Lobsterman

I think you're right on that, PL, and I think that's what Marvel has been doing with Marvel Unlimited. It's basically an all-you-can-eat buffet of back issues; I've recently been reading through X-men from issue 1. I think the yearly sub for unlimited issues is something comixology or DC themselves really need to look at.

To take your TV show analogy further, perhaps these "reboots" would more accurately be considered as "seasons:" in much the same way as TV shows will end with a cliffhanger, then promote and begin the next season as "everything has changed," the marketing of these shifts in the status quo in retrospect turn out to be a lot of hype, but a fairly consistent flow of events in the actual comics.

If you can't see why people would see this as different than you simply don't want to.

Enlighten me, please!

Okay, so you take a wildly popular, fan-favorite team, one whose specific characters and relationships are integral to the stories that have been developing for years, then you blow it up and introduce six completely different characters, solely for the purpose of doing something "all-new, all-different." Remind me when they tried that and how it went?

I'm hearing a lot of "I wish comics would just go back to how they were when I was a kid and loved them."

Spidey's off-world. His costume gets shredded. He needs new duds and happens along this amazing "fabric" that not only gives him a new look but can instantly go from street clothes to costume in a moment.

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Which was undeniably the kind of "change for change's sake" sales-driven gimmick you're decrying. I don't see how a magic outer space costume machine makes any more sense than Storm getting a tough-looking mohawk to lead the Morlocks, or Jane Foster picking up Mjolnir.

It's still Peter Parker. He didn't join a team and remained independent.

But he got angrier and more violent – which was handled gradually, and was what I would consider reasoned character development. But then we find out he was just possessed by an alien, and he immediately turned back to the same-ol' happy-go-lucky Spidey. Which I would also consider change for change's sake – or rather, a reboot catering to the old-school guys who were tired of all the dark, violent heroes, etc and wanted "their" Spidey back. In the case of either one of those changes to the character, it showed the guy under the mask is just as mutable as the mask itself.

The problem with costumes and lineups is that the changes never last for more then a few months, much less years and years. Because they come so frequently now, it just feels like change for the sake of change, as Valo put it. Often these lineups looked like they were picked by a random name generator, and the costumes from a DeviantArt contest. Why should we as readers get excited when we can bet that these books will have no lasting impact, and we'll be seeing them as curiosities in the discount bins in a few years? Honestly, as a "wait for the trade" guy, by the time I read many of these books, they will be completely dated. That's just inexcusable.

I don't understand the standard by which you're judging "lasting impact" and "dated." There have always been plenty of throwaway plotlines – many more than significant, lasting changes in the way we thought about characters. Can you give an example of what you consider a lasting impact in a book?

And if we're talking about teams picked by a random name generator, come on... you're an Avengers fan. When has that team not been a total hodgepodge? I'd argue it's only been recently (during the movie era) that the core team has reverted back to what it's "supposed" to be.

Is this really just a problem with how comics are being marketed rather than how they're being written? Like, Marvel NOW! was presented as "everything has changed, nothing will be the same," but actually reading what happened before they put the logo on the covers and what happened after, to me stuff seemed to continue apace with very few universe-altering shakeups.

Personally, I don't look much at the lineups or the costumes, but at the creators doing the books. Charles Soule and Ron Garney on Daredevil? I'll read that. Nick Spencer on Ant-Man? I'm in. James Robinson and Leonard Kirk on the Squadron? I'll check it out. Bendis on the Guardians. NOOOOOOOO WAY!

Man, you really have it in for Bendis, don't you?

In what way?

I'm honestly fascinated by all of this hand-wringing over changes to the status quo, as there hasn't ever really been a "status quo" in comics. I can't think of a time when there haven't been shake-ups to teams, dramatic changes to characters, or "nothing will ever be the same!!!!" moments. Like, is it really that upsetting to see characters change their costumes, or are people just reading the same three or four issues from the 1960s over and over and over and over again? Can someone give an example of a well-developed, logical, and "acceptable" change to a team or character* in contrast with the apparently wildly irrational and arbitrary changes that are going on now?

*Okay, I'll go ahead and cite the respective marriages of Peter and Mary Jane and Scott and Jean right now. Granted.

God. Dammit.

http://toynewsi.com/news.php?catid=13&itemid=24919

I think what readers can relate to is the story of a young person going through changes, gaining greater faculties than he is accustomed to, and learning how to deal with the new responsibilities that entails. The reason the Spider Man formula works so well is that it's really about growing up; that's why Marvel keeps coming back to it with other books like Ms Marvel, Nova, and yes, Ultimate Spider Man.

I've never read a comic with Miles in it, so I can't speak to that really, but for myself, I want Peter Parker Spider-Man.

I personally think some of the backlash against the new-looking, different-people-in-familiar-suits Marvel U also has something to do with growing up. Like, letting go of the stories we were all reading 15, 20, 30 (40?) years ago and being open to admitting that 1) they were good stories, but they don't need to keep being retold in the same way, and 2) maybe we don't have the exact same outlook, experiences, and way of relating to the stories as the new generation of readers does – but having read them first doesn't make our outlook or framework for them inherently more valid.

I'm disappointed they didn't take the reboot opportunity to do Miles. We've seen Peter's story soooooo many times.

Or you have to undergo "character development" by nobly bearing witness to someone else being raped or mutilated, then feeling really bad about it.

Marvel, Marvel, Marvel. Should have gone with "Red Hulk and the Uncanny Thunderbolts." Problem solved!

The Redbolts? They all were operating in that antihero capacity way before the book ever started, and to me it felt like they could have been a different team and just been called something else, but they thought putting them in Thunderbolts would make it a huge hit.

Also, Thaddeus Ross' nickname is "Thunderbolt." So it kind of makes sense.

Well, Citizen V does apparently figure into the All-New, All-Different, All-Improved, Amazing League of Uncanny Marvel Now...

Oh, and I really wish X-O had that helmet. The tampo is okay but that helmet would have been so much better.

^^^^THIS^^^^

Are any of our esteemed collective actually going to SDCC?

>I'll be there.

Esteemed Lobsterman it is then.

You butter knock it off with those wisecracks.

I'll be there.

Gotta say, the Starks are kind of dummies when it comes to walking right into traps.

FUUHHHHHHHHHH

http://toyland.gizmodo.com/kre-os-transformers-class-of-1985-includes-grimlock-and-1710403406

I was hoping in the back of my heart they'd do a combiner-scale version of Omega Supreme and Metroplex, but this is still amazing!

I don't think comparing DST to Hasbro is fair, either in terms of what they could achieve with their budget, or what they have the liberty to take a risk on when they're paying for the exclusive.

Hasbro's run of exclusives is much, much higher – we're talking two or three thousand versus 20 or 30 thousand units – so they can spend the money doing a probably $5/unit package on a $60 exclusive. To make any money back, Minimate packaging needs to cost cents, not dollars. Doing a specialty one-off die cut, or anything with elaborate hand assembly just isn't in the equation.

As has been pointed out, DST has taken lots of risks on "fan favorite" exclusive sets (Alpha Flight, Age of Apocalypse, Dark Avengers) and gotten stuck with inventory almost every single time. That's not to mention all of the inevitable "why didn't they pick my favorite team" pissing and moaning. When it comes to "pleasing the fans," I'm pretty much convinced they can never, ever win at this point. Hell, do an Avengers "apology" set (that people would imply they have anything to apologize for is obnoxious enough) with Tigra, Black Knight, Crystal, and Moondragon vs the Wrecking Crew, and I guarantee we'd still have people whining about why we didn't get the original Masters of Evil, or how a 90's X-Factor set would be somehow more worthy.

Give it a rest, guys.

Oh shoot. I forgot Dr Bong.

DR BONG!

You should spell Walgreens correctly in the title. But points for initiative!

Squirrel Girl!

I haven't gotten either one yet. I really just wanted to know if I could skip the two pack with him and be okay with the TRU set, or if it's a variant decoration.

Do both versions of Mr Krabs have the little mustache design on his face?

I think CapWolf is the only thing that could have made this wave more crazily amazing.

because we all ran out of capital letters and couldn't properly express our joy.