In my last Blackest Night post, about the (then) most recent batch of tie-in issues, after noting my disappointment with them, I said,Any jaded fans inclined to pose the cynical question what I expected from tie-ins can just STFU. What I expected were strong, interesting stories that contribute something to the crossover experience.By way of not asking what I expected, Sean T. Collins simply observed that the tie-ins I reviewed were "created with the more or less openly stated goal of goosing sales for their respective series." And in comments, Martin Wisse remarked:
Cynical it may be, but it is the reality of any crossover that the tie-in issues will suck. They usually interrupt the books own storylines for something the creative staff has no interest in and they can't really do anything interesting, as the mechanics of a crossover demand the big reveals and such do not take place in a tie-in...Almost since Blackest Night began, I've noticed, puzzled over, and even tried to respond to a widespread, entrenched suspicion and hostility toward tie-ins on the part of much of online superhero fandom. Everyone seems to know tie-ins are just cash-grabs. Everyone knows how much they suck. Everyone can even explain to "newbies" like me why tie-ins have to suck. Nobody seems to expect any better of them. But then why are they still being published? Which is to say--knowing all that, with those expectations, who buys them anyway, and why?
Here's my excuse. After quite a few years out of the superhero comics loop, Blackest Night looked like a good chance to get reacquainted, and see whether things have gotten better in a genre I only gave up on reluctantly and with deep regret. It sounded like a big, fun event that would check a lot of the right boxes for me. Now, I'm not completely naive about crossover tie-ins. Way back when, I dropped Secret Wars II by the second or third issue in large part because of them. As I explain in some of the links above, though, I also refuse to accept that tie-ins must suck by their very nature. They hold a lot of potential, I think, for interesting non- or quasi-linear storytelling possibilities. They can contribute to crossovers in other ways. Where practically any element of a crossover's main story is concerned, tie-ins can open breathing room for emphasis, contrast, nuance, balance, texture, commentary . . . the only real limits are the creators' imaginations. So I pretty much committed to the full Blackest Night experience--to giving all of it a chance and checking out everything it had to offer. Since I prefer enjoying something to not enjoying it, I've tried to stay positive, despite naysayers and admittedly some disappointment. So that's why I'm buying the tie-ins.
And that brings us back to the questions of who else is buying these tie-ins, and why? Since I'm not aware of anyone besides myself approaching them with any optimism whatsoever, I can't imagine any good reason why anyone else would buy them.
Is it completism? I could sort of understand that, if the pessimism weren't so thoroughgoing. "Completism" makes sense, for example, when you know a creative team you don't care for will be filling in on your favorite series for a month or two. But if your default expectation is that every tie-in will inevitably suck in multiple ways and for multiple reasons, really, why keep buying them? That's like frequenting a restaurant that only serves shit sandwiches (and then bitching about how shitty they taste). Even completism breaks down as an excuse here. If that's your line, quit whining, because you're part of the fucking problem.
One answer has come up a lot in connection with this last week's crop of tie-ins, and I've been quite dismayed by it--those stupid rings. Just google "blackest night" and "for the ring," and you'll see what I'm talking about (for the record, I've said no thanks to all of them that would have come with the issues I purchased). Here's a fairly representative thread at Weekly Crisis. The message fans are sending, if I understand correctly, is that a crossover logo by itself no longer does the trick of getting them to shell out $3.99 for a comic they fully expect to suck, but if you toss in a crappy bit of plastic that a Cracker Jack box would be embarrassed to cough up, they'll happily fork over the cash. What fans are saying is, "Never mind good comics--give us cheap plastic doodads!" DC certainly seems to be doing just that in this current batch of tie-ins, including the part about never minding good comics. Well, who can blame them? Fans clearly have zero expectations for these issues, and buy them anyway.
If tie-ins suck, it's not because they have to. Someone is to blame. WHOSE RESPONSIBLE THIS? It's all these wankers paying premium prices for comics they don't want and don't expect to like, just for a few silly plastic rings.
5 comments:
I think comics have struggled since they jacked up the price and abandoned their original distribution. Now, the tie ins seem to be geared toward compilation. I am sure Blackest Night, like Civil War, will be edited and put into a few "graphic novels" sold at bookstores and on Amazon. More readers seem to take their comics this way. I know I would rather buy a Batman story that I can read without trying to figure out the order of the parts and where I can find them. No waiting for the next installment, no missing a sister title with a thread. Instead I read the collection.
I think this is what is driving the tie-ins these days.
The only Blackest Night tie-in I've bought so far is the Adventure Comics issue with Superboy-Prime, and I've been following the story just fine. I think a lot of the cynicism stems from the fact that you don't need to read any of the tie-ins to understand the main storyline, which makes the tie-ins seem like unnecessary cash grabs.
I think there is a large gap between the online-community and the buying public.
There is an audience out there for those crossovers - which also drove me away from superhero-comics - which doesn´t read or care for the online-stuff. While the online comunity is the "educated" one who knows about history and marketing, a lot of people don´t care for analysis or numbers.
This is the same as in other genres. The big success of crap like the Twilight saga will never cross over into books sales. These are fans which are fans of one product only - sure, they read, but most of them will read one thing only. The trickle down effect to other writers must be marginal at best.
The sad thing with comics is that sales are ever shrinking. the majority of the traditional series struggle in the 40 to 30K range, while only those "event" comics crack the 100 000 barrier. Before the direct market a comic with these sales would have been cancelled fast.
But you can´t fault the publishers for their trench mentality. They still make a profit, and it is not their fault that the traditional stuff is slowly going the way of yesterdays pulp magazines. It tells a lot about about audiances if you see that on the book market Romances is - according to what I read - the only genre literature in the US still truly alive.
Great points everyone! Thanks!
The difference here is one between theory and practice.
In theory, It should be somewhat like reading a history of something like WWII. The big story is the overview, and the crossovers would be like a book focussing on The Battle of Britain or the fighting in NOrth Africa.
But it rarely works that way
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