| |
|
I'm probably in the distinct minority here in that for the most part I actually enjoy line-wide crossovers much more than individual characters' ongoing titles, which I usually find to be tedious and poorly written exercises in treading narrative water. The big crossovers aren't necessarily any better written, but hey, they're big, bombastic, and star everyone (even the lamest of characters can be fun as part of some ludicrous ensemble). The scale is usually bigger than the biggest action films. They weave in and out of so many sub-narratives that taken as a whole they tend to be disheveled and scattered and on the verge of flying apart into utter nonsensicality, just like real life, man.
Mega-crossovers also address superhero comics' main weakness, the near-fatal insubstantiality of the 22-page monthly installment. Monthly comics aren't even bite-sized, they're 1/4 of an already unsatisfying bite. Even the wordy ones are a ten minute read at most, and given that "monthly" is often an overly generous characterization of their publication frequency, the narrative momentum just isn't there in a way that works for me. With one main book and numerous supporting titles, though, the overall story is much meatier, well-rounded (when the tie-ins actually tie in, that is), and most importantly, appearing in your field of vision often enough that you don't forget it's even going on.
Monthly books can be good, of course, but they have to be sufficiently well written to measure up to at least the minimum standards we expect from a mid-range novel. Crossovers, otoh, are just big dumb fun, so the expectations (mine, at least) can be much lower. |
|
|
