Why do comic book storylines get so complicated or just plain stupid?

Question

Marvel and D.C. Clones, time travel, alternate universes, people coming back from the dead, symbiotes, alien replicas of superheroes and supervillains, characters splitting into two seperate entities, memories being erased, beings created from one's mental energy, etc. etc. This is one of the reasons I stopped buying comic books. The stories got too damn ridiculous.

Answer 1

Because the alternative just isn't the way comic book companies like to do business.

Nobody wants to read about Superman *the third* or Batman *the fifth*. Nobody wants to see Magneto (on the Marvel side) retire from being a supervillain because he's well over what, 80, 90 years old??

Nobody, and this is a rule in cartoons too (will Maggie from the Simpsons *ever* stop being "the baby"?), but *nobody* ages in real time or has to stop doing what they're doing. Nobody ever dies unless there is a loophole by which they can be brought back at *some point*. Comic book writers are by and large scared of the idea that, oh, things should happen and have fairly *realistic* and permanent consequences, at least where the *Main*, or big money characters are involved. So you end up with "tiered" characters, the ones that "cannot" be hurt in any real way, and the ones that are "disposable" and have to take all the crap the writers can dish out (not just their own, but the crap from the Main characters too).

So you get, in _Batman_ for instance, a situation where Bruce Wayne gets a broken back, is clearly paralyzed, and yet somehow walks again....and in the same breath, Babs Gordon, the first Batgirl, is stuck in a wheelchair *in spite* of knowing the heroes around her have access to *all sorts* of technology, alien and otherwise, that could get her walking again....the only difference is that one is a *Main* character who never gets hurt, never gets old, and likely won't *ever* die, and the other is a second-tier, "disposable" character.

And it is like this everywhere. Nobody is immune. Not even Marvel's own X-Men (search: "GenNext", a project writer Chris Claremont was going to do, involving having those mutants age in *real time* and have to stand aside for the next generations....how much you want to bet it got canceled and/or underordered?).

So....you get a lot of complicated, over-the-top hoohah to try to create suspense and excitement because in the end, none of it matters....you can't really do the *real stuff* to heroes and villains, you can't ask the tough questions and expect anything to be dealt with in a realistic manner. Case in Point: Frank Miller's writing on DC's _All Star Batman And Robin..._, which has been universally disrespected, because it is an honest, realistic portrayal of the Batman...as a raving lunatic vigilante and not some noble "hero" in a funny suit. Really.

I'm sorry if this hurts or lets anyone down. Hell, I still like comic books....but I don't see myself becoming a fan of them again any time soon, in part because we can have these *overly elaborated* plots and incidents and accidents courtesy of folks like Brian Michael Bendis and Brad Metzler....but only if they *protect* the sacred cows[*] of the Superhero Business, only if they keep the Almighty Copyrights In Play.

Thanks for your time. :)

Answer 2

It is the monster of comic book continuity.

In the silver age you had a good story and that was it, maybe, just maybe you would refer to it again in another tale.

Then came DC with Crisis on Infinte Earths to clean up their universe. But mistakes were made. In example Superman never being Superboy meant there was no inspiration for the Legion Of Super-Heroes.

Errors on top of errors. Thing done to get a short term boost in sales (killing off characters) then bringing them back meant (to quote the great Ricky Ricardo) "We had a lot of 'splaining to do." Making things thicker and murkier by the moment.

There is also the devil of the Trade Paperback where, "Well you missed it pull up the trade."

The industry has also become so dependent on "stunt" story lines like House of M and Civil War that continuity becomes more warped by the moment.

That's why I only pick up the archives and trade paperbacks, reading comics month to month these days is a fool's errand and not rewarding in the least.

Answer 3

Because the titles are ongoing. They have to continue to produce new stories and outdo the earlier ones. Eventually the desire to make newer and even cooler stories results in some pretty wonky results.

Answer 4

because its for kids...simple as that..