NyxEquitis

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Why we should appreciate events for what they are.

I know many people do not appreciate all the events that are coming out these days by Marvel, and I agree that there are way too many of them being published right after each other. However, I am here to argue the value of events, or at least the value of reading them and enjoying of them.

Almost every event is teased as "the next big thing," or something will change so that "nothing will ever be the same again!" Almost every time, the status quo is changed back to normal by the next event. This is a huge cause of frustration to many, and I can understand why. However, I would say this. When you look at an event as only something that changes the status quo or has big effects on everything, youre expectation will be dashed because it is an evolving industry where everyone wants to tell their own story and not stick with one particular precedent set forth by an event. This is not a perfect world. Most of the time we will not have huge story threads continued through years and years.So my point is this: We need to appreciate the events(the good ones anyway) for the stories they tell, not the ultimate impact they have or the repercussions. Many good stories are missed out on because they dont have a huge affect on that universe or it is negated shortly thereafter. But I'm saying, enjoy the stories anyway, dont get too concerned with the ultimate changes they make to a universe. That is all.

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tim2081

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Edited By tim2081

The only problem I have is with the quality of some stories. Big events worked well for Marvel's Cosmic stories, and I liked the transition from Civil War to the Initiative, WWH, and Secret Invasion. And it's still possible to keep characters like the Punisher away from the events. It all depends on how it's set up.

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Daycrawler

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Edited By Daycrawler

@tim2081 said:

The only problem I have is with the quality of some stories. Big events worked well for Marvel's Cosmic stories, and I liked the transition from Civil War to the Initiative, WWH, and Secret Invasion. And it's still possible to keep characters like the Punisher away from the events. It all depends on how it's set up.

Yeah, totally agree with you. On the flip side of the coin you have stuff like Fear Itself which came out of nowhere (narratively speaking), was full of supposed 'shock' or 'iconic' moments that totally fell flat and were mostly reversed immediately afterwards. At least all the other events prior to that had a cohesion between them and were built up to and built upon one another. I swear that you could read all the big events, skipping Fear Itself completely and not really miss out on anything or get confused.

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NyxEquitis

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Edited By NyxEquitis

@Daycrawler: I understand that; alot of stories simply are not good, for various reasons. The point of the article is saying, the ones that are good, we should still be able to enjoy them for being good stories.

@tim2081: And not every story is going to be well-written or good, just a fact. So skip the ones that aren't well done and enjoy the ones that are. That's all I'm trying to say here.

Thanks for the comments guys.

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Daycrawler

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Edited By Daycrawler

@NyxEquitis said:

@Daycrawler: I understand that; alot of stories simply are not good, for various reasons. The point of the article is saying, the ones that are good, we should still be able to enjoy them for being good stories.

@tim2081: And not every story is going to be well-written or good, just a fact. So skip the ones that aren't well done and enjoy the ones that are. That's all I'm trying to say here.

Thanks for the comments guys.

Yeah, get what your saying - it just made me think about Fear Itself and I had to release the rage!

That aside, I am a big fan of events when handled right. I think that, although the pace of events has been a bit faster than I'd like, Marvel has done a pretty good job of building a cohesive universe with them. I loved House of M, both in terms of story and the fact that it genuinely did live up to the usual hype and change the MU in a meaningful and long term way (for me anyway!). I loved the build up to Secret Invasion and the whole concept of that event. In fact, that event got me into the whole cosmic side of the MU which I've found mind-blowingly amazing (Annihilation, War of Kings, Thanos Imperative, etc). Civil War was great too. For the X-men, that whole run of interconnected events following on from House of M were awesome, especially Messiah Complex and Second Coming.

I agree with you that should try and enjoy events for what they are - big thrill-ride pieces of entertainment. Some will be a bit more cerebral, some will be gonzo action. Cut through all the build up hype (which everyone should know by now is generally bull) and accept that sooner or later things return to a certain status quo (as they usually have to for the bigger name characters/teams). I can live with slight mis-characterization or exaggerated characterization if the event itself is well written and drawn. Some comments I see on forums are just insane, with a single promo for an event causing eruptions of hatred and vitriol, way before the event or even any proper details emerge.

I'm really enjoying AvX right now, despite some of it's short-comings. There's nothing there that puts me off too much and the recent issues have been awesome since the P5 arrived. Sure, Cyke's been portrayed a bit too militant and the Avengers a bit too 'act now, think later / we're right', but not so much that it spoils thing for me. It's an event and things get exaggerated and pushed to the max sometimes. AvX isn't up there with my favorite events, but I don't view it as the hideous disaster / bore that some people do. I think Marvel have really got it right in terms of size this time around - the event book out every 2 weeks, only one tie-in mini series that can be skipped without creating plot holes, only the core Avengers / X-men books as tie-ins (leaving stuff like Iron Man, Capt. America, X-Men, Wolverine, X-Factor, etc to continue telling their stories unaffected). After the bloated Fear Itself it's positively streamlined.

I only hope that after AvX and the Marvel Now launch, they take a breather from events for a bit (say 18 months) to concentrate on some solid story telling and numerous arcs in all the new / relaunched titles. Lay off, put down a lot of groundwork and characterization and REALLY build up the anticipation for the next big event. Probably won't happen though!

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NyxEquitis

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Edited By NyxEquitis

@Daycrawler: Man, I can definitely appreciate your positive outlook on things!

I agree with most of the things you said, unfortunately, so many people are quick(like you said) to hate events because of one of the things you mentioned or other reasons. I'm glad that you enjoy them for what they are! However, honestly, youre probably the exception to the norm.(in a good way, mind you).

I also would just love if Marvel layed off the events for a little while so they could keep continuity flowing well, instead of all these changes rapid fire with no real resolution. But, like you, I doubt that this will happen...

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Daycrawler

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Edited By Daycrawler

@NyxEquitis said:

@Daycrawler: Man, I can definitely appreciate your positive outlook on things!

I agree with most of the things you said, unfortunately, so many people are quick(like you said) to hate events because of one of the things you mentioned or other reasons. I'm glad that you enjoy them for what they are! However, honestly, youre probably the exception to the norm.(in a good way, mind you).

I also would just love if Marvel layed off the events for a little while so they could keep continuity flowing well, instead of all these changes rapid fire with no real resolution. But, like you, I doubt that this will happen...

Yay! Always good to find a like minded soul!

I'm kinda hopeful Marvel will lay off another event too soon given that they said AvX was meant to be the end point of the last 8 years worth of stories and events, since HoM. That plus the Alonso has said his view is to get good creative teams on all the main books and let then do their thing. So maybe, just maybe, we'll get a breather this time around!

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NyxEquitis

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Edited By NyxEquitis

@Daycrawler said:

@NyxEquitis said:

@Daycrawler: Man, I can definitely appreciate your positive outlook on things!

I agree with most of the things you said, unfortunately, so many people are quick(like you said) to hate events because of one of the things you mentioned or other reasons. I'm glad that you enjoy them for what they are! However, honestly, youre probably the exception to the norm.(in a good way, mind you).

I also would just love if Marvel layed off the events for a little while so they could keep continuity flowing well, instead of all these changes rapid fire with no real resolution. But, like you, I doubt that this will happen...

Yay! Always good to find a like minded soul!

I'm kinda hopeful Marvel will lay off another event too soon given that they said AvX was meant to be the end point of the last 8 years worth of stories and events, since HoM. That plus the Alonso has said his view is to get good creative teams on all the main books and let then do their thing. So maybe, just maybe, we'll get a breather this time around!

Yeah man, thats always nice.

That would actually be....great. Like, I cant imagine things (realistically) being better than that.

We shall see...

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Have you ever heard the phrase 'demand excellence or you'll get mediocrity'? I, for one, don't see any reason we should settle for mediocrity, especially since comics are so damn expensive these days.