The Issue with Today's Comics

Look, if you read comics at any level in today's world, you will be well aware both Marvel and DC have been stuck in a convoluted MESS for the years now. If you have no clue what I am talking about; let me give you an example.

Just last month, Marvel released the first issue of their brand-new event in the comics world - The King in Black. This event had been built up over a couple years in Marvel, so it was safe to say that people were looking forward to it, but when the actual event started earlier this month, it launched with 11 SEPERATE issues. Now, do you see the problem here? How on earth are people meant to know what is happening in the event if it's spread across so many different titles and to even understand what's happening in those titles, you need to know what has brought that character here!

See! I'm even getting confused in my writing it’s that big a mess.

And DC's Dark Nights: Death Metal isn't much better. To go along with the 7 main issues there's a couple dozen spin-offs that tell more of the story such as Speed Metal, Robin King and Trinity Crisis. All great stories in their own right, but the sheer amount of reading you must do to not only get to this point, but understand it, is intimidating for the avid reader let alone a newcomer.

Now don't get me wrong, this isn't a new problem for comics. This issue has been prevalent in comics for ages, but it represents an even larger problem that comics face - where do new readers start.

Let's take Green Lantern as our example. GL was always one of the most recognisable heroes for me growing up, and let's specifically talk about the most well-known GL - Hal Jordan.

I'm going to try keep this simple; if you want to understand Hal Jordan's continuity you are going to have to time warp back to 1994 when Emerald Twilight happened. Let's put this into perspective; 1994 was 26 years ago, that is older than me.

Obviously, you can no longer go to your local comic book shop and just find an issue of Emerald Twilight, but at the same time if you were to pick up the more recent runs of Green Lantern you will have absolutely no clue what is happening.

DC's New 52 was meant to represent a jumping on point for readers - it was even my jumping on point- but it was half-assed. Green Lantern was selling well so they didn't see the point in rebooting his character, which has brought us to this point.

DC is scared to use Hal Jordan because new readers don't know who he is, and old readers have gotten tired of the same guy from 26 years ago. He has completely lost his relevance.

And anytime that a new writer tries to create an entry point for GL, it ends up getting involved with the ever-expanding mythos created by Geoff Johns that takes multiple years of catch-up to even comprehend what is happening.

And that is the crux of this article. So many of today's comics have lost their relevance and have no good jumping on point for new reader's. And until the comic industry suck it up and give us a proper reboot; this issue will only evolve and worsen.

What we need is a true hard reboot. I'm going to talk in DC's terms as it's what I'm more familiar with.

DC comics is too BIG. And how do you solve a problem like that? You make it smaller. DC needs to take their most recognisable heroes, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash and perhaps a Green Lantern and isolate them.

Give them brand new writers, give those writers the chance to create their own version of a Batman Year One or a Superman Year One and so on. Fresh takes of the character, new villains, new concepts - just something new. They need to stop pushing out all of these titles that just follow the same themes over and over again.

Start from the ground up and make it an easy jumping on point for new readers. Slowly build back up to fan favourite characters such as Dick Grayson. When they feel Bruce has had enough stories as Batman alone; introduce Robin after a year or two. His return after being away for so long would excite the fans like nothing else could. Then do the same for Kid Flash and Wonder Girl, then you can make a Teen Titans book that not only resonates with younger audiences but makes sense.

Focusing on just 5 or 6 stories would allow so for much higher quality and perhaps even more frequent issues. Instead of having Batman every month, you could have him every 2 weeks or something akin to that. Be able to tell much more compelling stories without having to factor in 50 different heroes at a time. They wouldn't have to make sure that the other 7 or 8 Green Lantern's had something to do, or the dozen members of the Bat Family.

As much as I love the Bat Family (They are my absolute favourite comics), It is so clear to see that DC don't know what to do with the majority of them. Jason Todd (Red Hood) has gone on the same road of redemption and forgiveness like 5 times now and TIM, they haven't known what to do with Tim Drake (Red Robin) since the new 52 Teen Titans run, he's been tossed about writers until someone had an idea for him. ("Drake" was a horrible idea and I am so glad they fixed it) Red Robin's best story to date is still his pre-52 solo series from Chris Yost.

So yes, these characters are loved and well known, but they have no direction. They have no story to tell. And that is why DC needs a HARD REBOOT. They have way too many useless characters that don't serve any purpose and are often forgotten about.

You cannot tell an engaging story without purpose, and many of these characters no longer have that.

I truly feel sorry for anyone who wants to get into comics in today's world.

If you do happen to be looking to start comics, the only starting point I feel comfortable recommending is Detective Comics Rebirth which is what really brought me back to comics. It was a great return to form for DC and gave some underappreciated characters some love. (Tim Drake, I'm talking about Tim Drake.)

If it's Marvel you are looking for, I always just recommend any Spider-Man issue #1 you from the run that is ongoing, such as the current Amazing Spiderman run from Nick Spencer. Spider-Man is the one constant in Marvel's complicated world dynamic. And Spencer's run is really solid and extremely enjoyable.

Lewis McLauchlan

Twitter @LCMclauchlan

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