What is the most convoluted title/run/series you have ever collected? 1 1

[Toz]

Been trying to finish a few runs and most are pretty straight forward.MOKF,Deadly Hands of Kung Fu,FF 100-400 and a few short runs.

I nominate Teen Titans.Before 1980 there was only the one run.New Teen Titans debuted in 1980 and had a good run.The title changed to Tales of TNTT and then the Baxter series came out in 1984.There was also a couple of Mini series thrown in for good measure. I have picked up some lots from later runs and while they look interesting,I will probably pass and cut off the 1980 & 1984 series where I'm at.

Tales of...,Teen Titans,New Titans. Just way too much for my old brain to try to process.

What's you choice?

[theCapraAegagrus]

Action Comics, Adventures of Superman, Man of Steel, and Superman Vol. 2 all ran at the same time in the 90's.

I'm not sure if you can get more convoluted than that.

[shadroch]

I'd say the Legion. First they bounced around as guest stars for a few years, then they had a solid run in Adventure for about 80 issues, before ending up as a backup in Action for a few issues.  Next they were the backup in  Superboy for a year before becoming the main story. After about five years , they changed the books title to The Legion and everything went smoothly until the Legion Baxter series premiered. For the next year, there were two series. The Baxter series was the main book but the old book, now called Tales of the Legion continued putting out new stories for a year. After that, the Tales of The Legion reprinted the Baxter series. 

Then The Crisis came and since Superboy no longer existed in the DC Universe, everything about the Legion had to change. since he was the reason the Legion was started. No Supergirl. No Mon-el since he was Superboy's adopted big brother who spent 1,000 years trapped in the now non-existent Phantom Zone. 

I won't even attempt to chart the Legions path after the Crisis but it branches off in literally dozens of branches.  You had LEGION 89 where a pseudo-legion operates in the present day, you had Legionnaires where younger versions of the Legion members mysteriously seem to have been cloned, you have at least a half dozen revamps. Honestly, I gave up years ago. 

 

Edited September 15, 2021 by shadroch

[Ken Aldred]

X-Men

Numerous multi-title crossovers, mini-series, solo series, title reboots, history revisions, Wolverine guest appearances everywhere.

It all got a bit out of control and far too much, really.

Edited September 15, 2021 by Ken Aldred

[Ken Aldred]

On 9/15/2021 at 6:09 PM, shadroch said:

I'd say the Legion. First they bounced around as guest stars for a few years, then they had a solid run in Adventure for about 80 issues, before ending up as a backup in Action for a few issues.  Next they were the backup in  Superboy for a year before becoming the main story. After about five years , they changed the books title to The Legion and everything went smoothly until the Legion Baxter series premiered. For the next year, there were two series. The Baxter series was the main book but the old book, now called Tales of the Legion continued putting out new stories for a year. After that, the Tales of The Legion reprinted the Baxter series. 

Then The Crisis came and since Superboy no longer existed in the DC Universe, everything about the Legion had to change. since he was the reason the Legion was started. No Supergirl. No Mon-el since he was Superboy's adopted big brother who spent 1,000 years trapped in the now non-existent Phantom Zone. 

I won't even attempt to chart the Legions path after the Crisis but it branches off in literally dozens of branches.  You had LEGION 89 where a pseudo-legion operates in the present day, you had Legionnaires where younger versions of the Legion members mysteriously seem to have been cloned, you have at least a half dozen revamps. Honestly, I gave up years ago. 

 

Legion’s a very good example. A lot of well-written and drawn series that I dip into occasionally, but very little consistency in the way they’re handled over the long term: choppy, poorly-integrated material.

Edited September 15, 2021 by Ken Aldred

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 9/15/2021 at 1:31 PM, Ken Aldred said:

X-Men

Numerous multi-title crossovers, mini-series, solo series, title reboots, history revisions, Wolverine guest appearances everywhere.

It all got a bit out of control and far too much, really.

X-Men is a good example. Uncanny, Amazing, Ultimate, Extraordinary, etc.

Probably a better example of being worse than my Superman one.

Edited September 15, 2021 by theCapraAegagrus

[Galen130]

On 9/15/2021 at 11:01 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

Action Comics, Adventures of Superman, Man of Steel, and Superman Vol. 2 all ran at the same time in the 90's.

I'm not sure if you can get more convoluted than that.

These runs I started buying and reading in the late 80’s and didn’t stop until 1998.  I have to agree…🤣

[Ken Aldred]

On 9/15/2021 at 7:05 PM, Galen130 said:

These runs I started buying and reading in the late 80’s and didn’t stop until 1998.  I have to agree…🤣

They were quite solid reads with lots of good art, especially getting them cheap for 25p from comic marts for a few years. Loads of UK-distributed remainder copies.

Edited September 15, 2021 by Ken Aldred

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 9/15/2021 at 2:05 PM, Galen130 said:

These runs I started buying and reading in the late 80’s and didn’t stop until 1998.  I have to agree…🤣

I was 3ish when Death of Superman happened. Trying to figure out the correct reading order was not fun. Buying the floppies was much cheaper than the omnibus (which I ended up getting 4 years later).

[Galen130]

On 9/15/2021 at 12:09 PM, Ken Aldred said:

They were quite solid reads with lots of good art, especially getting them cheap for 25p from comic marts for a few years.

Yeah, it was hard not to buy them…there were a lot.  Probably makes up about one-sixth of my collection.  Then there are all the Batman titles from the same time period. 

[Galen130]

On 9/15/2021 at 12:12 PM, theCapraAegagrus said:

I was 3ish when Death of Superman happened. Trying to figure out the correct reading order was not fun. Buying the floppies was much cheaper than the omnibus (which I ended up getting 4 years later).

God I’m old….thanks for that. 

[Ken Aldred]

On 9/15/2021 at 7:13 PM, Galen130 said:

God I’m old….thanks for that. 

I was pushing 30 at the time.

Trying to make you feel better. 

[djzombi]

On 9/15/2021 at 2:12 PM, theCapraAegagrus said:

I was 3ish when Death of Superman happened. Trying to figure out the correct reading order was not fun. Buying the floppies was much cheaper than the omnibus (which I ended up getting 4 years later).

That's why they had the triangle numbering, yes?  

[Galen130]

On 9/15/2021 at 12:15 PM, Ken Aldred said:

I was pushing 30 at the time.

Trying to make you feel better. 

A bit...a very little bit. 

[Ken Aldred]

One character that I gave up on following in the 80s, one of my all-time favourites, is Dr Fate. I always liked the original version, Kent Nelson, and I’m aware that the power of the Lord of Order, Nabu, is actually channelled via the Helmet of Fate and the person wearing it provides a physical manifestation, and that the role can be passed onto others, but, the chain of succession became so convoluted and uninteresting, with one mediocre change of host and series after another.

Here’s the history, which for me is a bit headache inducing…

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Fate

The consensus seems to agree with me, as Kent Nelson is the popular version in animated series and TV, and soon in the Black Adam film.

Edited September 15, 2021 by Ken Aldred

[Gatsby77]

Dark Horse Star Wars.

I mean, I get that aside from Dark Horse Presents, self-contained minis were their thing. But...it got ridiculous.

I was too young to collect the Marvel run and elated when the books restarted with Dark Empire # 1. I continued to collect through Dark Empire II, Tales of the Jedi (plus the Dark Horse Comics preview in 7-9), Droids, etc.

Ultimately amassed a full short box of various Dark Horse Star Wars (circa 1992-2000) before liquidating all of it in 2004 - and you couldn't give them away. I think my Dark Empire sets sold for $9 per via eBay; most of the rest didn't sell at all and ended up being wholesaled alongside ~80 issues of Savage Sword of Conan at auction for ~$.18 apiece.

[Toz]

Guess it's not just a Tittns thing huh? The X-men,Action/Superman,& The Legion did come to my mind but I didn't actively collect them.I did red X-men but only up to around # 250 & that's when I got out of comics the second time.

Great examples by the way.

[Lazyboy]

On 9/15/2021 at 1:12 PM, theCapraAegagrus said:

I was 3ish when Death of Superman happened. Trying to figure out the correct reading order was not fun. Buying the floppies was much cheaper than the omnibus (which I ended up getting 4 years later).

There's nothing difficult about the reading order of the regular Superman titles in the 90s (at least starting in 1991).

 

[Ken Aldred]

They could do with a similar triangle system on modern, interlinked storylines. As much as I like, for example, Jonathan Hickman’s flow diagrams inside his crossover comics, a cover indicator such as the triangle is much easier.  However, some crossovers are so convoluted, such as Forever Evil was, with ongoing titles, mini-series and a glut of largely irrelevant (Villains) one-shots that precisely sequencing everything published that’s vital to the overall narrative becomes practically impossible.

90s Superman was a task of incredibly simple organisation, in comparison.

Edited September 15, 2021 by Ken Aldred

[Jesse-Lee]

Final Crisis