I have noticed that I am reading fewer books/characters and I was wondering if I’m the only one.
First, I think it’s important to point out that I have the opportunity to read books for free (through a friend) so my reasoning is not cost.
Since Bendis, I have stopped reading Action Comics and Superman. I found that I didn’t care for the changes he is making. It felt like he was undoing a lot of work simply to make his mark. I especially hate what he is doing (or at least seems to be doing) to Superboy. Super Sons was one of my favorite books and character relationships and that is destroyed. Seemingly just so Bendis can make his mark on Legion. It also feels like his influence is spreading outside of the Superman realm and Naomi is being pushed into a bigger role in the DCU before she has earned it. Young Justice already feels like it’s a vanity project and is purposely avoiding any explanation of how it’s happening. And lastly, when did Green Arrow become a great detective?
I have also lost interest in Batman who is by far my favorite character. I only read it because it’s free but it feels like a chore. And I’m someone who used to buy any book he appeared in. I personally really dislike what Tom King has done to Batman and Detective is just boring. The Arkham Knight story was so lame and pointless. I have the same worry about Phantasm being ruined.
I stopped reading Green Lantern and Flash. I read but don’t remember Aquaman. I look forward to Justice League books but even those are getting tiresome with nonstop “biggest adventure yet” stories and in many ways the justice doom war has gone nowhere.
I don’t know if there is an overarching reason behind it but I have lost a lot of faith in DC since Rebirth and I feel like the industry as a whole has been on a decline. Too many events that change nothing, never end, or are undone right away. (Except hopefully HiC is soon wiped out.) Too much catering to big talent which I think spreads them too thin and dilutes quality.
Batgirl has a new writer who did Furies. Very bad
I disliked her first issue but she had a lot to wrap up.
Because she seems like a nice person helping out in Girls Write, i will give her two more issues before quiting.
I love Bendis’ current output. I feel like he’s been totally reinvigorated by his move to DC. I don’t think he’s trying to disregard anything that’s come before him, he just wants to tell the Superman story that he has in his head. As for Naomi, I can’t wait to see her future role. I think her origin miniseries was a good proof of concept and I’m excited to see where Bendis takes her. Finally, I’m a defender of Tom King on Batman. I don’t find it boring, it’s just a very slow burn. Which I enjoy.
@Batwing52 my opinions on both Bendis and King pretty much mirror your own. Enjoying both runs. Haven’t read Naomi yet, but it’s definitely on my list to check out. Kinda cool to follow a new hero from the start.
As far as what I have recently dropped, Hawkman. I liked it ok, but just found myself not really caring what happens next so I stopped after issue 12. Next on the chopping block? The Green Lantern, Justice League Dark and Justice League Odyssey are all series I like juuust enough to keep following. The 2 JL titles in particular seem to be part of the “overall” DC narrative, which makes it hard for me to drop 'em. The Green Lantern is great based on Liam Sharp’s art alone, but Morrison is not being too kind to those not too entrenched in the GL lore.
I’ve never liked Bendis’ Marvel stuff and my heart sank when I heard he’d be taking over Action Comics. So far, I’ve seen nothing to change my mind. As for Tom King, I like his Mr Miracle run, I found the first few issues of his Batman run too boring to continue and HiC is just awful. I was really enjoying Dan Abnett’s Titans but then he left the series and now all he tried to establish is ruined because of what HiC did to Wally.
@moro
I’m actually loving Grant Morrison on GL. I like the big, multi-Corps Green Lantern books as much as the next person, I just feel like that’s the only story that’s been told with those characters for the last few years, and it needs a bit of new life breathed into it. Scott Snyder’s JL is just flat-out fun. I find it entertaining, the art is consistently great, and Snyder has his characterizations down cold. It’s not my favorite book coming out right now (which is probably either Wonder Twins or Die from Image) but it’s regularly fun, which, when it comes down to it, is why I like comics. As for Justice League Odyssey, I read the first issue because of Stjepan Sejic, and I never went back. Not great, quite bad.
Not really dropped anything. But I am not enjoying some of my favorite characters/comics as much these days. I am really disappointed with Bendis’s Action and Superman. The stories are very flat to me. What he has done to Jon is the worse. The family feel Jurgans built is 100% lost. Not a fan of Nightwing right now either. It’s just played out and boring. Wonder Woman is one I had high hopes for and it has just fallen flat and boring. This hurts me to say, but Johns’s Shazam! is sooooo disappointing. The Grant Morrison GL is sad. After reading what he can do in All-Star Superman and JLA to this…sad. Love Sharp’s art though.
I am not the biggest Batman fan but Batman right now is UNREAL GOOD. So is Justice League and the Terrifics.
As a long time fan I guess my tastes in comics and stories are just too old school for most of today’s comics. I still read and try to find something fun and good in them. It’s hard week after week.
@Batwing52…GL is not bad by any means. Quite the opposite actually. I just feel like if my knowledge of character and the Corps was a little deeper, I may enjoy it more. I frequently find myself confused reading it.
I hate Tom King’s Batman. I’m still reading Detective though. Sure, it’s not great. But at least it provides a steady stream of passable Batman stories.
However, Justice League and Justice League Dark have me on the edge of my seat. I love them so much! They’re actually my favorite runs of both series. I can’t think of any JL or JLD run that’s better.
I also love the Terrifics, but I’m a bit too far behind to say if it’s still good or not.
I’ve also been enjoying Batman and the Outsiders, but it’s a bit too early to tell. It could really go either way at this point.
That GL annual is rough stuff and I’d consider dropping it if they weren’t already ending in a few issues
Not dropped necessarily, more I decided to trade wait a few titles. So I guess I ‘dropped’ the weekly issues of the book but still buy it when the trades come out. I started trade waiting The Flash, Detective Comics, Batman and Green Lanterns. GL I stopped buying weekly after Humphries left. Batman I stopped after the wedding. The Flash I just felt was better to binge. I find this to be the case with the TV show as well. For Supergirl I always preferred watching it week by week but the Flash I always enjoyed more once it went up on Netflix and blocking out a whole day to hammer out the season. Same appears to be true for comics, I prefer to buy the trade and read it all the way through than buy it week by week.
I find the superman books have lost a step in storytelling, and I miss preteen john. I also find it sad that aquaman is going threw all the drama with mera due to the baby on the way. The stories should be more about the joy aquaman has for having a growing family . and the family should be the light that he fights for when he deals with the dark days of heroic work. The worst being what they did to nightwing and wally west! i mean come on these were the heroes i grew up with! the stories the company has been producing recently make these heroes hard to like, they were the reason i started collecting in the first place! The heroes of dc stories were to inspire and give us all a sense of wonder and fun but lately the stories have been lackluster to say the least.
Nightwing.
I tried. I really did. I gave it more than enough issues. I just don’t like the direction the character is going. I’ll be back when things start to go back to normal.
I dropped Batman. Enjoyed it for a long time but eventually lost interest though I loved Mister Miracle from Mr King.
I dropped Justice League after 25 but might continue reading future issues in trade. Good story but is a lot to take in.
Gave 1-6 of Bendis Superman a shot. It was ok but not enough for me to keep going.
My comic book buying is directly proportional to how much I like the current run on Nightwing. So all I’ve bought recently is Heroes in Crisis and Doomsday Clock.
Morrison’s Green Lantern,. Absolutely crap
After reading comments, I realized I also stopped reading Nightwing. I do still read Deathstroke, JLD, JLO, and Teen Titans but if they weren’t free I probably wouldn’t make much effort.
From the competitors, I skim X-Men, ignore Avengers, and save up and binge Spider-Man titles. I also stopped paying attention to Deadly Class and Wicked and Divine (mostly because I have no clue what’s happening).
@Me-am-Bizarro, I too am old school and my tastes don’t align with many modern comic book storylines. My major problem (here comes that dead horse again) is the continued reliance/fascination with the nihilism that infects this medium. What was done to Wally was the last straw. With few exceptions, Terrifics, Freedom Fighters, Hawkman, Flash, Detective Comics, much of the current DC fare is flat, inconsistent, and depressing. I’m here until the resolution of Doomsday Clock strikes. If after that, the promise of Rebirth doesn’t become realized then I’m out of here. Comic books are the “sandbox” of dream castles and wish fulfillment. When an entertainment medium loses its ability to deliver awe and wonder and instead embraces complacent and negativity the once-loyal audience will go elsewhere.
Action Comic and Detective Comics, still have Superman and Batman on my pull list-but the two Comics that recently his issue #1000 don’t currently seem to know where they are heading (and I have zero interest in the Leviathon story)