Sunday 18 August 2013

The Comics Ramble: Villains Month will be Complicated

As the Post Office is holding my comics hostage I don't have anything to review this week. However, since DC are determined to make September bloody complicated it might be time to address some issues I have with this Villains Month.

The first anniversary of the New 52 was simple: zero issues, one for all fifty-two series including some to launch new series. This year it's Villains Month (which makes them two for two in recycling old gimmicks for these September events) and they're not doing it the simple way. Instead of publishing Dial H #15.1 it'll be Justice League #23.3 (just doing .1s might seem too much like ripping off Marvel). All the big series are getting multiple decimal point issues in the month, which isn't cynical at all.

Justice League #23.3: Dial E will be one of the ones I get, it's by China Meiville with twenty different artists so that sounds nice and interesting. Aside from that the Justice League issues can sod off, just like Justice League itself (I got bored an issue into Trinity War). Similarly, the two Aquaman issues, Black Manta and Ocean Master, written by Geoff Johns and seem actually relevant to the ongoing storyline so they go on the list. This is rather the exception, it must be said. For instance, I like The Flash but I don't think I can shell out for three issues in one month so perhaps just the Reverse-Flash issue...

… and so it goes on.

The height of cynicism is probably the fact that all four core Batman titles are getting four issues each, that's sixteen issues in one month. I usually don't object to companies like this doing things that will make them money but there is such a thing as taking the piss, which I feel is another lesson that DC needs to learn.

Not that I think this villains month will fail in any way. Weighting the issues towards the Batman rogues gallery makes eminent sense: it's the most famous rogues gallery in comics and has some truly compelling characters in it. I'm tempted by more than one of them myself (I've missed my Harley Quinn fix since dropping Suicide Squad from my pull list).

To be honest my main objection is having to comb through the solicits to work out which titles correspond to the series I'm currently reading, it seems strangely like DC is trying to hide things from me. I suppose the idea is to market the other series by tying them into more popular titles: Batgirl's Ventriloquist issue being Batman: The Dark Knight #23.1, for instance.

Or perhaps I'm just being overly peevish about DC recently, that's always a possibility.

2 comments:

Saranga said...

When I had to work out my pull for Villains month I decided by the creative teams. As as result, I'm getting lots more comics next month.

Do you know if you'll be getting the 3d covers?

James Ashelford said...

I'm not sure, depends if they're extra, to be honest. My new supplier is getting back to me on that one.