A Tale of Two Titles Article by aviewaskewed, 03:32 AM 28th Nov Disclaimer: The following column is entirely the opinions of the author (even at that we aren‘t sure), any similarity to the opinions of any other staff or affiliate of theendlesscrew.com is entirely coincidental and unintentional. Unless specifically noted otherwise, all creator comments have been gleaned from other sources and no creators have actually endorsed any aspect of this column. Sometimes you have a topic, and you think it’s good. But then you forget it and find a new one. That’s what happened this week, enjoy. One of the things I know I’ve complained about previously is the idea of turning a property or character into a “line”. Most concepts in comics cannot support more then one book, well, actually, let me rephrase that…ANY concept can support more then one book to a degree, it’s just that most of these concepts cannot SUCCESSFULLY support more then one book. There are the exceptions though, and that’s a blessing and a curse (a blessing in that when it works, you get more then one enjoyable dose of something you really dig each month, a curse because that means most publishers think any thing that sells really good can do it, so they wind up pissing wads of cash away on books that absolutely suck, and it probably leads to them canceling a mid-level book with real promise). So I thought this week I’d try to take a look at some of the better examples in how the idea of spinning things off works, and when it absolutely falls flat on it’s overblown face. One of the most recent successes I can point to is the JSA. They’re Classified title has been a real boon, the nice thing about a team concept like JSA, and the rich history they have, is that they become perfect fodder for a spin off. The current arc which just started this month features the Injustice Society looking to steal an object of great mystical power from JSA Headquarters, while the main book is, sadly, limping to a finish of a JSA member gone rogue. Classified is able to tell a story that’s done from the perspective of the Injustice Society, not the JSA, which is what the main book is usually confined to. Classified also meets my criteria for having a spin-off in the first place: You don’t do more then one book, unless your new book is telling stories in a way the original can’t or won’t. It’s focusing on members of the JSA, or they’re little corner of the DCU, on a more micro level then the main book will. What’s the point of basically buying the same thing twice? Too many times this seems to be forgotten by those putting these sorts of books out. Another very fertile ground for spin-offs has been the X-Men. They’ve practically built a whole universe unto themselves, and it’s makes sense that they can. Because what is the X-Men really when you get right down to it? It is a story of two ideologies. It is one man saying “I believe humans can live with our super powered race in peace” and another saying “we cannot live in peace, humanity can never trust us, and we have power, we should use it to either rule the humans, or simply carve out our own place in the world and defend it. But either way, we must protect ourselves, and the humans be damned”. It opens up a lot of ideas, some that have been played with, some that haven’t. I mean, there have been a LOT of different interpretations of Xavier’s dream, there’s been a book or two with Magneto’s theories. But there’s also been work done with mutants in different settings (such as District X). Again, that’s what you want if you’re going to do spin-offs, or a “line” of books. You need fertile ground to tell new stories and use characters we haven’t necessarily seen a million times. An example of the reverse is the idea of the “Superman family” what family? Batman at least has books where his partners operate on they’re own (though I think it kind of sucks when they come back to Gotham and everybody suddenly seems to become a whiney kid again and just do what Batman tells them, Rucka and Brubaker tried to change that a bit with Murderer and Fugitive, but all that’s been thrown away by the current staff). But Superman? All his books are just giving you more and more Superman every month. This is when the spin-off fails, do any of these titles? Not to mention the titles like “Gotham Knights” REALLY give us new stories involving Supes or the Bat? Is this stuff that is just dying to get out there? Are the fans really behind it? From cursery readings of these titles, and the reactions of fans, and the sales on the book, the answer to these questions seems to be: NO. An emphatic no. These books are just out there for the companies to make a bit more money off a successful franchise. I can see the logic in that, but I still can’t help but feel that for the production effort to put out these books that are simply “there” for a lot of readers, they’d be better served spending that money on something with a lot more potential to draw an audience. Seems DC (the perpetrator’s of these examples) are agreeing as they are looking to cancel a couple of these ancillary titles to launch one new title for both characters apiece in the “Classified” vein, which has given them a good bit of success when applied to other properties. Even the X-Men property has produced some real stinker’s and bad work (the last incarnation of X-Factor limped to a pretty rotten finish after a strong start). Plus, there’s the overexposure of Wolverine…a great character, but I think he is in way too many books of late. So there’s failure where there’s success also. The whole point here is that spin off’s shouldn’t happen unless they can really be good work, and really be profitable, in my in my view. Otherwise, that money should go towards developing some new work, a new property that can hit and attract an audience. Comics are narrow-minded enough with the idea that “only super hero’s truly sell”, and I think that has to do with promotion (do I smell next week’s column? I think I might), not the material. Quality, not quantity people, why is this such a hard lesson to teach? Notes and news: Kyle Rayner returns: Yeah, yeah, technically? He didn’t go anywhere, but let’s face it, he’s been shoved out of the spotlight since Hal Jordan came back, and DC decided Guy Gardner is pretty much their favorite “not Hal Jordan” GL. So I was very happy to hear that he’d be using his old Ion identity of a couple issues of his last book. Love Kyle or not, DC put a lot of effort into him, and everything you’re seeing with the GL mythos now has to do with Kyle rebuilding it after Hal knocked it down, whether you consider Hal responsible or not for that is irrelevant, Kyle deserves a prominent place in the DCU. Glad to see him getting it. As a disclaimer, Kyle Rayner is one of my favorite characters in all of comic books, so I may be biased. More OYL: One Year Later should be interesting to start, if nothing else. A lot of new stuff is coming out, and whether it’s good, bad, or round the middle, I think DC deserves a big load of credit for at least making the ATTEMPT at shaking up their status quo, and trying to keep things fresh and creative. JSA: Classified continues to impress: I’ve made no secret of my dissapointment with the first two issues of Keith Champagne’s JSA, but the last issue looks like it’s going to make up for any problems with the build thus far, and I’m looking forward to trying this story again when I can read it all as one complete narrative. But JSA classified has come off a good story with Power Girl and given some of my favorite villains in the Injustice Society the chance to really shine. Can’t wait for issue #2, and that’s exactly what good comics are supposed to do. Have a good week all, I know I’ll try. Also this week, I’m intiated another new comic challenge (and I should have some money to participate myself), just like last time, all you have to do is pick up an issue or a trade of something you haven’t read before, and give it a read. Shoot me back a few lines about whether you liked it or didn’t like it. I discovered Powers, one of my favorite reads in comics, through one of these little challenges to myself. Hope you all participate. Back to Rants