Unfortunately, these much anticipated stories were nothing to write home about.
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00:00Now, the long-running nature of comic books means that, after a while,
00:03some of the ongoing storylines might lose some of their luster and even relevance.
00:08Repeating tired tropes, bringing back dead characters and slash or returning the world
00:13to their original status quos can push away readers and risk having their stories cancelled.
00:18This is why, every now and again, a publishing company will announce a comic and tout it as
00:23the next big thing, and use ominous taglines such as,
00:26everything will change to describe the upcoming cataclysmic events.
00:30And, as you can imagine, some of these just don't live up to the hype and, in fact,
00:34may be overhyped. And that's what we're here to discuss today. As I'm Jules,
00:38this is WhatCulture.com, and these are 10 Overhyped Comic Books That Were Incredibly Mediocre.
00:4410. Identity Crisis
00:46In the last two years alone, DC has gone through two different crises,
00:51and is about to go through a third one. Despite this over-reliance on crossover stories,
00:56their crisis events have been well-crafted and entertaining for the most part. Unfortunately,
01:00this can't really be said for 2004's Identity Crisis, a widespread murder mystery that was
01:06unbelievably tone-deaf and left a bad taste in most readers' mouths after they finished it.
01:10Following the death of elongated man's wife, Sue Dibney, the Justice League sets out to find the
01:15killer, before they can strike again. In the process, the team learns the uncomfortable truths
01:20about how far its members would be willing to go to protect themselves and their loved ones.
01:24The story is rife with inconsistencies in the characterization of various heroes,
01:29and paints the normally united team in a disturbing and disjointed light.
01:33In addition to this, the story's core component and its resolution were both
01:36underwhelming and definitely sexist, showing that the creative team were
01:40unable of crafting a murder mystery that respected the characters involved.
01:449. Civil War
01:46Seeing heroes clash is conceptually interesting due to the prospect of knowing who is more
01:51powerful and or skilled. Furthermore, the ideological differences and situations that
01:55force these heroes into conflict are even more compelling. Unfortunately, Marvel's grand event
02:00missed the mark in delivering a satisfying hero vs hero showdown, despite its potentially profound
02:06themes. Civil War may have given us moments such as Spider-Man revealing his identity to the world
02:11and the iconic Captain America and Iron Man fight, but at the same time the heroes involved
02:15were woefully out of character and rather unlikable. Following a tragedy involving
02:20a rookie superhero team, The Nation calls for increased accountability in the superhuman
02:24community. This culminates in the Superhero Registration Act, a document whose content
02:29tore the Avengers and most superhero teams apart. Acts such as Tony Stark employing
02:34supervillains to hunt down his former comrades, and Reed Richards' construction of an
02:38extradimensional prison for said heroes were not only despicable, but also robbed the story of
02:43its moral complexity. Ultimately, the story's impact is undercut by a shakily defined act
02:49and a rather underwhelming resolution.
02:518. Heroes in Crisis
02:53Before its release, Heroes in Crisis seemed promising due to its proposed exploration of
02:58the mental health of various superheroes in addition to the main murder mystery. Sadly,
03:02the comic series handled these themes in an unconvincing and rather insensitive manner,
03:07and its treatment of Wally West in particular left a lot to be desired. The story introduces
03:12The Sanctuary, a secret rehabilitation center that caters to the needs of superheroes and
03:17reformed villains. Following a mass shooting that claims the lives of characters such as
03:21Wally West and Poison Ivy, the League investigates the heinous act with Booster Gold and Harley Quinn
03:26as its main suspects. As the mystery unfolds, two things become clear. One, the existence of
03:31the Sanctuary is unsettling for the superhuman community, and two, Wally West's involvement in
03:36the massacre is more convoluted and disturbing than initially expected. And you know what,
03:40the mental health element of this story amounted to nothing and seemed to serve more as a selling
03:45point rather than a tasteful exploration of its characters' various psyches. This is seen in
03:50Wally's treatment, an act that strives to mine his trauma for shock value more than anything else.
03:557. Old Man Logan
03:58Old Man Logan is an intriguing exploration of a dystopian Marvel universe as well as an older,
04:03more world-weary Wolverine. That said, some of its narrative elements were pretty, well,
04:08terribly misguided in hindsight. The majority of the heroes in this timeline are dead,
04:12and the rest are under the mercy of a cabal of supervillains such as Red Skull, Kingpin,
04:17and a villainous Hulk who took over after wiping most of this Earth's superhero community out.
04:22An older Logan lives with his family in Hulk-controlled territory, and due to the
04:26pressures of the former powerhouse's family, sets out on a cross-country journey with Hawkeye.
04:31The artwork here suitably captures the bleak and gory world the characters inhabit,
04:35but the generic story itself paints them in a rather awful light. It is bleak to a fault,
04:41and while this is the point of dystopic stories, it quickly gets exhausting to immerse yourself
04:46into. Characters such as the Hulk and She-Hulk are extremely off-putting, and Logan's pacifism
04:51feels rather undercooked, as its inciting incident is both inexplicable and rather infuriating.
04:57All in all, this story has some intriguing aspects, but as a whole,
05:00it was kind of frustratingly executed.
05:026. The New 52 as a Whole
05:05For every post-crisis era or rebirth era in DC, we get the New 52, easily the most disappointing
05:11initiative DC has undertaken in the modern age of comics. The decision to take away 10 or so
05:16years from the histories of most of DC's characters is fascinating on paper, but the younger heroes,
05:21villains, and supporting characters were not as compelling as their older counterparts,
05:26and felt like second-rate parodies of themselves. Characters such as Superman and Starfire became
05:31unlikable in an attempt to make them more flawed, and most heroes' costume designs
05:35made for uncomfortable sights due to their over-designed, tactical armor-like nature.
05:39The continuity was all over the place as well. For starters, Batman had multiple Robins and
05:44a 10-year-old son with Talia, despite being a hero for only a few years. Such a discrepancy
05:49was reflective of the New 52's failed attempt to take countless years of history and condense
05:54them into a relatively short time frame. Fortunately, DC Rebirth was able to set
05:59most of these things right.
06:005. Fear Itself
06:02This 2011 crossover event follows the machinations of the Serpent, an Asgardian fear god who schemes
06:09to claim the throne of Asgard, which spelt disaster for Earth. Despite focusing on the
06:13diabolical deity and the trio of Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man, the event was a muddled
06:18tale with a questionable plot structure, lackluster writing, and inconsequential nature.
06:23Following the settlement of Asgard on Earth after the Siege storyline, Red Skull's daughter,
06:28Sin, recovers a relic that transforms her into the Serpent's head. This sets off a chain of
06:32events that imperils both Earth and Asgard, and pushes the hero of the former to their limits.
06:38Despite featuring fan-pleasing moments such as Captain America wielding Mjolnir,
06:42the main story is poorly paced from the onset. Its build-up was poorly done as well, meaning
06:47that the rest of the story did not flow as intended, and this served to work against
06:50the far-reaching nature of the story. That said, the event's tie-ins made for entertaining reads,
06:56even if they undercut the impact of the main story in some instances.
06:594. A Death in the Family
07:02It's not every day that readers actively choose the fate of a character via a phone call,
07:06but this was indeed the case with A Death in the Family. Centering the story on an
07:10unlikable Robin, Jason Todd, was ingratiating for readers back in 1988, but having the readers kill
07:16him off was essentially an admission by the staff at DC that they were incapable of redeeming Todd
07:21or making him more palatable for readers. Up until the titular death, the story's tone is all
07:26over the place, and ranges from silly and Silver Age-esque to disturbing and grim.
07:31And let's talk about the Joker here. His tenure as Iran's ambassador to the UN is a poor attempt
07:37at humor and arguably Islamophobic. All in all, one of Batman's most iconic stories is a messy
07:43attempt at adding stakes in the Batman mythos and elevating Joker's threat level.
07:473. Ultimatum
07:49The ultimate Marvel imprint that ran from 2000 to 2015 was a mixed bag, to say the least.
07:55The modern reimagining of classic Marvel characters and teams was criticised for its edgy
07:59take on superheroes, and its dated attempts at this left a sour taste in most readers' mouths.
08:04For every ultimate Spider-Man tale that was at least palatable, there was an ultimate Captain
08:09America acting nationalistic, incestuous siblings, and an unsettling amount of cannibalism. Suffice
08:14to say, Marvel's attempt to streamline their universe was a bit of a mess.
08:18This is best reflected in Ultimatum, the 2009 story that saw Magneto seeking revenge on Earth
08:24for the deaths of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. His plans go horribly well, and in the chaos,
08:29heroes such as Thor, the Wasp, Cyclops, Professor X, and Doctor Strange all die,
08:34in addition to the countless lives around the globe. As much as the storyline helped
08:38differentiate the ultimate universe from the main one, the gory deaths were disgusting to see and
08:43felt like they were included to add shock value to the story more than anything else. The ultimate
08:47universe powered on for a few more years after this event, but it never fully recovered after
08:51this ghastly crossover.
08:532. All-Star Batman & Robin – The Boy Wonder
08:57If you were to read this comic and expect a grand, emotionally stirring epic in the
09:01vein of All-Star Superman, you would be in for a rude awakening. Frank Miller's retelling of
09:06Robin's origin story completely butchered the likes of Batman, Robin, and other DC characters,
09:11and is an example of the writer's jaded sensibilities not always working in a world
09:15of heroes. The art by Jim Lee is reliably well-crafted, and is often considered to be
09:20the saving grace of this comic. Beyond that, readers are treated to a cruel and sadistic
09:25Dark Knight who insists to a young, grief-stricken Robin that he addresses him as the goddamn Batman.
09:30Not only is the line unintentionally hilarious, it blatantly ignores the character's capacity
09:35for warmth and empathy. In addition to that, the treatment of a young Dick Grayson is disturbing,
09:40to say the least, and strips Batman of whatever shreds of humanity he had left.
09:44His fellow heroes, especially Green Lantern, are seen as ineffectual and only serve to reinforce
09:49Batman's unstoppable persona. That said, Batman and Robin's takedown of Green Lantern is hilarious,
09:55and almost feels like a mockery of the zany Silver Age of comics.
09:59Spider-Man – One More Day
10:01Following the game-changing events of Civil War, Spider-Man fans were curious to see where
10:06Marvel would take the beloved icon following the reveal of his secret identity to the world.
10:10One More Day explores this new change to the status quo in initially interesting fashion,
10:15before then going off the rails with its second half and conclusion. After Aunt May is shot by
10:19a sniper and hospitalized, a desperate Peter turns to the likes of Doctor Strange, the High
10:24Evolutionary, and even Doctor Doom for assistance. When none of them offer the help that Peter needs,
10:29the demonic Mephisto offers to save May's life at the expense of the hero's marriage to Mary Jane
10:34Watson. While the story may be slightly lauded for emphasising how Spider-Man's life is defined by
10:39sacrifice and protecting his loved ones from his heroic identity, the story's deus ex machina
10:44resolution feels like a cheap and cynical attempt at returning the hero back to the status quo.
10:49Removing his marriage to Mary Jane negates any chance at growth for Peter, and involving Mephisto
10:54in the ordeal removes his agency as a character. Ultimately, Peter, Parker's past and future were
11:00disrespected in a story afraid to look at both periods as a whole for the hero.
11:10And please let me know what you thought about it down in the comments section below.
11:13As always, I've been Jules, you can go follow me over on Twitter at RetroJ but the O is a zero,
11:17and the same for Instagram, RetroJ but the O is a zero, hope to see you over there. As always,
11:22I've been Jules, you have been awesome, never forget that, and I'll speak to you soon. Bye.