Something brought up at the last couple cons I’ve been to (being a limousine ridin’, jet flying, kiss stealin’, wheelin’ dealin’ comics journalist and all), is the comic readers’ relationship with late books and fill-in stories.  Mostly this was coming from the EiC of the Distingushed Competition as he tried to garner an answer from a mixed bag of opinions.  How long are we as the buying public willing to wait for the end of a story?  How long will that title sit on that pull list before being scratched off, forgotten and/or resented?  Will fill-in artists and writers make it any better or will it interrupt the flow of the story or, God forbid, the Trade?

I don’t have to tell you how the House of Ideas is equally haunted by this problem.  While I may be the only person who would burn the name of Daredevil: the Target into the sky, every one of us readers has their own horror story of the book that left us too soon.  Come back, Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk.  We miss you.

But what about the stories that are still on the shelves?  The issues that come out week after week but yet seem to go… nowhere?  Mini-series that end on cliffhangers?  Plot points glossed over?

How long are we willing to wait for story resolution?

Bendis has said in interviews that the seeds for Secret Invasion have been planted for years now and that people will be pouring over his books for the little easter eggs he’s left behind for the True Believer all throughout his books and more.  While this is certainly a grand idea to let us go back and enjoy the richness of what has come before (not to mention sell trades!), I’m reminded of when those issues came out and what might have been a plot seed feeling like a bad piece of grit in an otherwise interesting story at the time.  Remember when Doctor Strange said there was no such thing as Chaos Magic and the internet cried out, “Nuh uh!”, citing examples and resources?  Well, now we have to rethink our original outrage and … possibly pat Bendis on the back for putting one over on us.  To go back to the philosopher, Mr. Pee-Wee Herman, Marvel may turn to us spectators and claim ‘they meant to do that’;  certainly the avid reader can fill in the plot holes in their particular favorite books with the word ‘SKRULL’ and find them sufficiently filled to give a smoother ride.  Secret Invasion may be less secrets and more answers to all the all new, all different Marvel Universe we find ourselves in.

But is it worth it?  Leaving you with questions is one thing; good stories leave you wanting more, keep you hanging and make you think about where this all is going.  Watch Captain America for a book that I simply can’t predict anymore but adore the moment it comes out of the Diamond box.  Do I know for sure if Sharon Carter is really pregnant?  No clue!  But I know finding out is going to be a hell of a ride because it’s all part of the story.  On the other hand, the final blank black page from Secret War didn’t answer anything for the fate of Black Bolt or the Inhumans.  Then he showed up in World War Hulk’s first issue and people started trying to figure out how he and Medusa got out of the jam Maximus and David Hine had left them in.  It wasn’t until four months later that we learned that Black Bolt was a Skrull since… well, who knows and yet still we don’t know what happened to the Inhumans.  I was told at Wizard World LA that the answers would arrive sometime in Secret Invasion, but… when?  Will it be a full year since a mini-series was released that we get a resolution to a story it started?

Catching up at work today, I was talking Avengers: Disassembled with a co-worker and was reminded that Quicksilver had a pretty lousy excuse for both being and not being in the final Avengers-as-We-Knew-Them story.  Sure, he was shown in the Kree Battle in issue #501 but that was just ‘Wanda’s doing’ and he was really reading in Greenland the whole time.  It sounded like hooey when I read it in the Avengers: Finale and it still sounds like hooey now.  If Secret Invasion just so happens to answer all this with some sort of Skrull, will that make it sound more plausible?  Or will it simply look like Bendis is trying to win the World’s Biggest No-Prize?

Personally, I believe him when he said he’s had this planned out for ages.  He’s a smart and clever writer who could have easily seeded his stories since he started on his New Avengers tales and when we look back at the end of Secret Invasion, there just might be some awe and respect for the amount of love, labor and tears that went into a big over-arcing storyline like this.  It could be brilliant.  It’s been a long road over the past couple years with this story and it’s a personal worry that the wait might overwhelm the worth.  No matter how brilliant one is, if people are tired and cranky by the time it all comes together, it’s just not going to be hailed for what it is.

We on the internet like to bicker and complain, it’s a known fact.  Stupid actions, poor dialog choices and plotlines that just sort of drift off like bad ADD can turn the rage meter high on message boards and water coolers alike.  Can this rage be quelled long after the fact with a delicate turn of phrase or a clever, though stalled out, ending?  Or will the the Angry Internet Hate Machine have festered for too long to notice or have gone on to the next terrible thing to care?

What do you think, True Believer?  How long are you willing to wait for story resolution?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 9th, 2008 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Marvel, News & Views, The Fifth Color, Version 1.0 Blog@. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.