I was wondering what characters/books y'all don't really like much, even though they are popular with the general comic-reading public. In other words, books that everyone else seems to like, but you don't very much. Certain characters I absolutely love, such as Spider-Man, Superman, Batman, the Hulk, and the Fantastic Four, but others leave me cold. Here are a few:
The Avengers: I've never really connected with the book. I prefer to read about the exploits of Cap, Iron Man, etc. in their own titles. I've tried to branch out lately, and have liked the Avengers stories I've read, but the powerful group dynamic of books like (in particular) the Fantastic Four (and to a lesser extent, the X-Men) just isn't there.
Thor: I recently found all but three issues of the Simonson run, and have liked what I've seen, but I've never really been interested in the character much.
Captain America: Ditto, but I have the "Death of the Red Skull (circa Cap # 300) and "Cap is replaced by John Walker" runs--and I like them--, but Cap doesn't quite do it for me.
The Flash: the Fastest Man Alive gimmick is great (as are the early Silver Age stories), but beyond that, the character(s) have never really interested me.
Wonder Woman: I like her and all, but she's just not my type.
The Legion of Super-Heroes: I've never been partial to the idea (or character) of Superboy, and I haven't read many Legion stories, with or without him.
All-star team books generally don't turn me on. The Avengers, Defenders, Champions and the like all seem forced forced to me. Don't those guys have their plates full already with all that goes on in their home titles? Why don't they pursue a personal life when not combating those evils rather than hang out at "the clubhouse" to be waited on by robots and butlers? I love team stories when the team is intrinsic to the concept like The Fantastic Four, The X-Men and --with great anticipation-- The Doom Patrol.
Never cared for Wolverine since hs tarted getting his own books. X-Men never totally clicked with me, although I enjoyed some of the runs in the 80s (Chris and JB). Sam for Iron Man and Thor.
I like most characters/teams when they are written and drawn well. Using the FF as an example Lee/Kirby..great, Buscema..ok, Perez..ok, Byrne..great, Simonson...really good, pacheco..really good, Lobdell/davis..great...everything else I couldn't read.
I think most characters have the potential to be good. I can't stand the uber-Batman and I didn't like Hush or several recent batman books. So I'd say I'm supposed to like batman, but can only enjoy Batman Adventures.I don't know if that fits the qualifications of the original question though.
I also don't like the super-JLA. I thought the Satellite roster made more sense and provided an interesting mix. How can I not believe the Super-JLA are not going to absolutely annhiliate any foe that crosses their path?
This message has been edited by DavidBarker on Mar 18, 2004 11:02 AM
From DC...
The Legion of Superheroes
Green Lantern (but Kyle Rayner can be blamed for a lot of that)
The Doom Patrol (can't wait for this to change, too!)
On the Marvel side...
Iron Man (loved the series in the late 100's, early 200's, and came back for Armor Wars II, but never have stayed)
Dr. Strange
And he's not strictly Marvel anymore, but Conan never grabbed me either (except when he got trapped in the 20th century and fought Captain America).
Well, I hate the current X-books. They may sell like hotcakes, but they just aren't for me. Not a fan of the Ultimate Line. Not a Transformers or Thundercats fan. Dropped Superman ages ago(which totaly perplexes me since he is one of my favorite characters).
When I got the Essentials volumes I was quite surprised that I didn't much like the classic Hulk stories. Loved the Ditko/Kirby/Severin/Kane art of course, but the stories didn't do much for me. I felt like I was getting a TON of Hulk and very little Banner, and that the stories kept spilling over into each other, raising questions like "How come Hulk hasn't slept or eaten in two weeks?"
This is perhaps embarassing to admit, but I prefer "Hulk smash puny humans! Eat beans!" to the more subtly tortured one. Call me simplisitic, I gues ...
(I assume I don't need to say that I really dug JB's run, which was far from simplistic)
forgot about doom patrol. i knew absolutely nothing about them until jb's announcement, and picked up doom patrol archive to check them out. loved it so much that i now picked up volume 2. hear that dc? you just sld two high end archives because jb is on doom patrol....
I bought Fathom, and Aspen, and a bunch of the peripheral things, because I think his art is pretty, but I have zero interest in the stories (which, right or wrong, strike me as warmed-up Image stuff - you know, the bad old days of Bloodsport and the "this issue everybody kills everybody else" plotlines) or the characters.
As I said, I like his art, and his work on Superman/Batman is good, but his own things leave me flat.
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You are a god among insects. Never let anyone tell you different.
I would be curious to see more folks say why they think they SHOULD like the varoius characters/books but don't.
Incidentally, topping my list IS Next Men, the one JB project i just never could get into (well, that and ProtoTykes) The look was good, the concept was good, the talent doing the book was stellar, but it just woudln't click for me.
Current Topic - Characters/books you should like, but don't
