the siren song of the other Big Two
"We are a MARVEL family, not a DC family. It's in your blood. You may disagree with Marvel sometimes, and occasionally you will question their story decisions. That's okay. You will meet people -- fine people, DC people -- and they will tempt you with engaging DC titles. Experiment. Read some Batman. We've all done it. But the siren song of the M.U. will bring you home when the time is right."
- Man-Eaters #5, Chelsea Cain & Kate Niemczyk
I'm a Marvel person 
. For the longest time, I never even read any DC, and never intended to. I watched some of the cartoons, and almost all of the films growing up, but I hated Batman. He was easily my least favourite superhero (although he is neither "super", nor a "hero") and even these days you may catch me going "uggh, I hate Batman" sometimes.
I kind of do hate the grimdark way Batman is often interpreted, especially in the movies. I hate how the fact that Batman is basically the face of DC caused nearly everything else the company does to be coloured in the same meh palette. I hate how Bruce Wayne is a fucking billionaire and yet the best way he seems to know to fight crime is to... beat people up? I hate how there are dozens of new Batman titles every month, when other characters who may be as deserving end up as side characters in team books, or never turn up at all. I hate how DC just puts out crisis after crisis, rebooting everything all over again instead of trying to maintain any sort of continuity.
Okay, yes, obviously my knowledge of DC was (and is) pretty shallow.
Sure, Batman stories are often dark, but they're usually not without light. Not when they're done well, anyway. And - you know what? I've found that I actually like the darker stories Scott Snyder came up with with the New 52 run. Right now, they're the only Bat comics I actually own in trade, although it was Tom King's run that made me start giving them a chance. Because, see, the thing about Batman comics is - when they're good, they're really fucking good.
I was telling a colleague today that I have completely failed to resist the siren call of some of the current DC titles, even though I'm not currently "off" Marvel. I told her that usually, there are just more good Marvel titles than there are good DC titles. It's just, sometimes, the good DC titles are so good they blow the Marvel ones out of the water. And that's the case for Tom Taylor's current Nightwing and Superman: Son of Kal-El runs. Joshua Williamson's Robin run is definitely one worth picking up, and after a flip through Stephanie Phillips' current Harley Quinn, I think I'm hooked. There are a few other titles I'd love to try, but because the DC Universe app is still not available outside of the US, I guess it's not something I can do right now.
These are the series I'm currently following, and the formats I'm following them in. They're ordered based on how excited I get when new issues come out:
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Nightwing by Tom Taylor & Bruno Redondo Honestly, Tom Taylor is always fun to read, but Bruno Redondo's art elevates this run to another level. With the exception of a couple of issues I bought on Comixology because I couldn't wait, I plan to collect this series in trade. Volume 2 will be out in June!
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Super-Man: Son of Kal-El by Tom Taylor & John Timms The title that broke my resolve to not follow any new DCs to save money. Once I started reading this, I just couldn't resist the others! So far, I'm following this on Comixology and am up to the latest issue.
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New Mutants by Vita Ayala & Rod Reis Vita Ayala is one of my favourite writers right now, and Rod Reis' art is Sienkiewicz worthy. This is one I wouldn't mind getting single issues of, but because I hadn't done so from the beginning, I'm currently following it on Marvel Unlimited, so I'm a few months behind.
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Strange Academy by Skottie Young & Humberto Ramos I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that I love a series set in a boarding school, featuring lots of magical kids with messed up backgrounds who form a kind of dysfuctional family unit. I'm following this on Marvel Unlimited.
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Captain Marvel by Kelly Thompson (& Various) The main reason this is not higher in my list right now is because the current stories focus a lot on cosmic/space stuff which isn't my fave part of the Marvel Universe. (Kinda hilarious when Captain Marvel is my favourite Marvel hero.) I'm following this series in single issues, so I'm still behind (due to delayed shipping) but at least one issue ahead of Marvel Unlimited.
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X-Force by Benjamin Percy & Joshua Cassara I've mentioned in previous newsletters that I love this series, despite not expecting to. I think it's mostly due to Quentin Quire and Logan both being in this group - I love Quentin, and I love seeing Logan mentoring young mutants. Plus, this is probably the series to follow if you're interested in seeing the secrets of Krakoa unravelling. Following this on Marvel Unlimited, although I bought the entire arc that followed Quentin's major character development.
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Robin by Joshua Williamson & Gleb Melnikov Damian is my fave because I like heroes who are little shits, and that's exactly what he is? Not many writers get Damian, and Joshua Willianson does. I've been buying these on Comixology, so I'm up to the latest issue.
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Black Widow by Kelly Thompson (& various) The only reason this ranks this low is because I'm not a Black Widow fan. Because this series is so fun! Following on Marvel Unlimited.
Most of the other X titles I'm following are pretty much on an equal level (there are always some that will be better than others, but which changes from issue to issue) so I won't be listing them - I follow them all on Marvel Unlimited.
Not ranked because I haven't actually started reading yet:
- Ms. Marvel: Beyond the Limit by Samira Ahmed & Andres Genolet,
- She-Hulk by Rainbow Rowell & Roge Antonio,
- Batman/Catwoman by Tom King & Clay Mann,
- Robin and Batman by Jeff Lemire & Dustin Nguyen,
- and Harley Quinn by Stephanie Phillips & Riley Rossmo (Rossmo's art is SO GORGEOUS.)
So... 3 DC titles in my top 8, and 3 DC titles among my 5 TBRs. I will always think of myself as a Marvel person, but I can't deny the fact that I'm also a DC fan, at least right now. Maybe one day the siren song of the Marvel Universe will call me back home, but if it doesn't, I'm fine hanging out with the Bat Fam.
Note: I only included print serialisations, even for the titles I purchased digitally, but if I were to include Webtoons, then Batman: Wayne Family Adventures by SRC Payne & StarBite will be #1.
On a related note, I've been buying my DC issues digitally on Comixology - except for Batman/Catwoman, which I purchase physically from The Last Comic Shop. But, with Amazon's latest integration with Comixology, and how that might affect purchases, I'm not sure if I'll continue to do so. I don't know if I want to get single issues, though, because it's so troublesome to set up a pull list with LCS (and I'm used to Kino discounts, and their mark ups are much higher than ours), so I might end up getting the trades for all the DCs.
This means I need more shelf space for comics, though, so expect another round of destashing sometime this year?
Stay safe!