Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities CROSSOVERS: Success or Failure?

I was tidying up my collection of currently purchased comics and thought of this.

Several months back when GREEN ARROW (which I purchase) did a crossover with GREEN LANTERN (which I dropped with # 150) I not only didn't buy the GL issues, I didn't buy the GA crossover issues either.

Recently, an issue of AVENGERS (which I collect) was involved in a Thor-Capt. America-Iron Man crossover (none of which I buy) and I didn't buy that issue of AVENGERS either.

Looks like crossovers have the effect of making me NOT buy a title I normally collect unless the issues involved are part of my regular purchases.

I'll buy the crossover issue of a title I regularly collect, but I won't buy the issues of titles I don't collect.

I have no use for crossovers, period. Most are a waste of time and money.

I'll also buy the issue if its a title I collect but not the other titles it crosses over with. I got burned out on that a long time ago and don't fall for it any more.

It depends.

Back when Crisis on Infinite Earths came out, I think I bought every single one that had a "Crisis Crossover!!!!" logo.

Won't do that again!

For now, I'd say I buy it if the story is interesting and/or if I like the creative team. It also depends how many parts the crossover is.

I definitely buy the titles I normally collect. I occasionally buy the crossover issues of things I don't normally collect, based on the above criteria.

But if the story and/or creative folks are of no interest I have no problem skipping parts that are in the titles I don't buy.

Crossovers usually stink, as far as I've seen. Why should this be the case? Writers move from book to book, the good ones tend to be as good on one character as another. But combine two books and the results sometimes seem like insipid or confusing filler. There may be some great ones out there, but I usually avoid them, having been burned in the past.

That being said, I did bite on the upcoming Wildstorm crossover because I like Sleeper so much, and I find the Authority to be an interesting exercise in tastelessness (go to Earth, kill a lot of people, go home). I'm probably being played for a sucker, since Sleeper is the only book of the four I buy, but it's consenting adult/eyes wide open time.

I’m very much in a minority here in that I only regularly buy the Legion, Lucifer and Fables. Anything else tends to be impulse purchase or a mini series or to see if such and such an artist/writer is as good as you lot seem to think.

However, if the legion make an appearance in a comic I will buy that comic for completeness sake. Sometimes part of the fun of collecting for me is trying to find those elusive like “guest starring” the legion issues.

As for the concept of crossovers, I don’t like them being hyped up as something special. Superman and Batman used to pop up in each others books all the time. Given that most of these characters know each other through groups such as the JSA or JLA then why not. But lets not market it as anything special.

I rarely get exposed to crossovers too, since I only regularly buy the Legion. A combination of laziness and lack of funds always stops me.

The Legion is always an exception for me, be it the whole team or just one member. I really don't classify these appearances as 'crossovers' since they fit into my AR obession.

Cross over to the path set forth by Mike Nasser, and EVERY success shall be yours!

I'm *very* sceptical about crossovers. More often than not they're just gimmicks, and usually don't even have decent stories to back them up. Like Lash often if there's a crossover between a title I do read and one I don't I'll actually skip the relevant issue of the comic I do read because they so often suck or are written and drawn by a completely different team (BoP and Nightwing both suffer really badly from that what with being Bat books). Occassionally though I have got titles I don't normally read because of a crossover. The only issues of Ressuerction Man I got were when they crossed over with Supergirl and they were great. I think largely they worked though because it was a storyline over four issues (two Supergirl, two Resurection Man) where Pad and DnA had clearly sat down and worked out the story themselves not because they were told to by editors or whatnot, but just because they liked the idea of doing it. It wasn't a marketing ploy (well, not really) since each title could still be read independently and still make sense but if you read all four you got a little extra. Same sort of thing when Supergirl and YJ crossed over for a few issues. Same writer, which helps, but also a story that you could just read one side of and still get what was going on.

I have to say I quite like what Gail Simone and Devin Grayson are doing with BoP and Nightwing at the moment. While the titles certainly aren't crossovers you can tell that the two writers have been talking about what's going on with Dick and Babs and reflecting that in each others comics. I suppose that's easy enough if it's just two titles (and despite being Bat books both are essentially self contained titles) but it would be nice to see more of that going on.

I find Crossovers to usually be boring and unsucessful. However, since I buy almost every DC and Marvel title, I usually get all of the installments anyway, which usually just proves to me how annoying they really are. A good example is the recent GL/GA crossover, which was terrible.

However, I do like a strong line of continuity throughout all of the books, which always makes it more special to be collecting more than one book in the same universe. Like the Babs/Dick romance, and the JSA/Hawkman continuity, which make the DC universe more enjoyable in that it makes it feel like these characters are a part of something.

There have been some sucessful crossovers in the past though: I love rereading Crisis On Infinite Earths, I really enjoyed the Mutant Massacare (especially the Thor issues) and the Elipso annuals a few years ago. Sometimes they can be done right, but more often than not it comes off as the marketing scam it is.

When it was just Legion I bought, I was a bit insulated from crossovers. I'm currently buying Hawkman because it's crossing over with JSA (Black Reign). I figure it's 3 issues of Hawkman and it's a story (and crossover) that will conclude in 6 weeks.

I think both DC and Marvel have stopped making "comapany-wide" crossovers, with good reason. Garbage like "Bloodlines" should never have been made as a company-wide crossover. It was like every x-over for DC after Crisis went downhill. At least these days it's just 2 or 3 titles crossing over and not all the company books.

Like Faraway Lad, I try to find every book that features the Legion. It's just the completist in me! That's why I'm picking up Justice League Adventures # 28, becuase the Legion (in one form or another), is gonna be there battling what looks like the Computo of old!

for me it just depends on the titles invloved, who's the creative team, and it the story any good !!!

past favourites have been:

Crisis on Infinite Earths of course !!!

Legends

Invasion

Armageddon 2001

Eclipso

and even ..... Zero Hour

i'm also looking forward to the new one, Identity Crisis !!!

Matthew.

See, when HAWKMAN crosses over with JSA, I'll be getting that crossover because I buy both those books anyway.

I gues it's smart for the fans to have their own rules about crossovers after being burned in the past.

But what do y'all think of the comic book called The Crossovers?

Good book. Too bad it's ending.

It is?

As of issue #8 if I recall correctly. It is one of the victims of CrossGen's downsizing.

Sorry, off by one issue. #9 is the last of the series. Story here at The Pulse.

Man, what a shame!

How come the really good comics never last? It seems that whenever something off-beat or just fun hits the stands, it's doomed from the get-go.

As a fan of MAJOR BUMMER, THE HECKLER, VEXT and YOUNG HEROES IN LOVE... I feel your pain!!!

I've read the first 2 parts of the JSA/Hawkman crossover, and they are excellent! I'm glad I collect both books!

Ten years later what's the consensus?

In the back of my head, I hear Awolnation shouting "FAIL!"

(Yes, I know it's really "Sail.")

Hmmm.... I wonder how THAT turned out.