I’m moving to Marvel.
To be honest, this was kind of a hard move. Though I’ve enjoyed both worlds, I’ve always been more of a DC fan than Marvel. Many of your decisions lately have really been pushing me away as a reader though. From the relaunch that I’ve mostly been against from the start, to apparently not even having your own facts straight, to other downright stupid decisions (more Liefeld, really?). Keeping Didio in such a position of power feels like fail too, and despite this relaunch supposedly being an effort to diversify your world and reader base, well that seems to be far from the case.
This isn’t something out of the blue for me, either. I’ve been pondering this since nearly the start of the new 52, but I admit I wanted to give it a shot. For that matter, I’ll admit that at least for now I won’t be able to fully drop DC from my pull list. Note DC, I am not sticking with these comics because of you. I’ll be sticking with them due to the downright amazing job the writer has been doing with the comics. So for anyone who may be interested in the few comics I’ll still pick up from DC, it’s as follows:
Batman: Scott Snyder has been doing an amazing job. Issue 5 really hooked me in as this being a comic that would really be a shame for me to drop. So as long as Snyder, Capullo, and Glapion continue the great work I will continue with this series.
Superboy: Lobdell’s only book that really has been hitting it for me, and personally one of the strongest titles in the 52.
Batman & Robin: To be honest, this one will probably drop off my list soon. Its been alright, but I’ve been growing tired of Damian just being a screw up to Bruce, and the odd writing in the last couple of issues (most notably, Bruce telling Damian the story of his past while Damian is NO WHERE near him to hear it).
This is not to say I haven’t enjoyed other comics. Hurwitz’s Penguin has been pretty amazing, but that just ended. Similarly, I’ve found Brandon’s Men of War to be purely amazing, but that recently got cancelled, and for that matter Brandon’s run on it is over so I’ll be dropping that title too. A real downer for me as Brandon’s Men of War was my favorite comic out there.
I’ve already picked up some Marvel titles too, just to make sure I actually would enjoy those more than the DC ones. Wolverine and the X-Men has been one of the funnest comic books I’ve read in a long time, and so far I feel Generation Hope has a lot going for it as well, to name a couple. Either way DC, its been fun and you have me for at least two titles still, maybe three, but yeah. I’m moving to Marvel.
For comic reviews, check out read/RANT
If you are moving to Marvel, then I suggest you to read “Daredevil” and “Punisher”. They are definitely Marvel’s best regular series, and both of them are ideal for a new reader: the first one, because it recently changed its creative team (and the new one is doing an amazing job); the second one, because its storyboard is very simple, so you don’t have to pick a lot of back issues to understand what’s going on. That’s the big difference between DC and Marvel: each DC comic can be read as a stand – alone story, even when it’s part of a huge crossover; on the other hand, to undestand a Marvel comic, you must start to read the series it belongs to from a very far point. Another New 52 comic you should put on your list is Nightwing: it’s always been a wonderful series since the childish penciller Tony Mc Daniel finally left it, but now it has reached a very high standard quality. And I can’t wait to read Ann Nocenti’s work on Green Arrow: if she kept the half of the talent she had when she was writing Daredevil, then Green Arrow is going to be a must.
Doesn’t seem me or any of the others at read/RANT are really fans of Liefeld. You put his name on it, and we tend to groan.
As for Punisher, save the 2004 movie, he’s never really caught my attention to be honest. Next time I hit the comic shop I’ll try to flip through an issue at least, but doubt I will pick it up. Daredevil on the other hand, well you are by no means the first one to suggest that title for me. Matt is a bit like Punisher where he never really got my attention, but all this hype I keep hearing about it… Well maybe I should pick up a few issues. Maybe both though as it seems “The Omega Effect” will cover between Daredevil, Punisher, and Avenging Spiderman (which I’m already reading) is about to start. Otherwise, I’m mostly covering most of the various X-Men titles.
Also, I am going to continue with Nightwing for a little while longer. Partially for I’ve always loved Dick Grayson, and he may be my favorite comic book character ever. Also the shop forgot to take it off my pull list so I got #6 after all, and that one was enough to draw me back in after #5 had felt rather ‘meh’ to me.
By the way, you seem to have some good thoughts on various comics out there from Imagine, to both the big shots DC and Marvel. If you want to write some reviews for read/RANT, I could probably get you an invite.
Your proposal is a great honour to me, but there’s a problem: I’m an italian guy, and I live in Italy. Being an italian, my knowledge of english language is far too patchy to be a good comic reviewer; living in Italy, I get your comic books with at least a month’s delay, so I couldn’t review them the second they come to the shelves, as a comic reviewer usually does. Anyway, I’ll keep following read/RANT, and your blog as well, with much pleasure.
Can’t recall which one, but one of our writers lives in Australia so he doesn’t get his comics as soon as we do. But then, he does get some digitally I believe. As for your writing, at least your comments seem fine. Far better English mechanics than many Americans can manage. But I still do understand the want to review a title within the first week.
If you do change your mind though, I can see if I can’t set you up (or get Lebeau to do it) with access.
Thank you! : )
P.S.: I totally agree about Liefeld. When I read Hawk and Dove #6, I felt embarassed for him.