As far as Superman's loss of power goes, I like the way they are handling it. Instead of making a big deal about it and subjecting us to a year or so of hype before the status quo reverts back, they are just skipping over that. We see one storyline with repercussions, and then it will go back to (more or less) the way it was. It's like we get to experience some variety without having our intelligence insulted by the marketing.

THEN after that is over, we can see the year-long saga if we want. But because of the timing of 52, they aren't going to pretend that Superman's loss of power is a big status quo change. (Other aspects of 52 might feel hyped and insulting, but at least the exploration of a world without Superman is being done in the right way...)
Nevin | Email | 04.24.06 - 4:25 am | #

The only crossover event I can remember having actual changes beyond "Crisis" was "Mutant Massacre," which really changed the tone of "Uncanny X-Men" for years, more or less led to the creation of "Excalibur," and altered the status quo for about five years. Plus it's one of those few stories that's still actually referred to.
Chad | Email | 04.24.06 - 6:22 am | #

"Most of these company-wide crossover series seem to promise big changes, new characters, new directions, permanent alterations in the status quo...and a few years, or even a few months, later, it's as if nothing at all had happened, particularly if you've had yet another crossover series in the meantime."


But that's just comics, isn't it? The illusion of change, while the status quo is maintained? I mean, its been that way since I started reading them at least (late 70's/early 80's). You get some change in the short term, but over the long term the whole thing tends to snap back to something close to its original form.

And it has to be this way - mainstream superhero comics are never going to be able to pull off "shocking major changes" that stick for any length of time. Because the characters are important properties in and of themselves without any help from the comics. You need Superman to be marketable as Superman - not as some electric blue lightning guy. You can't shake things up too much without impacting the licensing, the movie deals, the TV shows, and whatever.

On top of that, there's the fact that every character is SOMEONE's favorite character. This means that some writer somewhere is just itching to write a comic book about just about any minor character you can think of. Eventually, even changes that impact only minor third or fourth tier characters get undone.

It became more fun for me once I realized this, by the way. I was annoyed at first, but gradually I've come to realize that accepting that this is the way that things work makes things much easier. Any character they kill, any good guy they make into a bad guy, any bad guy they make into a good guy, just about anything they ever do at all will eventually be undone by someone. So sit back, enjoy the ride, dump the comics that suck and only buy the ones you like. Because in the end the only part that matters is the story, not the results or the "shocking changes" that will come about.
Jer | 04.24.06 - 6:58 am | #

Speaking of shocking changes that have no lasting impact and don't significantly impact the status quo, your new banner:

As a comic fan, I hate change, and your new banner scares and frightens me, as it's not what I'm used to. Please change it back immediately, or I shall be forced to write a satirical poem about you on my Myspace!
Dorian | Email | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 7:22 am | #

Oh, and I remember Superman killing the Kryptonian criminals, and as part of the "Diana should have snapped Max's neck years ago" contingent, I'm for some reason annoyed that none of the current DC writers apparently remembered that detail from Superman's past, as it really paints him out to be a bit of a hypocrite.

(Unless of course, Emoboy punched time/space to get rid of the pocket-dimension, thus eliminating that little story.)
Dorian | Email | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 7:28 am | #

Didn't Tony Stark already go public with his dual identity? Wasn't that during the time a few years back when EVERY superhero was unmasking in public? Captain America did it. I thought Iron Man did it. Peter unmasked to Aunt May. I'm sure I'm forgetting another here. . .
Augie De Blieck Jr. | Email | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 8:36 am | #

Don't forget, no matter how many changes (or illusion of changes) a character goes through merchandising and licensing often dictates that a one true version of the character remains. This is why no one belives Spider-Man's new costume will stick around what with Spider-Man 3 on the way.

I think the real change in superhero comics come from the style they are written and drawn in. After Lee, Kirby and Ditko created those early Marvel books there was a real change in how superhero books were done. Same thing with the popularity of the Image comics guys. Someone does superhero comics in a new style, as opposed to a cosmetic change in a character, and if it hits big it can be a turning point.
Ian Brill | Email | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 8:49 am | #

I just re-read Secret Wars the other day, and just now realized that it was pitched to be a “changing of the guard.” At the time, I only had a few comics under my belt (I was eight), and the first issue of the Avengers I read was when they “returned” from the Secret Wars, and first issue of Amazing Spider-Man I read was the new black costume (because it looked AWESOME).

I remember being a bit puzzled by the time flow issue. In most Marvel comics, the heavy hitters disappeared one issue and were back the next—even though they were “gone” 12 issues of Secret Wars, an evolving timeline that ran “behind” the other comics. And, since this was Marvel, I never knew whether they were gone for weeks or months (I’ll say: three weeks).

I think the changes to the status quo at the time were immense. You noted She-Hulk in the FF, which I thought was insane and very cool. Ben Grimm ended up on Battleworld for his own series for quite a while, and gained the power to switch back and forth from Thing form. Spidey got his costume, which was a great addition to the canon, and the Colossus/Kitty subplot was indeed axed by him falling for the healer Zsaji.

I’d also argue this allowed Chris Claremont to fully realize the growing alliance between Magneto and the X-Men, which I really ended up liking. Back in the Avengers, the core group being off for a while led to a major storyline with the Vision taking over the world’s computers, which dominated the comic for a few years and the character from then on.

The set-up for the Hulk wasn’t the broken leg, but that the storyline where his personalities were merged started to unravel to the point where he became all-savage, and Doc Strange had to banish him to . . .

I’m sorry, I can’t believe I can do all this from memory. But: the comics of youth are those which hold the most powerful sway, I believe! Were there real changes? Not really. We got a lousy new Spider-Woman, Volcana, a new Titania, a very powerful Molecule Man, and . . . apparently Jim Shooter used up all his creativity when he was fourteen or so, because, meh.

Great post, by the way.
gorjus | Email | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 8:50 am | #

Elegantly linking the "nothing ever changes" and the "Marvel copying someone" themes, Marvel's attempts to get some of that juicy Mad action were emphatic even by their long-standing "see what's selling and swamp the market with imitations" standards. In addition to Snafu, they had at least two copies of the original Mad comicbook (Wild, Riot), Crazy in the seventies, and the Mirthful-Marie-we-hardly-knew-ye 13-issue gem that was Not Brand Ecch in the sixties. Fault their originality if you must, but admire their persistence.
Mark S | Email | 04.24.06 - 9:00 am | #

Hey Augie. Tony did come out with his secret identity at one point, but later used a machine and erased everyone's memory of that fact.

Yes, really.
Kurt Onstad | Email | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 9:55 am | #

The X-Men shake-up which occured during the "Secret Wars" maxiseries was not limited to the extremely poorly handled break-up between Pryde and Collosus(for the record, Collosus picked up the Human Torch's sloppy seconds and broke up with Kitty -- who wasn't present in the series -- out of guilt when he got back.

No, the big, big, BIG shake-up in X-Men was that it set the groundwork for an alliance between Magneto and Professor X, which eventually led not only to Maggie denouncing his villainous ways but to his actually being made HEADMASTER of the Xavier's School when Chuck got ill and went off to be nursed back to health by his... alien... birdwoman... girlfriend on an intergalactic... pirate ship... being hunted by the entire... ahem... superpowered elite guard of a vast space civilization JUST SHOOT ME NOW!

You have to admit that a comic's principal villain becoming a close ally is a rather large paradigm shift.

--m4
mojo_iv | Email | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 10:44 am | #

To be honest, the point of these stunts is always to boost sales, and if making Superman Blue or killing him brings people into the comic book store, even if longterm fans aren't fooled that these are permanent events, then DC's happy.

And it's not that these characters are incapable of change. To stick to a theme, the most important change in Superman wasn't his death or loss of powers, it was revealing his identity to Lois (and subsequent marriage). That really changed the kind of stories the writers could do. No Betty and Veronica thing with Lois and Lana, no superdickery to Lois to keep her in the dark. And that's lasted 15 years.

15 years! How many other ongoing stories last 15 years? Or 10? Or 5? If the new Blue Beetle is the Starman or Hitman of this crossover, and gets to issue 60, that's better than most TV shows.

We don't usually expect writers to create stories that will still be relevent continuity after the 2 hours the movie lasts. Do we really expect comic book writers to writer stories for 60 years from now?
Steven | Email | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 11:10 am | #

One of the things I really miss is how much more naive I was as a kid, especially about comic books. There was a new Flash, a new Green Lantern, a new Green Arrow, Dick was (briefly) in the Batman costume, and Aquaman was a badass with a harpoon hand. Being ignorant to the behind-the-scenes aspect, it was easy to believe the universe was moving forward. And if I stuck around 10 or 20 years? I'd get to see another changing of the guard, especially with the DC universe.

Although that extreme suspension of disbelief didn't last very long (I think I caught on after Heroes Return) I really miss thinking Bruce would someday pass the cowl down to Tim or that Lois might die if Supes doesn't get there in time. I still enjoy the stories, but a lot of the drama is gone for me now that I can see the status quo holding pattern.

The blogs' new look is great, by the by, Mike. I like it just fine.
David Cutler | Email | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 12:31 pm | #

The new banner really accuntuates the title "Mike Sterling's Progressive Ruin," making it sound like a confessional blog where a guy charts his progress in drinking himself to death. Or records his slow degeneration into a bog monster, as shown.

I really like it.
Cole Moore Odell | Email | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 1:58 pm | #

Someone's going to have their secret identity revealed in Civil War? Huh. I really can't think of who that's going to be. Secret identities have never been big at Marvel, which sort of limits the options. With the possible exception of Iron Man (and I don't think even Marvel knows his status anymore), Spider-Man is the only one around.

Thus, either Marvel's going to cause a major change in the status of their biggest character, or they're going to cop out and reveal the Sentry or Spider-Woman or someone else inconsequencial. Either way is a mistake. Peter Parker needs his anonymity to maintain his everyman status, and no one else actually matters.

So keep his mask on. Marvel wants to change something, they should kill Mary Jane already.
SpiritGlyph | 04.24.06 - 2:16 pm | #

Kurt - Please tell me that it was teenaged Tony Stark who flipped the switch on that machine. That would just make my day.
Augie De Blieck Jr. | Email | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 2:17 pm | #

Well, even if they did reveal Spidey's identity, he could always use the Matt Murdock defense:

"Um, no I'm not."
Bill Doughty | Email | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 2:57 pm | #

Marvel already tried killing off Mary Jane. I think it's too soon for even them to try it again.

(And I like MJ when written properly, which is almost never)

I also find it humorous that the 3 "big" books that are getting relaunched (Flash, Wonder Woman, Justice League) are the same 3 that got relaunched during LEGENDS. That particular crossover also gave us the most fondly remembered version of the Suicide Squad "property."

Well said, Mr. Sterling.
C. Elam | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 5:05 pm | #

I'm going to call bullshit on that Shooter quote, having read this interview thingy with Doug Moench. Basically, Moench says Shooter planned to replace just about every major Marvel hero with a new guy, went into major spin control when that fact was leaked, and backed out on a lot of those plans.

If I'm not mistaken, the only character to get any mileage after those Marvel new character annuals was Legacy, aka Captain Marvel, Jr. Tyrant, however, had a lengthy run in Silver Surfer and associated comics. And I'm pretty sure the dipshit-looking Adam-X character, with the swords, braids, and baseball cap, debuted in one of thsoe annuals and popped up in X-Books here and there.

And Augie, that was the "real" Tony Stark.
Mark H. | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 5:25 pm | #

And now that I reread that in my sleep-deprived haze... Legacy came out of the Surfer Annual. Tyrant did not. I don't know where the hell Tyrant came from. Please excuse me.
Mark H. | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 5:27 pm | #

Its Spider-Man that gets unmasked in Civil War. He does it willingly on live TV. Thor comes back as a clone/cyborg created by Richards and Stark and Sue leaves the FF with Black Panther and Storm filling in for her and a mortally wounded Human Torch. And Namor's still a prick.

Discuss amongest yourselves.
The Painted Doll | 04.24.06 - 5:34 pm | #

(sniff...sob...)

I miss Stannnnnn!
Bully | Email | Homepage | 04.24.06 - 6:59 pm | #

You know, I totally get that being a fan of a long-running serial requires either patient acceptance of the circle of life or a ruthless capacity to cut ties and wipe memories when a comic goes in a displeasing direction.

However, there's some stuff you just don't want to see, ever, for reasons that lie outside the realm of the story per se. Kon getting whacked I can live with, but was the market really so flooded with morally ambiguous feminist neo-noir that Catwoman first had to be turned into a helpless pawn and now a doting Rosemary's mommy? I don't care if she eventually gets re-retconned; in the meantime I have to live with yet another female character's agency being robbed from her (and a damn fine Darwyn Cooke piece losing most of its meaning). I'm just not interested.
Sarah | Email | 04.24.06 - 8:23 pm | #

If Spider-Man unmasks himself, between poisonous wrist claws, turning into a face-eating monster, and talking to spiders, Marvel's going to be in dire need of a continuity reboot in a few years.
David Cutler | Email | Homepage | 04.25.06 - 1:43 am | #

"Thor comes back as a clone/cyborg created by Richards and Stark and Sue leaves the FF with Black Panther and Storm filling in for her and a mortally wounded Human Torch."

Dear Lord, is this true or are you just poking fun. Because if this is true it will be the most wonderful thing I've seen in a long time.

No, not the comics themselves - the level of rancor and anger that will emanante from the internets. I think stuff like that might just put the rending of garments that accompanied Blue Beetle being shot in the head to shame...

"Marvel's going to be in dire need of a continuity reboot in a few years."

Maybe they could call it "Infinity Crisis" - since there were a lot of people looking for that a few months back. I'm sure that Scarlet Witch could be dug up again for another continuity editing affair...
Jer | 04.25.06 - 6:27 am | #

I would totally read an FF series starring Reed, Ben, the Black Panther, and Storm. As much as I hate the idea behind Reggie-Panther and Storm marrying, I dig the idea of a young married couple in FF as a contrast to Reed and Sue (even if Sue's not on the team, I assume she's around).

No seriously, I would read that.
Prof Fury | Email | Homepage | 04.25.06 - 8:37 am | #

Not to completely derail this, but that Marvel Age cover reminded me... was anyone else bugged by the fact that Kitty Pryde appeared in the promotional images for Secret Wars, but not the book itself?
Bill Doughty | Email | Homepage | 04.25.06 - 2:26 pm | #

Jer - Oh, yeah, it's just how comics are. In my typical long-winded way, I was attempting to contrast the way some of these comic events are sold ("NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN!") and what the actual results end up being (a few new series launch, a couple characters have their status quo altered for a while, and then everything more or less goes back to normal). I'm not really criticizing it as much as just saying that most of us have seen it all before.

Dorian - I can't believe you just threw one of my own jokes back at me (and by "my own joke" I mean "a joke I stole from Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol").

Ian - I was having this discussion at the shop the other day, that the more licensing a character has, the less chance of his status quo changing. Well, physically, anyway...you can marry off Superman and Spider-Man, since that won't make the toys look any different. (And there's a joke there somewhere, but I'll let one of you characters make it.)

Gorjus - I was reading Hulk at the time, and they were already leading down the path of the Banner losing his control over his alter ego. Events in Secret Wars just sorta aggravated it, which makes that particular event series responsible for returning things back to the status quo, rather than changing them! (Though, come to think of it, the "Hulk Smash" version hasn't been a regular status quo for that character since before Secret Wars! Huh. And I need to reread Secret Wars again...I think the time may have come for a defense of that series.

Mojo - True, Magneto became a semi-ally to the X-Men after Secret Wars, but that status quo got shifted back a few years later. But, in true classic Marvel form, that makes for an interesting villain...one with whom the good guys have some measure of relationship aside from "he's the bad guy we gotta punch."
Mikester | Homepage | 04.25.06 - 9:04 pm | #

Steven - You do have a point. I think I've spoken before on this site about how the real reason companies do these events (and team-up comics in general) is to get readers exposed to characters they might otherwise have not been reading. Sales are always the reason.

The fact that Superman and Lois' relationship has remained the way it has as long as it has is nothing short of a miracle. I suppose once they got past the first few years, and once a married Lois/Supes was presented to the public via the Lois & Clark show and the public didn't outright reject the idea, and once Warner Bros. realized that married or unmarried, so long as the toys looked the same what did they care, the marriage had a vastly improved chance of survival.

I did note that even a five year run for a series isn't unusual at Marvel or DC (or maybe it is, given current new series livespans). I suppose my point was that no matter how high profile the launch, how big an "event" is that's leading into said launch, once the event is over, the forces driving that launched title ebb away and series must live or die on its own merits. Yeah, I know, "Obvious, party of one."

And as for writers creating stories that will impact on events decades from now...no, of course I don't realistically expect that. Again, like I said to Jer above, I was just contrasting the hype with the reality, and that of all the event comics, the only one still impacting its superhero universe is Crisis on Infinite Earths (even if it's just people trying to clean up the mess it made!).

David C. - I like that interpretation, with the DC Universe having an implied generational aspect that's usually never fulfilled. Of course, once Wally took over for Barry as the Flash, all bets were off...but then at the time, the "Barry Allen" aspect of the character wasn't important to the Flash as it related to licensing, so that change made it through. I can't imagine DC will replace Wally as the Flash now that we have several seasons of Justice League cartoons featuring him.
Mikester | Homepage | 04.25.06 - 9:06 pm | #

Mark H. - Wow, you're right about Legacy. I totally forgot about him. Probably because I forgot the new version of "Captain Marvel" was ever called anything but. Huh. I guess that makes Legacy Marvel's "Hitman." (Or maybe not.)

Sarah - I know where you're coming from, in a way...I've suffered through some pretty dire Swamp Thing stories in my time, but that was more self-inflicted rather than as a result of company-wide event shenanigans. But some characters can get the short end of the stick when these events occur, and in your case, I guess Catwoman is one of them. If enough people feel the same way you do, it'll get reversed soon enough. Plus, if it makes you feel any better, just keep this in mind...whatever they do to Catwoman, it can't be any worse than what happened to Hawkman.

David C., again - Yeah, Spidey's getting a little off-model lately, isn't he? (And I am aware of the slight irony of my making that statement in the middle of my talking about how nothing ever really changes at Marvel or DC.)

Bill D. - Hey, you're right! I demand my No-Prize! (Um, on your behalf, of course.)
Mikester | Homepage | 04.25.06 - 9:06 pm | #

Sarah: What happened to Darwyn Cooke's work? Did they re-write it all, or something? What happened to Darwyn Cooke?
Chris Griswold | Email | Homepage | 04.25.06 - 10:52 pm | #

Talking of secret wars have you seen the secret wars re-enactment society?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y...h? v=YveSHqhOkdo
Tom | 04.26.06 - 1:58 am | #

Chris: Catwoman's reform turns out to have been magically induced by Zatanna, thus rendering the awesome SELINA'S BIG SCORE rather a pointless exercise. And now she's just somebody's baby momma.

It's not so much the screwing over of the character as the screwing over of the character in very specific, tiresome ways that the industry kind of needs to be over right now. I was trying to imagine what would happen if Bruce Wayne adopted a child and just stayed home for a year to coo at it cheerfully (Batman? Who cares about Batman when there's a baby!!! Men love babies!), and I think the Internet might *actually* crack in half.
Sarah | Email | 04.26.06 - 1:48 pm | #

Wait, I'm reading this many moons after the original comments and the predictions for Civil War so far did REALLY happen! Down to the "Clor" thing being called alternately a clone and a cyborg!

Either "The Painted Doll" works at Marvel and chose this fairly unknown blog to reaveal Big Secrets or he is a prophet!

Best,
Hunter (Pedro Bouça)
Pedro Bouça | Email | 12.05.06 - 8:23 am | #

I'm looking forward to finding out about who The Painted Doll is.
Kevin Huxford | Email | Homepage | 12.07.06 - 7:56 am | #

Yeah, who's The Painted Doll, see?
KushCash | Email | Homepage | 12.07.06 - 11:48 am | #

"Yeah, who's The Painted Doll, see?"

The Fourth Man?
Jake W | 12.07.06 - 11:59 am | #

Hey is that the same Kevin Huxford that Anthony hates???
samnyc | Email | 12.07.06 - 7:06 pm | #

Sue leaves the FF with Black Panther and Storm filling in for her and a mortally wounded Human Torch

See Comic Book Resources.

Almost! (The Torch part seems to be wrong.) Spooky, huh?
Bully | Email | Homepage | 12.18.06 - 4:15 pm | #

Although your article presents a good argument for realism, it misses the point of ongoing comic book series. Big changes CAN'T happen, because we don't want new readers ten years from now getting to know a different Flash or Spider-Man than was originally concieved. In a potentially limitless run, you must maintain some consistency.
Lyle R | Homepage | 06.19.07 - 6:55 am | #