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> Hello.
Hi Adey mate! 
> The reason of my post is that I feel that comics ( even Thor ) don't really do it for me anymore. I know I've always shown enthusiasm to the medium and especially Thor as a character but I feel that I'm losing interest as a whole.
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> I actually received issue # 600 a couple of weeks ago by post but I only read it a couple days ago.
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> Normally, I would read them straight away but I just put it away and read it when I felt like it.
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> Maybe the whole industry doesn't excite me anymore.
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> I used to post on the Battleboard all the time. Now, not much if at all, it's the same at CBR & Marvel.
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> Even my art has taken a long hiatus because of my mood towards comics. I'm just not sure how I feel about the whole industry anymore.
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> Is this really just a case of me having enough of comics at this time of my life or they really are just pieces of paper that you look at and feel like you are going through the motions most of the time when you read them.?
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What I have found is that a combination of decompressed writing and internet spoilers and previews combine to really drain my enthusiasm.
I agree that Internet spoilers can kill anticipation for a book. I usually try to avoid the previews of comics I'm planning on buying, and there are certain titles I intentionally do not read about on message boards (as I read them in trade format, I do not read any Daredevil, Avengers: Initiative, or Fables internet information so I can have a nice big surprise).
I think the third thing that is hurting the comic industry, and enthusiasm for it, is all the mega-events going on now. It used to be you could collect your favourite title, and even though other events might be referenced (the Fantastic Four are out of town in FF #256, we're on our own!) the books could all pretty much stand alone. Nowadays everything is so over-connected it makes you feel like you have to read a lot more books than you'd like to get the entire picture. That's a big reason I gravitate towards books that are somewhat insulated from the mega-events (Iron Fist, Thor, Captain America, Daredevil).
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But I think also that as we get older our attention spans decrease. Case in point I went to see Watchmen with my friends on Friday night. After about 50 minutes one of my friends said he was leaving because nothing was happening and got up and walked out and home (about a 40 minute walk). Thats the first time I have ever seen him (or any of my friends) walk out on a movie and poor though Watchmen was, we have went to see many movies a lot worse than that.
I thought about walking out too, but I was with a couple of other guys and didn't want to leave them hanging. With the exception of Rorschach I thought the movie was pretty "meh". I'd only pick up the DVD if I found it in a $5 bin...maybe.
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Decompression, in my opinion, is the most annoying thing in comics today. It sucks all the life and excitement out of a story in an attempt to give it an added intelligence or gravitas. I think thats one reason why the Hulk is doing so well in the charts - its all-action style is a complete breath of fresh air to mainstream masses. Thor, for all the gravitas JMS brings to it, is, for the most part a boring comic. Interesting yes, but moments of excitement are few and far between.
In some cases I don't mind decompression, when it's done properly. Captain America is a title that really handles it well, and I think Thor is a title that does as well. I don't need non-stop action, I'm much happier getting lots of character development. But I hate it when it's at the other extreme; basically whatever Bendis writes. With the exception of his work on Daredevil I've never overly cared for his work. I mean, I have an issue of New Avengers where they spend the entire issue talking on a plane! The only other thing that happens is the plane crashes.
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The internet also ruins things to an extent. Especially for those of us outside North America who get our comics late. I have to fight the urge not to read the scans over at herochat, usually I cave. Which means, I will have read every mainstream title I buy even before it reaches the shops here. I should add that I don't agree with piracy and that 90% of the time I only read scans of comics I already I have on my pull list. Occasionally someone will have posted a comic that sounds interesting and I'll go check it out and start buying it because of first reading the scans (Mighty Avengers since Slott took over for instance).
I do find that if I've read the preview scans of a comic I usually don't appreciate the book as much since I've already read a third of it. I don't search out full scans of books so I can't comment on that.
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My suggestion for beating the comicbook blues and make comics exciting again is to pick a comic thats neither decompressed nor likely to end up scanned and disected by Wednesday afternoon (UK time for me - different for you no doubt).
Or avoid the previews and Internet spoilers.
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I read Godland and Invincible (Trades only for the latter) and both are far more fun, entertaining and interesting than all the Marvel comics I get put together. Unfortunately, both have their problems with scheduling. Invincible presumably because Kirkman is arsing about too much and Godland because its low down on Casey and Scioli's priority list. However, I can forgive them all simply because those comics are so brilliant and inventive.
Havent' read these myself, but if you want something less mainstream but still a darn good read, I recommend Fables. I absolutely love that title.
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Not saying Godland and Invincible are the comics for you, everyone is different after all. But what I am saying is that there are probably comics out there that you are unaware of that will reignite your passion for the medium. I hope you can find them before you give up.
~Hat~
