Is it worth getting invested in any story?

In the past I've blogged about how I really love super hero characters but haven't been a big fan of comics mostly due to how crazy and outlandish the stories get. And I don't mean to knock on them because of how complex they get, no I'm more concerned about when stories get so out of hand that just out right stupid events happen that simply make a character or every character involved do something stupid because the writers couldn't think of any better. No I don't mean to knock on comic writers as they're job is pretty difficult as it is with all the pressure they get from fans. But bone headed stories happen and a story and characters that people follow and love end up going against their character or the story just makes so little sense or just does something SO stupid it's hard to look past it.

Granted I've not read an awful lot of comics, but I've listened to one fellow who has just about every week who doesn't make videos here but I'm sure some of you know who I'm talking about. Let's just say "HE IS A MAN!" *punch*. But aside from him I also check out the reviews here when I get a chance. Thankfully there's been some great stuff coming from my favorite characters lately and with the miracle that is Digital Comics I feel like I can finally invest myself in these stories now! I can read all the great new adventures of Superman, Batman, Iron Man, Captain America, and Deadpool!

But being a man of 30 though I've had a lot of experience in the past of how I've let myself get so invested with big awesome stories and characters only to be let down and disappointed. With many comic fans here I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about whether it's Hal Jordan becoming Parallax, Speedy's young daughter being killed in Cry for Justice, heroes reacting to death like it was the flu, and do I even need to mention Spider-Man's One More Day?! Again I may not have kept up with comics for a long time but I know enough about the characters to know how silly these stories were.

But I'm not here to talk about those stories, I simply want to ask with all the disappointment that's gone on with various series of such beloved characters, is it really worth letting myself get invested in these characters or am I simply setting myself up to be let down? Because honestly since I looked into Comixology I've been really tempted to download the current run of Action Comics ,Superman, and Deadpool simply from how much I'd love to see these characters and the stories I've heard good things about here on the site. Yet I can't help but feel slightly pessimistic that I'm only going to be ultimately disappointed somewhere down the road. From a quick personal experiance I remember watching the show Heroes all the time when it was on the air. It had some great episodes and of course a good amount of crap that was the third season, but season four was so great and I couldn't wait to see what season five would show... only to find that the show was cancelled and we'll never know what the final outcome for these characters are... yeah screw you NBC, thanks for getting my hopes up ><

Thoughts?

@Atary77: Dude try not to cuss you will get a warning then another warning the banned.

Also, thank you a person besides me that watches Heroes.

@menaceforever said:

@Atary77: Dude try not to cuss you will get a warning then another warning the banned.

Also, thank you a person besides me that watches Heroes.

Decided to make an edit, my apologies.

I feel the same about all the changes and rebooting, going on. They want to make starting points for new readers, yet they cancel everything new that they create. So who wants to start reading something that will probably get canceled or, end up sucking?

I'm going to couch my answer two ways based on what definition of invested you are using. If you mean monetarily invested, then no or I would be rather choosy about what you read. I've found comics to be the greatest black hole for my income and while sometimes it is extremely rewarding more often then not it isn't. If you mean emotionally or mentally invested then yes it is worth it, you have a lot to gain while risking little. This is simply a problem of contrast between risk and reward.

I JUST started watching Heroes on Netflix in the last couple of days and it sucks to find out this way that there is no finite resolution to the series but none the less my life will go on.

@jinxuandi said:

Getting invested in a long-running character is like getting into a long-term relationship. You have to know that there will be good times and bad. Every single major character out there right has had high and low points; not every creative team is the same and even in the same run, a creative team can have hot and cold spells. Characters doing well right now (e.g. Batman) will eventually get the shaft and vice versa. It's just the nature of serialized fiction: if you like the way a character is portrayed by one writer/artist, you'll almost certainly be disappointed when someone does it differently (this is why long-term Daredevil fans whine about Waid's book). Just try to be open-minded and realize that nothing ever really sticks in comics (for good or bad).

My advice is 1) don't ever, ever buy something you don't like. Doesn't matter if it's your favorite character or a book you've collected every issue of for 20 years. Buying a bad book is equivalent to telling the publisher "More of this, please!" whether you complain about it on a message board or not. 2) There's always something out there that you'll be interested in, even if it's a series you've never read before. You may have to ask around or make some experimental purchases, but there's over 100 books being published just by the Big 2 and lots more by independents. 3) As a last resort, there are LOTS of good stories from the past 50 years whose quality you can be sure of before you pick up the book (or digital collection, whatever).

Great advice.

@jinxuandi: Great answer indeed. So I guess maybe I should simply throw caution to the wind and if I want, simply buy only the good stories from a series and ignore the terrible ones. I love me some Doctor Who, but I know the show has had more than enough stinkers in the time that it's been running not even including the original series. But I still love the Doctor and would gladly watch any upcoming episodes. Course you don't buy tv episodes on monthly basis either. But hey, there's reviews here so I can be informed if I should buy a book in the series or not. Thanks!

Now if you'll excuse me I have to download Action Comics number 1!

With comics becoming more and more mainstream and companies beginning to rise a bit more, companies are trying all of these attempts to make their comics the best. They focus so hard on marketing and how the public views them, that they forget about the fans that have been there since day one. Honestly, it all comes down to business. If comics don't sell, they have to change their strategy. (ex New 52). Have faith, one day things will get better.

PS If this was made in response to Linkara's 200th video, I just have one warning. (spoiler alert)

@Superguy0009e: Oh this wasn't just because of that video alone, but of the various others he's looked at. DC's Cry for Justice just seemed disgusting the way they just decided to kill Roy Harper's daughter. I mean why? I know a lot of the other stuff Linkara has looked at have mostly been bad what if stories that he plays up for comedic value but sometimes ya can't help but look at what's right there on paper and think... WHA? Battle for Bluudhaven was all kinds of stupidity. And I did have something of a negative opinion on One More Day long before that review after hearing the details about how they broke up Peter and MJ and yeah I thought it sucked.

Still though I'd be willing to give some of the Spider-Man books a download especially if the folks here on Comic Vine give them good reviews. Heck, if any of the staff here tells me that I should read some of these bad stories for myself and they're available on Comixology then ya know I may very well read through them and see for myself how bad they may be. Before I started watching Linkara I used to go to Wikipedia and various Wiki entries on the site here to find out what a lot of characters I enjoy had been up to and the story arcs they were involved in. But even after reading some of the Wiki entries I couldn't help but shake my head sometimes thinking "Really? They... they did that? ...wow"

Still, I'm looking forward to being able to buy and download some of the great stories that have been made available and are on the way.