Comic Book Crossover intro and ethics

Hello, everyone.  This is a blog about crossing over to something different.  I have been reading about the adventures from the characters of DC Comics since I was in high school and earlier.  The crossover event “Infinite Crisis” introduced me to the history and the expanding universe of DC.  I love Grant Morrison’s and Scott Snyder’s different approaches to the idea of Batman.  I have been a fan of the Green Lantern since I was ten years old.  I learned of the Justice Society of America, the original superheroes and the idea of “legacy.”  Legacy, to me, in terms of comic book characters, is about the idea of a hero never dying, because there would always be somebody inspired to take up the mantle of a fallen character.  James Robinson’s “Starman” is all about legacy, as the main character is the son of the original Starman.  The character Dick Grayson, the original kid sidekick Robin, actually grew up, both physically and finding his own identity with the moniker Nightwing.  To me, DC had evolution and growth with its universe and its characters.  Now that the New 52 relaunch has set in, resetting not only the DC universe timeline, but changing characterization for icons such as Superman and Wonder Woman for a new generation and a new audience.  That history I grew up reading about is now different.  DC’s New 52 universe depicts superheroes starting to show up merely five years ago.  No World War II heroes, no Justice Society (in Earth 1 at least), and there is only a fraction of that idea of legacy that I loved.  Nightwing is still Nightwing, though, and Batman and Green Lantern seem to be the only characters that have their history pre-New 52 intact.  Oh well, I still have my books, and will cherish the memories, but I can accept that a comic book business needs to adapt, or evolve or mutate or change with audience trends should the company desire to keep thriving.  Now, while waiting for new stories from DC, I have thought about dipping my toe into DC’s competition, Marvel Comics.  Before, when I was strictly a DC reader, I rationalized that I did not read Marvel because of how I felt about the comic event “Civil War” and how the personalities of characters were changed to fit that story and the aftermath.  I’m not sure what happened behind the scenes at Marvel at the time.  This is not a blog looking at who was to blame for what, or a deep insight about the differences between both companies nor is this about one company being better than the other.  I was looking for something different to read, and I found some characters and books really worthwhile. 

My code of ethics concerning this blog is as thus:

I am giving my opinion about what I read.  If I do not like what I read, I will do my best to explain why I do or do not like a particular book or creative run on a character and what I do and do not like.

I will talk about stories from both companies.  As of right now, I am reading Marvel books through the library and checking them out to see if I like them.  I will also talk about stories from other companies and talk about comic book movie adaptations.

I will read an entire run by an author before writing if I can get a hold of the books.  I get the books from the public library and not everything can be found in my local library system.

I will try my best to keep to a weekly schedule.  This is a hobby for me, not a chore, and I would like to keep the fun in this blog.

I am writing about the stories.  I may agree or disagree with how a story is written, but I won’t talk much about the art, unless I feel that it is a problem.  I will be fair and balanced and give personal pros and cons about what I read.

I will provide a little bit of information about the writers, but I will not go too far into detail.  This blog is about what I’m reading and if I like what I read or not.

This is not a blog where I take cheap shots at writers or editorial staffs.  I understand that changes are made behind the scenes and that can affect the story the creative team is telling.  I will point out if I feel the changes were good or bad for the story in my opinion. 

Everything is subjective.  There is no true “good” or “bad” when discussing art or fiction.  While I will do my best to be fair and balanced in talking about what I read, what I write is still going to be my opinion.  I am not telling people what to think, I am merely giving recommendations and discussing what I enjoy or dislike from what I read.

I will do my best to avoid any type of mistakes, be they grammatical, concerning facts.  I cannot promise to be perfect, but I will admit my mistakes. 

I’m a comic book reader and collector.  I love explaining comic book nuances and giving answers to those that have questions.

I will start my posts with stating what I have read prior to writing, and I will end the posts by stating what will come next.

I admit that this blog is not meant to be thought-provoking.  This is just a way to get people to look into something different.  Because of my reading experiment, I am a bit of a Marvel fan.  While DC is number one in my heart, Marvel is surprising me with their stories as of late.

I tend to wait until collected trade paperbacks come out because I do not collect as many titles. It is much cheaper for me to get items through the library, and they contain more of the story than single issues.

First up is going to be the eight volumes of Bruce Jones’s “Incredible Hulk.”