Sometimes, I wish that, as a blogger, I could be wrong once in awhile....or at least, more often that I am.When I last blogged about Manhunter, I was kind of hoping for an October surprise - a sudden upsurge in readers. Not the news that the series would be canceled with issue # 38 (coming out next month).
In short, perhaps the very qualities that I liked in the series led to its downfall. It wasn't a straightforward action series, maybe was too gritty in its portrayal of the DC Universe. Maybe it was the fact that Kate Spencer was a working mother, dealing with defending supervillains, or not a childless, jetsetting leggy supermodel. Maybe it was the fact that it used Obsidian better than Geoff Johns, or even (gasp) was a little too gay-friendly, because it him kissing (and being affectionate) with another guy.
(Of course, the same people who would make that claim probably have issues with Captain Jack Harkness*. But that's a digression and an unfair slam at fanboys, of which I am one. It's also extremely unfair towards DC, who seemed willing to keep giving the book another chance)
But fortunately, DC had the wisdom to begin rereleasing the series in trade compilation. These would make a great addition to anyone's comic collection, and quite frankly, make good reads for people who don't normally read comics. (For comics readers, it's a great series which, quite frankly, deserved every shot it got. The fact that it never sold quite the numbers it did says more about comics fans and their tastes - that a few fans really "got it" - than any flaws with the book).
So please feel free to head down to the "Hey Kids, Comics!" section of this blog's online store, or click any of the links below, to give this as a last minute Christmas gift...or as a great gift idea in general.
Trust me, this series deserves as much exposure - even in the light of cancelation - as possible.
You'll thank me later.
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*John Barrowman was not harmed in the writing of this blog post
2 comments:
But but... I have them all already!
I think in this day and age, Manhunter's two resurrections were more surprising than its cancellation.
Have to definitely agree - despite anything else that can be said about DC, they at least gave this book as many chances as they could.
Perhaps Manhunter is best done as a mini-series?
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