Comic-fatigue: can there be too many comics?
In the beginning, there were three.
Growing up being a comic book nerd there were only three comic titles that I read regularly. They were Spider-man, X-men, and Batman. Take note because these will come back into play very shortly. But-for me-those were the titles I kept up with. Those were the ones I read month to month-if I was able to. And I saw that it was good.
Soon a few of my favorite creators who had worked on these titles left Marvel to create a new comic book company called Image. Soon my comic book world would expand to include titles like Spawn, WildC.A.T.S., Savage Dragon, and others. But you never forget those first faves; those first comics you read that made such an impression on you…
Fast forward a couple of decades and I soon found myself back in comic book shops. With big blockbuster movies coming out like Avengers and Spider-man featuring some pretty good actors I’m thinking, “Huh. This is cool. I think I’ll see what’s been happening with comics since I’ve been gone.” That moment was about five or six years ago. But today? So much has been happening with comics that sometimes I think it’s too much.
These thoughts began when I considered picking up a new X-men comic. Remember when I said earlier that X-men was one of my first three all time favorite comics to read? I figured it’d be easy to jump back in and see what things are like now and…oh! Oh…mygosh! Things are bananas! There are so many comic books with a giant X emblem on them these days that they take up an entire rack at my local comic shop. There are X-Men, Immortal X-Men, Knights of X, X-Men ’92, Devil’s Reign X-Men, Reign of X, The Secret X-Men, and X-Men Red. If you’re counting I think that tallies up to eight. Eight X-Men comics. So…which X-Men is the real X-Men?
I picked X-Men because I have a personal anecdote attached to it, but they’re not the only ones. Remember my first three faves? Looks like I’m some sort of Seer, because Spider-man and Batman both have an over-abundance of titles to choose from now.
At one point, Spider-Man had a good handful: Spider-man, the Amazing Spider-man, Ultimate Spider-man and the Spectacular Spider-man. But now, there’s an entire Spider-verse. In one story line Gwen Stacy is Spider-man-er-Spider-girl…actually I think she’s called Spider-Gwen and she has her own universe called the Gweniverse. I mean…wow. It’s a lot. Just the other day I saw a comic book cover with what I discovered is called Spider-Rex. You guessed it, it’s a Tyrannasaurus Rex in a Spider suit.
Does this not beg the question: can comics ever jump the shark?
I mean, most superhero plot lines are already pretty hard to swallow. I’m not even talking about super powered people, but things like, who’s their tailor? How do these outfits fit so tight? In regards to Spider-Gwen, doesn’t that hood on her costume cut way back on her wind resistance when she web slinging through the city? Does every scientific experiment gone wrong turn people into super humans? Does anyone really ever die? I mean, there’s a lot of suspension of disbelief that has to take place already. But to walk into a comic shop and see a Batman title next to a Detective Batman title next to a Batman ’89 next to Detective Comics and Batman: The Imposter and Gotham Knights and Detective Batman (to name a few!), what’s a fan to do?
This is an actual question: What’s a fan to do?
Do you just pick one or two and keep up with those? Do you seek advice for the best storylines knowing the rest aren’t up to par, and that’s how you decide? Do you ignore them all because it’s overwhelming? I feel like the over saturation of these characters feels like both a cash-grab and a sign that original content is now found…elsewhere. I mean, there are only so many ways a kid can get bit by a spider, no?
This reminds me of a conversation with my brother. Remember Pearl Jam? You know, the band that was super popular in the late 90’s? Man, I loved Pearl Jam but around 2009 with their album titled Backspacer I stopped listening. You grow up, your musical tastebuds change, I just wasn’t into grunge rock anymore. My younger brother never listened to another album past No Code-their 1996 album. “Why,” I asked. Because they had some pretty good albums that followed.
“Because, I don’t need anymore Pearl Jam. Their albums up to that point were good enough.” He was satisfied.
Sometimes less is more.
I don’t read any X-titles anymore. Nor do I read any Spider-man comics. I’m so far removed from the Spider-man of mid to late 90’s that today’s Spider-man and his many iterations all feel…over extended. I’m sure it’s just me. I’m just an old comic book fan. But I understand my brother in a way I didn’t when we were talking Pearl Jam. I don’t read any current Spider-man comics because the Peter Parker of the 90’s were good enough. I’ve discovered that I too, am satisfied.