DC's bad, but Marvel ain't so good either

It's always fun to listen to a back and forth between J.R. and Casey over the major crossover events of both DC and Marvel. If you could not tell, J.R. is a DC fan, while Casey's firmly with the Marvel line. And thus, sides are chosen and the conversations begin. Casey's argument is easier to both make and support, as the company has had a constant string of crossover events that began back in 2004 and still have some time before they wrap up. Identity Crisis to Infinite Crisis to Final Crisis with at least one countdown mini series (or numerous ones together) - it's fairly obvious that DC has been completely wrapped up in this.

But don't think that Marvel hasn't been just as bad about the major event crossovers - they're just a little more sneaky about it. The first big one was House of M, followed by a lead-up to Civil War, then the event itself (which was delayed over time), then World War Hulk and finally Secret Invasion, which seems like it has been going on forever. But unlike DC, Marvel was also running crossover events elsewhere - the two Annihilation series for its cosmic characters and Endangered Species and Messiah Complex for the X-Books. That's quite a bit as well.

Think about all the tie-ins Marvel events have gone with as well. For each of the three major arcs, side mini-series have been released to flesh out the story - just like DC did with each of its books. Alongside that, several books have gotten absorbed for several months while the event was going on. House of M claimed numerous titles (from my collection, New X-Men, Uncanny X-Men and Cable & Deadpool spring to mind) aside from its minis. Civil War did the same thing, tying up New Avengers while putting out several side minis and launching Front Line, which ran 12 issues during the event. World War Hulk tied up Hulk (of course) as well as having its minis and another Front Line. Secret Invasion? Both Avengers titles have been tied up FOREVER, numerous minis have been released and of course, Front Line. From what I read, X-Factor, Captain Britain, Deadpool and others have given issues to the event.

On the other hand, no DC books I'm reading (Booster Gold, Green Arrow and Black Canary, JLA, JSA, Teen Titans, Legion of Super-Heroes) have tied into Final Crisis. For that matter, neither have the Batman books (which have a story of their own going). That might give cause for arguing the overall importance of the event, to which I would point to the Marvel events which have their mini-series so the titles themselves do not have to reflect the event. The argument can go back and forth until your head starts spinning. Trust me - I just got mine to stop.

My point here is not to bash Marvel or DC. My point is the show that one cannot justifiably argue about the crossover events of one company using the other as a defense. Both companies are just as bad about them and the sheer number of titles they put out with them. So shut up about it and go read what you enjoy. It's just easier that way.

Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds announced

Geoff Johns 3 Legion story has been something that he's been talking about vaguely for quite a while. Since the current Action Comics Legion story was first being talked about. I had always just assumed that it would be an Action Comics story, but that assumption was destroyed yesterday when Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds was announced.

I can hear the groans from here. Why is DC having one mini-series tie-in to another? Honestly, that is just the way things are. A company has an event, there are going to be extra books that tie-in to it. This is not something unique to DC. If it was, then you would not have had Civil War: Frontline, World War Hulk: X-Men, etc. Tie-ins are not necessarily a bad thing, so long as they remain only tie-ins. It is when a tie-in becomes an essential part of the story that there is trouble.

A tie-in should be supplemental to the main st experience, Marvel has done a decent job with this. DC, not so much. In the lead up to Infinite Crisis, DC had 4 mini-series going on. ory. From myOnce Infinite Crisis started, each of the minis had one special. These specials turned out to be necessary parts to fully understand Infinite Crisis, especially the Villains United special. DC appeared to have learned their lesson with the 52 tie-in, World War 3. While this event was a tie-in, and represented in 52, you did not need to read one in order to read the other. Unfortunately, DC showed they had not learned anything with the Countdown family of titles. But that is for another entry.

Too make a long story short, (too late) there is a way to write a successful tie-in, even if it is going to be a big event on its own. From interviews that I have read with Grant Morrison about Final Crisis, and Geoff Johns about Legion of 3 Worlds, it seems that they understand how to be successful. Grant has said that you do not need to read anything else, to understand Final Crisis. Geoff has said that while there is a launching point within Final Crisis, you do not need to read it to read his Legion story, and vice versa. So long as they stick to this plan, then things should go well.

Ten Reasons "One More Day" Is the Worst Spider-Man Story Ever

#1 - Continuity, Shmontinuity

The biggest thing wrong with "One More Day" is that it throws at least twenty years of Spider-Man continuity out the window. Ask Joe Quesada or even Dan Slott and they'll tell you that it doesn't. That every story is still completely intact. That it all still happened, only people remember it differently. Well, that argument falls apart after examining a couple of the key new developments of "Brand New Day". Even accepting the memory change, things simply could not have happened exactly as the last twenty years worth of Spider-Man comics says they did and still arrived at "Brand New Day."

First off, Spidey's organic web shooters. After mutating into a giant spider, he managed to revert to human form but retained the ability to shoot webs without the aid of his mechanical shooters. If that all still happened exactly the same way, then why does Spider-Man need the web shooters again? Does he still have the organic webbing ability, he just doesn't remember he has it? Or does he not have it anymore, which would mean that the story in which he got the ability never took place?

Harry Osbourne. Is he back from the dead or did he never die? Or did he die and people just don't remember that he died so the Harry walking around now is simply a figment of everyone's imagination?

What about all the people who knew Spider-Man's secret identity, even those who learned it before Civil War? How can those characters still have the same relationship with Spidey when they suddenly forget who he is? (Side Rant: And aren't people like Dr. Strange and Charles Xavier going to question why they suddenly had one particular memory erased? It's not as if they never knew, as the first issue of "Brand New Day' states that Spider-Man did in fact unmask during the Civil War, but now for some reason no one remembers his name or what his face looks like. They seriously aren't going to try to get to the bottom of that?)

Those are only a few examples. There are many more continuity questions raised by "One More Day" and the resulting "Brand New Day". What parts of Spider-Man's history have been changed? What parts are the same? The story opens up that last twenty years of continuity and allows any writer to go in and change anything they see fit and simply point to "One More Day" when a fan asks for an explanation. I didn't like it when DC did it with Infinite Crisis and I certainly don't like it when it happens to my favorite character.