Comics I’m no longer enjoying

I remember back in high school when I finally got serious about comicbooks, I was a freshman in high school and met a classmate who was reading comics in one of my study halls. We hit it off immediately, and became friends. True,I had been reading comics since 1961 or there-abouts, but I didn't really start buying them regularly until that point.

I had always been more attracted to Marvel over DC, and of course to Spider-Man. One of the other titles I also greatly enjoyed was The X-Men, so I was very excited five years later when they returned to new adventures with GS X-Men #1. Then, over the next 18 years I thrilled to their adventures under the capable writing of Chris Claremont. Around 1993 Clarmont and the X-Men parted ways (rather abruptly).

About a year ago, Chris was reunited with the team with the release of X-Men Forever, which picked up on his interrupted storyline. The premise of the story for this title is that the intervening 16 years never happened,and Chris is picking up from the moment he left telling the story he intended to tell at that time.

I’m not entirely sure I’m buying that. Still, I’ve been reading the story, and well, to be honest, I’m really not having as good a time as I thought I was going to have. The story seems flat and forced, and the whole time I’m reading it, I can’t help but to think that, if this really is the 616 Marvel Universe, how does it intersect with everything else that has gone on with the MU over the past 16 years.

Yeah, this may sound nerdy and geek-like to you all, but remember, I’m currently working on The Official Index of the Marvel Universe, so that makes me an archivist and historian, so these sorts of questions play a real role in the way I view things. Still, that’s only part of my issue. Like I said, the story isn’t ringing true to me, and I don’t know if it is because I’ve been away from these characters for 16 years, or something else, but I’m really not caring about what happens to them.

This is no disrespect to Chris, but I really don’t care much what happens to the X-Men in their regular books either. So there’s that. As it stands, I’m no longer purchasing the title after issue #12.

Another Marvel title (or rather series of titles) I’m not enjoying is the entire Marvel Zombies concept. Sure the first couple were kind of fun, but no, not really. This mostly because I simply don’t enjoy seeing my childhood heroes turned into amoral flesh-eating dead things (and yes, this does make me nerdy and geek-like, only — in this instance at least — I simply don’t care).

What really put that into place for me was the release of Marvel Zombies Evil Evolution, which pits the Marvel Zombies against the Marvel Apes (another concept that I really don’t enjoy, but that’s another story). Reading this particular title is disturbing on many levels. The story has the Marvel Zombies crossing through and inter-dimensional portal in order to eat the Marvel Apes. Part of my problem is that not only am I really having a hard time distinguishing the the two sets of “heroes” but I’m having a hard time lining up the continuity of both groups of characters into what I already know of their continuity (yep, there’s that archivist part of my brain working overtime again, can’t help it).

Anyway, I really only pick up either series when Spidey (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) appears.

I’m thinking I need a better hobby. (Un)fortunately, I seem to be stuck with this one. Ah well.