To paraphrase Alan Moore aren't they all imaginary stories anyway?

Seriously you can actually blame the current state of the comics industry squarely on Marvel. They changed the way comics were witten by adding the dreaded continuity factor. Past history moved from a footnote by the editor ("see Batman 146") and became luggage. The new wonderful Marvel silver age and beyond became the 500 pound (issue) gorilla on the character's backs. It evolved (or digressed depending on your point of view) from just telling a simple story into this complex biblical proportioned never ending story.

Yes there are some great stories being written today. There are also 10 times as many piss poor ones being ground out in six issue arcs to fill up trade paperbacks. And lets face it there always have been many more weak stories than good ones and that has been going on for nearly 70 years.

I quit reading Spiderman years ago and I don't regret it a minute. I hated the fact that DC turned Batman into a raving loon ever since The Dark Knight by Miller came out and gave up on that too. Obviously nobody at DC or Marvel missed me buying the mags on a monthly basis.

Thankfully there are enough reprint formats to satisfy all of us whether we like the stuff of today or the Silver or Golden Age. If you are disgusted with the current state of comics then you do have other options. image And yeah I think it was a cheap way out of writing themselves into and out of a corner but this isn't the first time and it won't be the last.image

"The world's going to change tonight, doctor, I'm glad you'll be able to watch it. And... happy Halloween."