, but I stand firm that he has the best voice and attitude for the character.
In short, the live action adaptations are really well made, they just were not intended for the comic book audience. Yes, even Batman Begins is guilty of this as it combined three origin stories into a twenty five minute chapter. My buyer’s remorse of Marvel was not complete without it’s source material.
I really wanted to collect the trade paperbacks. I absolutely can not get enough of collected editions. It is what I have always wanted as a child. The third issue of the Carnage arc I have had to re buy is an issue I had once before but was worn out from wear and usage. Trade paperbacks (also hardbacks if you can chuck the change) are the way to go for an avid reader.
I collected a few Batman books and picked up the “Death of Superman” book (more on this later) on the account that they were affordable and packed a lot of pages for the buck. When i came to pick up Marvel trade paperbacks, I was astonished in how expensive they were. I really wanted to read and learn about Deadpool. But the 270 page volume 1 will run me $29.99. The same amount of pages or even a thicker edition of an important cross over event in the DC Universe would only cost a delicate $14.99. It blows my mind that Marvel would think so highly of a single character, or any character for that manner, to inflate the prices.
I asked a comic store clerk his opinion of the matter. It comes down to paying off the artists and writers, which I didn’t even know were that badly mistreated (another x on you Marvel) and mostly for profit. DC, on the other hand, it is all about competition and accessibility. If they can sell a book for half the price of Marvel, their main competitor, and gain a returning reader then it is a victory. It may come at a cost of losing profit, but more or less it seems to be a way of sticking to the Marvel “man.”
Opinion of a single clerk aside, for me it came down to price and what I am getting for my hard earned cash. If I can get two or even three high quality books of characters that I enjoy for the same price as one half inch thick book of one character that I am not entirely too clear on, I go for the familiar and affordable.
No comments:
Post a Comment