I HATE IT HERE: CURSE OF THE SEQUEL EDITION

So it would seem that 2013 is going to be the year of sequels being announced. From Avengers 2, Worlds Finest, a Sandman prequel (it counts, quiet you), a fight club sequel, Days of Future Past, Dredd 2 getting more of a backing, and loads that are coming out this year; Before Watchmen, Brother Lono, Thor 2, Cap 2, The Wolverine, and I’m sure there’s a few I’ve missed.

Sequels are a strange thing though. More often than not they aren’t as good as the first, or just don’t do it justice, which takes away from the original (Dark Knight Strikes Again, I’m looking at you) but now and then, Superman 2, Dark Knight Rises, or Final Crisis comes along and shows that sequels CAN be a good thing! Yeah, so it’s sometimes all about the money, especially in the comics industry, a sequel could be something as simple as a book getting a new lease of life after everyone thought it was finished. Look at Before Watchmen, while it wasn’t written by the original creative team, it was written by some of the best in the industry today and of course with such an undertaking, some of it was not good, there was some gold in there! Was it a success? Only time will tell, was it enjoyable? for the most part Id say so.

On the other end of the scale though, take Neil Gaiman writing Sandman again. This is a big gamble by both Neil and Vertigo, as Sandman is one of the most respected pieces of work every produced in comics, and is how most people got into them in the first place, but surely we have to give them a certain amount of give. Neil Gaiman is a fantastic writer, and has always respected his own work, so far, there has only been one sequel of sorts in the shape of Anansi Boys and while it was nowhere near as good as American Gods, still holds it’s own. So that he thinks it’s time to start doing Sandman again, can only be a good thing, right?

A common complaint about after the sequel route though, is that it’s not an original idea, it’s just a continuation “why not do something original?” Which is a fair point, but what if the writer does just that, and makes it their own? With the announcement of Worlds Finest being the next Superman Sequel coming from Zack Snyder, speculation has already started about what iteration of Bats is going to be used, and what story is going to be used as inspiration. Are they going to go down the route of DKR and have an older Bruce, or possibly go down the route of Hush, where they’ve worked together in the past, and are put on opposing sides? Well how’s this for a thought: what if it’s something totally new that we’ve never seen before? What if the character is given another totally new lease on life, like what’s happened with supes? Would there be uproar from geeks everywhere? Yup. Would it be justified? Nope, because it’s something new, and new is good, we like new. Even if it’s bad, at least it’s been tried and that always has to be respected.

Love and Bullets,
Chris

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The writer of this piece was:
Chris Bennet
Article: I Hate It Here
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