Frustration with DC Comics and A Slowdown of Halloween

Daily Ramble 48

I think I’m gonna cut back on my looks at DC comics for a bit since they’ve pulled down The Long Halloween. I really can justify focusing reviews on a service that is inconsistent. If I were to just sign up for the subscription I would have not only missed The Long Halloween, but I wouldn’t get to read The Dark Knight Returns (other than issuer #1), I wouldn’t get to read The Death of Superman (though a few of the issues are still available, they’re scattered through the timeline), and that’s just the comics I’ve actually attended to. There are also movies and TV show that have come and gone. It just frustrating to see such a promising paid subscription service have so many flaws.

I think it’s just better for me if I take some time away from supporting their service. While I’ve paid for the subscription already I don’t have to review or recommend their products since I feel that they’ve pretty much pulled a bait and switch on me. Call me elitist, tell me I have first world problems, but I really don’t like being told that I can pay for something and then I’m told I can read what they want, when they want, and in the timespan they provide.

I’ve always been preferential to Marvel Comics but I though this paid service would be my entry to learn more about DC characters and see what I’ve been missing all these years. I’d be able to learn the histories Wonder Woman and The Flash, how Nightwing was born and what the big deal is with Lobo, but thus far I really feel like I’m fighting with the selections. I’m battling the curators who want to drag me through what they think I want to read rather than being able to experience the wonders of the DC Universe at my own pace and in the order I prefer.

Even when I look at my last foray into DC Comics where I started reading through the Rebirth comics and I compare the issues I read there to what’s available on DC Universe, I just don’t get it. DC Rebirth came out in 2016 and was supposed to be a great starting point for jumping on DC Comics. If the app doesn’t have more than the first issue of a great jumping on point, how can anyone jump on?

Oh well, I’m tired of being frustrated by the app. I’m tired of going in each day to see that something else is headed off the service. I feel there’s more news about what’s leaving the rotation of movies, TV and comics than fanfare about what’s showing up…oh, except for the Titans which DC seems to think is the only reason people are paying for the app. Sad to say, I haven’t watched any of the episode and when I tried to catch up on some of the comics, they were taken down a couple days after I started reading them…not very customer friendly.

If and when things change, I’ll jump back in more regularly with DC Comics but for now, I’m gonna slow down my first looks and see what other comic publishers have to offer.

For now though, here’s my last look at The Long Halloween. I might look to weekly installments to finish it off since I bought the book previously from Comixology and I don’t want to leave it hanging but I’m not nearly as enthused as I was so I’m not gonna be racing to finish it off quickly.

First Look at Batman: The Long Halloween – Part 8

Batman: The Long Halloween – Part 8

Mother’s Day by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. Published 1997 by DC Comics.

In the 8th part (of 13) of The Long Halloween, Harvey has stepped up his pursuit of Bruce Wayne and he’s determined to bring him in front of a jury to accuse him of colluding with The Roman. But while he’s screwing around pushing the bounds of legal inference, Batman is trying to figure out who the Holiday Killer is. It sure is interesting that Harvey is more interested in the organized crime syndicates in Gotham that the serial killer that’s been running around free for over 6 months.

In any case, as Batman questions Julian Day, the Calendar Man, about what information he may have about Holiday, he hears guards calling for help. Apparently since it’s Mother’s Day, someone allowed Scarecrow’s mother to visit. The only problem is that Johnathan Crane killed his mother years ago and whoever was allowed in to visit helped break him outta his cell. So now Batman has another insane criminal to deal with as the clock keeps ticking on Holiday.

Speaking of Holiday, he picked back up his spree after NOT killing Riddler on April Fool’s Day. For Mother’s Day he killed a man who reportedly was making custom .22 caliber guns for a customer every month, so he might be trying to cover his tracks, and he’s managing to stay one step ahead of everyone as Sofia Falcone Gigante, The Roman’s daughter, showed up to the scene of the murder shortly after the deed was done.

I give this issue a First Look Rating of a B-.

This comic can be found on DC Universe when they bring the series back into rotation, Comixology, or at your local comic book shop.

Daily Ramble 48: Frustration with DC Comics and A Slowdown of Halloween