Transformers Continuum Preview, 5 pages & cover Options

[Detour]

Did...did he read Escalation, where Roller got a chance to shine?

Would it surprise you if he didn't?

Wouldn't surprise me in the least.

[Jack Cade]

This shouldn't matter because your enjoyment of the fiction shouldn't hinge on caring how Wolverine is in four titles at once. (This isn't even a new phenomenon. Superman appeared in several titles a month ranging from Justice League of America to Action Comics. Nobody cared.)

'Shouldn't' this, 'shouldn't' that, you say. And yet it does. That is, 'hinge' is certainly too strong a word, but is my enjoyment affected by the fictional reality presented being somewhat farcical? Yeah, it is - at least to the extent where I enjoy the comics as a bit of fluffy nonsense, rather than compelling fiction, and cannot, in good faith, recommend it to others.

So again, fine for you, me and the rest of the devotees but for winning over a fresh audience? You're having a laugh. And that's where a good editor, making use of his oversight of the property, can make a positive difference.

Editors are also the ones who opt for all these crossovers, with the result that you can't just read a single X-Men title without having to constantly refer to the Internet to find out what's happening in all the other ones.

Or you could just actually read the issues?

Well, look - if that's the idea then why don't they just print one huge wodge of paper every month and flog it for £25-£30 instead of maintaining the pretense that the stories can be picked up and read independently? Just like Lukeblast pointed out with regards to continuity, you can't have your cake and eat it. Either these comics are supposed to work as individual stories or they're not. If they're not, then Marvel and DC are wasting a huge amount of staples (and probably print costs) doling them out as separate issues.

This post has been edited by Jack Cade: Nov 16 2009, 01:50 PM