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I finally pick up my copy of JLA #61 (did I mention Ive been playing catch up for a while?) and see on the bottom of the cover that for no extra charge I also get an "exclusive preview" of The Power Company! Now do I feel special or what? Well, I did until I actually read it. What caused my dismay, you ask? My ability to actually look ahead. After this preview would come a series of specials, each of which concentrated on one member of The Power Company. Then, after that the actual series would start. Now while I cant pass judgment on a series that is only two issues old, I will say that this series made me ask "Why?" Why are we getting another new regular series when there are already enough that are struggling, many involving icon characters, in Marvel and DC? Looking at the way The Power Company was starting made me reflect upon the main thing that got me into comics to begin with, the limited/mini series (Ill use "mini" from here on).
Back in 1984, I was starting my full comic reading stride. Lucky for me at that time the first Super Powers series and Secret Wars were on the magazine rack. What better way to get into comics than to see the heroes I saw on TV on the cover of a comic? Also, what better way for a kid to see that what happened on TV was NOT what happened or existed in comics? Darkseid? Spider-Woman in black? No Hall of Justice? An intelligent Hulk? Brainiac is a robot and not a green guy in white Speedos? Oh the humanity. I realized very quickly that I didnt know much about comics at all, what I actually knew were heroes as they were presented on TV. Now I had a problem. What was the best way to learn about the "real" worlds my favorite heroes existed in? Simple, stick with the constant for both Super Powers and Secret Wars . . . a comic series with a limited number of issues. Low commitment and low spending. I couldnt sacrifice too much money away from my toys, after all.
So with G.I. Joe and Transformers as my only regular series I dabbled in various minis for the next couple of years. I got the simple stuff like Iceman, Red Tornado, Machine Man, the second Super Powers series, and Secret Wars 2. All were good for slowly expanding my understanding of their respective universes. Of course, I also had some weird stuff like Rocket Raccoon . . . but we wont go there. Now, in 1985 was the "ultimate" understanding for someone my age about a comic universe, Crisis. Crisis on Infinite Earths. More heroes than you could shake a stick at, and more heroes than I ever knew existed or could exist. Multiple Batmans? Multiple Supermans? What had I gotten myself into? I had found what minis would always be to me . . . a great tool for storytelling. Little did I know that in years to come that tool would become perverted and even lose its shape.
Now you know a bit about my beginnings and my attachment to minis. Lets get to the breakdown of how I have come to classify them:
SELF-CONTAINED
These are the minis that are designed to have all the elements of their story within only their pages. Some of the titles Ive put into this category are all three Super Powers series, Infinity Gauntlet, Deadman, Avengers Forever, Inhumans, Metal Men, Fallen Angels, and Death: The High Cost of Living. These stories are about whole universes, teams, or specific characters. These are the best minis in my opinion.
OPTIONAL BRANCH
These are the minis that have the main elements of the story within their pages. However, a number of separate titles may feel affects during the mini. Some examples are Crisis on Infinite Earths, Secret Wars 2, Legends, Infinity War, Zero Hour, and Day of Judgment. These stories tend to be on a very grand scale and usually result in significant changes for at least a few existing titles. I do tend to like these minis, but I think they are largely an annoyance to those writers whose titles dont carry effects from the main story after the mini is finished.
MANDATORY/UNRESTRICTED CROSS
These just tend to be evil, plain and simple. Theyre usually so evil that the story isnt actually confined to a mini, its actually spread across multiple titles, or annuals of titles, and you have to buy them all if you want the whole story. Two actual minis that come to mind are Millennium and Infinity Crusade. Some cross-title stories are The Evolutionary War, Inferno, Bloodlines, Acts of Vengeance, Atlantis Attacks, and JLApe. Now you may like some of these stories (I liked Inferno) but to me they are all about draining your money if they can hook you. I think the stories that don't have an actual mini are to make the conceiver of the idea harder to finger...kind of like the witness protection program for the creator of a REALLY bad idea.
In order to try and understand how the evil of the M/UC came about I dug out a number of minis last month and reread them, or at least tried to in some cases. Then, I laid them out chronologically and was somewhat relieved at what I saw. The M/UCs largely occurred between 1987 and 1993. So while we seem to be out of THAT phase for the most part, six years is a bit much to use such a horrible marketing ploy in my book. Im going to be nice and dismiss the fact that most of this seemed to occur over at Marvel. Ill say thats just the way it looks due to my buying habits at the time, and because DC was the most recent culprit I saw in such actions. The evil is less now and Im happy about that, so lets move on to the use of minis.
I see the effective use of the mini as taking on at least one, and no more than two, of the following points as a concentration:
- Cosmic/World/Universe Event - Usually when something happens on this scale one individual or team causes it. Spotlight them and keep the concentration of what theyre doing in one place. Effective examples are Crisis, Secret Wars, Super Powers, and Infinity Gauntlet.
- Revamp - Lets take a character(s) and bring them up to speed, reflect changes in their universe, or deal with a currently bad concept or misuse. Effective examples are Metal Men for making the team more interesting, JLA: Year One for cleaning up team history, The Brave and The Bold for giving us some good Hal and Barry time in an updated universe, Zero Hour for saving Guy Gardner from a horrible costume and concept, and Day of Judgment for bringing back the Specter and bringing Hal Jordan back to the side of justice.
- Spotlight - Take a current or new team/character and see what theyre doing. Its a good way to see what interest there is regarding the team/character. Effective examples are Deadman, Rocket Raccoon (I didnt say they had to be POPULAR), Death: The High Cost of Living, Arsenal, Metal Men, Supergirl, The Punisher, Body Doubles and Inhumans.
- Springboard - If you want to bring a character/team back, or introduce one, this is a good way to do it, or a good way to judge if the interest is out there to do so. Effective examples are Legends for introducing a new Justice League, and The Punisher (2000) for bringing the Punisher back how the fans wanted him back.
So why not use more than two points as a concentration? Because it can get ugly . . . REALLY ugly. Lets use the 1998 and 2000 Punisher minis as examples. The 1998 Punisher mini served as a revamp and spotlight while the 2000 mini served as a spotlight and springboard. The advantage of only doing two things at a time was that after the 1998 Punisher mini fans had time to voice their opinions regarding the changes to the character. If the 1998 Punisher mini were a revamp, spotlight and springboard that went into a regular series the regular series probably would have suffered greatly. Concepts of writers and fans would have hit a nasty clash and sales would most likely have suffered. The 1998 Punisher mini wasnt a torch being passed, this was a character being changed on the most base levels. It didnt work with Hal Jordan, what made people think that it would work with Frank Castle? Due to planning or luck Marvel brought the Punisher back to a regular series in an effective manner, using multiple minis.
Now youre wondering how all of this relates back to The Power Company. The Power Company is a concept in its third incarnation through my years of collecting, it may be more in yours. The New Warriors took it on, the Thunder Bolts took it on and now The Power Company is doing it. The concept is learning to be a hero and team at the same time. Where are the Warriors? How is T-Bolts doing? This is dangerous ground to be walking right now in my opinion. DC has recently cancelled a number of series and now theyre chucking out a new one with a well-used concept? Why . . . is that a train wreck I smell?
Could I be wrong? Definitely. Im even going to stick with the title for a while and will be happy to eat crow if necessary. However, you cant tell me that DC is starting this series, and maybe others I dont know about, intelligently. I missed the special issues for The Power Company but Im guessing they were spotlights. Nice idea, lets look at individuals under a microscope to set up a team book. HELLO! Why analyze an individual when your goal is a team book? Lay the groundwork for the team in a mini and see how people like the chemistry. Dont make me interested in one character that is going to later have their time diminished. Right now I feel sorry for those who were happy to see Manhunter making a comeback because he hasnt been doing much.
DC and Marvel arent in the best of places right now folks. Titles seem to be dropping like flies. Luckily, with the success of Marvel Knights Marvel has found the effectiveness of a mini again and it seems to be working for them. I have no idea what DC is thinking. The mini is a great tool if used correctly. If you (Im talking to Marvel and DC here) introduce something in a mini and people like it, try it in a regular series. If it doesnt work then you can say, Well the fans liked the concept before and blame us for being fickle. I mean, lets be honest . . . we are. If you just throw out a new regular series youre playing a guessing game from the start, so don t expect me or anyone else to lose sleep over you losing money. Well, you might expect your employees to.
There are so many questions to ask. Is that new series something the writer wants to do for as long as they can, or do they just want to start their own legacy and bail? Can the new series survive without the original creative team? Will the fans leave when the original creative team doesnt exist anymore? If you can get a few answers to your questions youre doing good, and if those answers point to limits in concepts or commitment then go with that limit. Put out a 6 or 12 issue series and let the readers respond. Give yourself an opportunity to get some answers to your questions and gauge those responses. If youre hearing more comments about plot than characters Id wager that when the story ends so will much of the interest in the characters. If you hear more about the characters, you may have gold. The limited/mini series is an effective tool for storytelling and gaining information. As with any tool though, you have to make sure you know how to use it.
Some things dont last forever though, lets be honest. However, if a regular comic is cancelled do you want to look back at a five-year run or a five-issue run? Id say one reflects interest drop while the other reflects bad initial decisions. You guess which is which.
Titles re-read to be used as sources for this article - In (mostly) chronological order:
| TITLE | CO. | YEAR | SC | OB | M/UC |
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| Secret Wars | M | 84 | X | | |
| Super Powers | D | 84-85-86 | X | | |
| Crisis On Infinite Earths | D | 85 | | X | |
| Iceman | M | 85 | X | | |
| Red Tornado | D | 85 | X | | |
| Rocket Raccoon | M | 85 | | | |
| Secret Wars 2 | M | 85 | | X | |
| Deadman | D | 86 | X | | |
| Legends | D | 86 | | X | |
| Fallen Angles | M | 87 | X | | |
| Millennium | D | 87 | | | X |
| Shazam: The New Beginning | D | 87 | X | | |
| Wild Dog | D | 87 | X | | |
| The Evolutionary War | M | 88 | | | X |
| Invasion | D | 88 | | X | |
| Acts of Vengeance | M | 89 | | | X |
| Atlantis Attacks | M | 89 | | | X |
| Lifeform | M | 90 | | | X |
| The Terminus Factor | M | 90 | | | X |
| Infinity Gauntlet | M | 91 | X | | |
| The Hero Killers | M | 92 | | | X |
| Infinity War | M | 92 | | X | |
| Bloodlines | D | 93 | | | X |
| Death: The High Cost of Living | D | 93 | X | | |
| Infinity Crusade | M | 93 | | | X |
| Metal Men | D | 93 | X | | |
| Supergirl | D | 94 | X | | |
| Zero Hour | D | 94 | | X | |
| Avengers Forever | M | 98 | X | | |
| Arsenal | D | 98 | X | | |
| Inhumans | M | 98-2000 | X | | |
| JLA: Year One | D | 98 | X | | |
| The Punisher | M | 98 | X | | |
| Body Doubles | D | 99 | X | | |
| The Brave and The Bold | D | 99 | X | | |
| Day of Judgment | D | 99 | | X | |
| Earth X | M | 99 | X | | |
| JLApe | D | 99 | | | X |
| Wolverine/Punisher: Revelation | M | 99 | X | | |
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