Why I don't buy many American comics...
So I pick up this free comic from Marvel at the local comic shop's checkout counter. It turns out it's actually about 20 pages of dense narrative summary. Being interminably curious, I read the whole thing anyway. It turns out to be a condensation of (judging from the notes in the back) around 100 volumes spread over a dozen different Marvel titles which, taken together, form the necessary background for a new storyline they're launching.
Seriously, Marvel? I'm the kind of guy who can get into a good complex fantasy world, but even I find this completely ludicrous. If you think giving this away free is going to draw in new readers as opposed to making them run screaming, I'm afraid you're going to be once again disappointed.
(For the curious, this was the setup for the "War of Kings" which appears to be the culmination of a bunch of "Cosmic" storylines. You've got some galactic empire run by Cyclops' brother, and the civilization of superbeings that's been living on the moon, plus of course the Skrulls and a handful of other expansionist civilizations that I've already forgotten all the details of in some big galactic brawl coming up. Or something.)
...
On a brighter note, I *did* just buy one American comic: there's a new volume of Courtney Crumrin out. This story (Courtney Crumrin and the Prince of Nowhere) isn't my favorite of them; I think it's a little over-narrated. Still, the series is awesome and people should buy it, as well as pretty much everything else by Ted Naifeh. (I was going to link his web page here, but it seems to be about two years out of date, so you'd be better off just searching Amazon or something...)
Seriously, Marvel? I'm the kind of guy who can get into a good complex fantasy world, but even I find this completely ludicrous. If you think giving this away free is going to draw in new readers as opposed to making them run screaming, I'm afraid you're going to be once again disappointed.
(For the curious, this was the setup for the "War of Kings" which appears to be the culmination of a bunch of "Cosmic" storylines. You've got some galactic empire run by Cyclops' brother, and the civilization of superbeings that's been living on the moon, plus of course the Skrulls and a handful of other expansionist civilizations that I've already forgotten all the details of in some big galactic brawl coming up. Or something.)
...
On a brighter note, I *did* just buy one American comic: there's a new volume of Courtney Crumrin out. This story (Courtney Crumrin and the Prince of Nowhere) isn't my favorite of them; I think it's a little over-narrated. Still, the series is awesome and people should buy it, as well as pretty much everything else by Ted Naifeh. (I was going to link his web page here, but it seems to be about two years out of date, so you'd be better off just searching Amazon or something...)