On the one hand, I look forward to reading Wolverine under the writing reins of Greg Rucka. Even when I was semi-obsessive about collecting X-titles, I never followed Wolverine; it felt too much like a “Hey, this character is popular, so anyone will buy a comic with his name on it, no matter how stupid it is” sort of book. I have high hopes for Rucka’s tenure.
On the other hand, I despise the modern practice of restarting title numbering to make it “fresh” and “exciting.” It’s appalling that Wolverine was Marvel’s second-highest numbered series before it gets rebooted back to #1 in May. It’s even more appalling that there are now, aside from Uncanny X-Men, no titles published by Marvel that have numbering from before the 1990s.
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Actually, I think they just relaunch with a new #1 figuring that younger collectors, who may have been reluctant to start buying a book with several hundred preceding issues, will gladly jump on board if they have a chance to collect the entire run from the beginning.
I felt this way when Limited Series started appearing in the ’80s. Most of the stories could have been handled as arcs within the regular books, so it screamed “marketing ploy.” (Don’t even get me started on multiple covers.)
Oddly enough, I don’t have a problem with Limited Series. They are what they are, and as long as the publisher commits to each arc (which most are getting smart enough to do these days), I’m happy.
Maybe it’s because I’m an old fogie, but arbitrarily renumbering from #1 just seems like a sales ploy. And it wreaks havoc on my comic collection.
Kudos to DC for having Action Comics reaching #800 sometime Real Soon Now.
Last month, actually. #801 came out yesterday.
Is it just a coincidence that DC also ships its books on time, while Marvel’s are often weeks, even months, late?
Yeah, like DK2 … um …
DC has always been run more like a “business,” and Marvel like an “art studio.” That’s had all the advantages and disadvantages of both that you might imagine.