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kd7sovYesterday I did a thing I hadn't done before.
I bought a comic book.
(Technically I've bought comics before, in the form of one of the Order of the Stick prequels, but that's not quite the same thing.)
In point of fact, I got three: Issue 1 of the new Sigil, and issues twelve and thirteen of the old Meridian. All are by CrossGen Comics, although at some point between 2004 and now CrossGen became part of Marvel.
It is interesting to look at the differences between the old stuff and the new, particularly considering that I only previously encountered the old stuff in bound collections - trade paperbacks and the like.
The first, and possibly most senseless, difference between old and new is the titular Sigil - the basis, in many ways, of CrossGen cosmology.
Since LJ is being an idiot, I can't upload and insert here the picture I've made of the old-school Sigil. Basically, it looks somewhat like a yin-yang - two swoops, endlessly circling each other, one red and the other yellow. There was all kinds of symbolic meaning and in-universe parallels associated with the Sigil. For no apparent reason, Marvel has decided to redesign it - not just visually, but in terms of what it is, too. The new look is two irregular crescents, one red and one yellow, flanking a small yellow circle. Instead of being all colored, all the time, and being bestowed on people by mystical just-passing-through poorly-understood people or creatures, the new version appears to be a pink birthmark. The colors do show up, though, on the absurd number of Sigil pendants various characters wear.
Thing is, I can't come up with a reason for this. When one company acquires another, the acquirer gets all the other's copyrights and trademarks, right?
Back in '99-'04, Sigil was about a former space soldier named Samandahl Rey, who was still peripherally involved in a long-running interstellar war. His Sigil, slightly different in design than the others (looking 'unfinished' or 'ragged'), was prominent on his chest, and allowed him to reshape metals at will, survive (and possibly move about at will; I don't quite remember) in vacuum, and teleport with absurd accuracy and range.
The new version, by contrast, focuses on Samantha Rey, a high-school student in South Carolina. Her Sigil, much smaller and on her collarbone, has thus far demonstrated some sort of physical force capabilities (visibly quite distinct from Sephie's, but that's expected) and probably time travel. I say probably because Sigils tend to light up brightly when they're used, but the instance of time travel we see involves no such light. I just... don't know where they're going with this, particularly since Wikipedia claims it's to be a four-part miniseries.
The actual comic books themselves bear comparison, too. I have no idea what's typical, but the Meridian issues, from 2000, provide the story all in one chunk, followed by a little bit of "check out our other current titles", a letter column, a brief behind-the-scenes writeup, and a couple of other bits and pieces - all directly related to CrossGen, if not to Meridian specifically, and all at the back. This new one, by contrast, interrupts the story frequently for ads. Most of these seem to be for video games or Got Milk, or other things that don't have anything to do with Marvel. Those that do have some relation are for (predictable) Shocking Twists or Huge Developments in existing superhero storylines - nothing at all like what I'm reading. Nowhere is there any sort of "about us" except the printing information, or any way of getting in touch, or information about their plans, or anything.
Which isn't to say I won't keep an eye out, and perhaps even buy Issue 2 next month. But I'm not entirely happy with the apparent direction they're taking this.
I bought a comic book.
(Technically I've bought comics before, in the form of one of the Order of the Stick prequels, but that's not quite the same thing.)
In point of fact, I got three: Issue 1 of the new Sigil, and issues twelve and thirteen of the old Meridian. All are by CrossGen Comics, although at some point between 2004 and now CrossGen became part of Marvel.
It is interesting to look at the differences between the old stuff and the new, particularly considering that I only previously encountered the old stuff in bound collections - trade paperbacks and the like.
The first, and possibly most senseless, difference between old and new is the titular Sigil - the basis, in many ways, of CrossGen cosmology.
Since LJ is being an idiot, I can't upload and insert here the picture I've made of the old-school Sigil. Basically, it looks somewhat like a yin-yang - two swoops, endlessly circling each other, one red and the other yellow. There was all kinds of symbolic meaning and in-universe parallels associated with the Sigil. For no apparent reason, Marvel has decided to redesign it - not just visually, but in terms of what it is, too. The new look is two irregular crescents, one red and one yellow, flanking a small yellow circle. Instead of being all colored, all the time, and being bestowed on people by mystical just-passing-through poorly-understood people or creatures, the new version appears to be a pink birthmark. The colors do show up, though, on the absurd number of Sigil pendants various characters wear.
Thing is, I can't come up with a reason for this. When one company acquires another, the acquirer gets all the other's copyrights and trademarks, right?
Back in '99-'04, Sigil was about a former space soldier named Samandahl Rey, who was still peripherally involved in a long-running interstellar war. His Sigil, slightly different in design than the others (looking 'unfinished' or 'ragged'), was prominent on his chest, and allowed him to reshape metals at will, survive (and possibly move about at will; I don't quite remember) in vacuum, and teleport with absurd accuracy and range.
The new version, by contrast, focuses on Samantha Rey, a high-school student in South Carolina. Her Sigil, much smaller and on her collarbone, has thus far demonstrated some sort of physical force capabilities (visibly quite distinct from Sephie's, but that's expected) and probably time travel. I say probably because Sigils tend to light up brightly when they're used, but the instance of time travel we see involves no such light. I just... don't know where they're going with this, particularly since Wikipedia claims it's to be a four-part miniseries.
The actual comic books themselves bear comparison, too. I have no idea what's typical, but the Meridian issues, from 2000, provide the story all in one chunk, followed by a little bit of "check out our other current titles", a letter column, a brief behind-the-scenes writeup, and a couple of other bits and pieces - all directly related to CrossGen, if not to Meridian specifically, and all at the back. This new one, by contrast, interrupts the story frequently for ads. Most of these seem to be for video games or Got Milk, or other things that don't have anything to do with Marvel. Those that do have some relation are for (predictable) Shocking Twists or Huge Developments in existing superhero storylines - nothing at all like what I'm reading. Nowhere is there any sort of "about us" except the printing information, or any way of getting in touch, or information about their plans, or anything.
Which isn't to say I won't keep an eye out, and perhaps even buy Issue 2 next month. But I'm not entirely happy with the apparent direction they're taking this.
