Recently I've been going about searching through my comic book collection to see what comics continue to be relevant to me after 15 years and what comics no longer match to how my tastes have changed over that time.
(to digress slightly, this is a good practice which I recommend. Not only do you read books that you probably haven't read since you got them, however long that may be, but it also you to not let your collection overwhelm you. but anyway back to it....)
Although I've only just started doing this, I've found a few series which no longer float my boat (or, in one case, make ponder why I bought it in the first place) as well as one or two which I'd forgotten were really quite good despite thinking otherwise.
Now though, I've come back across the first seven volumes of the Walking Dead.
With the Walking Dead, although I recall enjoying the first couple of trades and even convincing my now wife to read the first one, I know that I've not read the last couple. I have also realised that while I had planned to catch up on this series in trade fashion, I haven't actually bought/been gifted any instalment of this series in at least three years.
After pondering on these revelations it has occurred to me that, in all honesty, I don't really care about this series (insert gap here for all those who think I'm crazy now to speak)!
Now this is a single series and there are many out there and with any of them you can't please all the people all the time (or whatever that quote is), but in thinking on whether to sell these trades I have begun to wonder; are ongoing comic series really for me?
At present, my pull list has taken a real battering and so I only have one comic left which is Lazarus. Before that, however, I had eight titles which I picked up, of which almost all of them could be called an ongoing. But what is an ongoing really? I'd have said anything which had an end in sight was not an ongoing and, therefore, Lazarus and Black Science, both of which I know the writer's have endgames in mind, would actually be limited series, with Black Magick no doubt running by similar rules.
This would mean, after removal of the 'actual' limited series, Star Trek Mirror Broken chief among them, I would be left to two titles which would be consider 'true' ongoing titles, the superhero titles.
How does this relate to the Walking Dead? Well, Walking Dead is currently at issue 171 which is not much by Superhero comic standards I'd grant you. However, this is a comic which, to my knowledge, has no specific or discernible ending planned at any point by it's writer. Because of this, I'd say it's fair to call Walking Dead a true ongoing.
Anyway, to my point. I've come to realise that in my old age I have become a lot more partial towards the limited series and stories which consist of a beginning, middle and end. A lot of people may argue that 'life doesn't end' and this is true (it's also false because we all have to go some time) but then none of the genres found in an ongoing comic are actually real life but instead fiction.
I'm realising I like my fiction to tell a single story, with a protagonist who is taking on a single specific goal. Lazarus will be roughly 70 issues long by the time it is complete (by my calculations) and while it will be a long series once it ends, at least it will end. Daredevil, on the other hand, will be at 600 issues come 2018 and I doubt we'll see the man without fear hang up his horns any time soon.
I have a lot of limited stories in my collection, some of which are longer than others. Who is Jake Ellis?, Snapshot, Punk Rock Jesus, X-Men: Magneto - Testament, all of these are five to six issues and guarantee me a resolution to the story. On the other hand, Irredeemable and The Massive are also in my collection and, while they are closer to thirty to forty issues, at least they too provide some kind of finality to them.
With ongoings like the Walking Dead (which I feel I'm starting to be unfair to but, hey, in for a penny) they just go on and on, often times (and this is less Walking Dead) with little to no character evolution or growth, meaning no change. Because of this fifteen years of Daredevil and the like can feel a little apathetic and dull.
I've rambled on for a bit here and I'm not sure if I have a point to it. I guess what this all says to me is that I should just sell my Walking Dead trades. If I find myself wanting to read them again then it's my tough luck, but I haven't even thought about them in a long while so why leave them to gather dust.
As for ongoing comics in general, I'm pondering that maybe I give them a wider berth than I would have previously. That's not to say they are bad and if you love comics which last a thousand issues then fair play to you. For me though, I'm no longer sure I have the patience, time or space to invest so much into one comic, especially when (like now) my ability to buy multiple series is severely limited and while it's easier than before to jump on or off a book (usually with the change in creative team), it's still something I think I'd like to take a break from.
Of course, with only one semi-ongoing title at this moment, that might be easier said than done.
No comments:
Post a Comment