I HATE IT HERE *FINAL EDITION*

So it’s been a while, eh? Things have changed drastically for me in the last month or so, with a new job starting that it taking up the majority of my time to doing reviews for the page it’s been difficult to actually find time to continue these articles. Which is why it’s came to this. This will be my last  “I Hate It Here” for the page. It’s coming out on a Monday because we’ve shuffled the page around a bit and now someone else will be taking the Friday slot with me filling in the post weekend blues, but it felt wrong to use the title I have been for the past year or so. Coming next Monday……AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!

But enough about what’s to come, focusing  on what’s been for a bit. Finale’s are always a difficult one in the world of comics, because if something is popular, it’s difficult to want it to end because it’s still making money, and if sales are low, then it’s getting axed anyway. The first complete run i ever owned was the Howard Chaykin Blade series that came out years ago that only lasted 12 issues. It was my first experience in the comic world of something that I actually really enjoyed coming to an end, sales were low and it was scrapped after it’s first year. With the recent announcement that Blade will be returning, I wonder if a solo book could be on the horizons as well?

Final Issues have always been a strange one with more popular books though, because they only seem to be because of a relaunch and the idea of getting a new #1 out to the masses to boost sales.  Just look at the recent announcement that Daredevil will be cancelled, only to be replaced by a brand, shiny, new #1, with the exact same creative team you’ve grown to love! Yeah!

It’s a difficult thing to do though, cancel a popular series, because comics are timeless, the characters rarely ever age, and yet the world they live in is constantly updating in “real-time”. Both me and my Dad grew up reading Spider-man comics and we both grew up with the same Pete, just 20 years apart, so it was an extremely bold move by Marvel to decide to change things up with the addition of “Spider-Ock”. Obviously this was met with extremely mixed results, from death threats to writer, Dan Slott, to fans applauding the move and saying it’s the best thing to happen to the character in years. It was a progressive move, it changed that character, and I’m definitely in the positive camp. While i dropped the book for financial reasons, I do actually look forward to being able to catch up one day.

On the other end of the scale though, is what happened to ole’ Batman. Poor bastard, had arguably one of the greatest runs on the book by Grant Morrison, was “killed” at the end and replaced by one of his prodigies who took up the mantle and had another successful run by Glasgow based duo Morrison and Frank Quitely. Now at the time, we all new Bruce wasn’t dead, merely displaced in time by Darkseid, however, the year wasn’t even over before we had “The Return of Bruce Wayne” who took back the mantle and continued almost as if nothing had ever happened. Fast forward to Nu-52 and it’s the same old Batman with it being the same as it has been, just new creative teams trying to make their mark (with the exception of Batman Inc, where Morrison got to finish his story and gave it the sending off only a true fan could.  An almost flawless run by one of the masters in the industry), which personally for me has left it all feeling a bit flat, as it shows the D.C just aren’t willing to take risks any more and the hero is always going to survive.

Just two examples of how a finale can be done. Both Batman and Amazing Spider-man have had a #700 issue released, only one of them was worth re-reading again, and again.

Seeing as we’re coming to the end of the year, it’s time to shake things up abit. I’m more than aware i’ve let alot of you down with certain aspects of the page. The bookgroup ground to a hault, as did the Podcast, because to be honest, I wasn’t feeling it anymore, motivation was at a low so I ignored my duties and tried to busy myself with something else. That’s changing though,  starting in January (December is a write off for obvious reasons) more and more new aspects of the page are going to be coming out with a new podcast, a relaunched bookgroup and some other ideas we have under our sleeves. However, I just wanted to say thank you for sticking with us, and thanks to everyone that took part in the page in anyway, from the guests on the podcast, to everyone that’s came to the bookgroup. I’ve not forgotten about you, I’ve just been busy.

And so it is that we come to the end. This article has been a perfect place to vent for me and the title seemed perfect for me at the time, it’s from one of my favorite books, featuring one of my favorite Characters and seemed to sum up exactly what I wanted to do. I was never going to lie, I was never going to hide anything in the posts, no ulterior motives or bullshit, just exactly what I thought. It was also very angry though and at the time that’s the kind of place I was in, I’ve written a few “I actually quite like it here’s” recently that i haven’t put up because it seemed to defeat the purpose, which is why it’s time to end. I’m just not that angry anymore.

So for one last time, Love and Bullets,

Chris

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The writer of this piece was:
Chris Bennet
Article: I Hate It Here
You can also find Chris on Facebook