Recently, I've had to give up my obsession with comic books, both the reading and collecting of. For someone who has spent literally hundreds of dollars on issues, trade paperbacks and hardcovers, giving up would require some monumental change.

Of course, everyone will blame the economy. With unemployment and cost of living increasing, people have less money to spend. The first things to go when pennies are pinched are the frivolous things: porno and comic books. What doesn't help is the increasingly expensive cost of comics. During my peak years, the long-standard price had been $2.25 until about 2005, when prices quickly creeped up to $3.99 (up to $4.99 or more for special titles).

While my article states that all comics are failing, I'm really just a Marvel reader and I can specifically pinpoint where they went wrong. DC has similar problems, so you can fill in some gaps with DC details with the same effect. Here's where Marvel went wrong: Starting with Brian Michael Bendis's monumental entrance into Marvel's main franchise, there was a new sense of "the crossover". What used to be short-lived tie-ins featuring Spider-Man and the X-Men defeating Magneto and the Green Goblin is now a multi-stage event that is orchestrated between multiple books and multiple arcs, spanning multiple years. In 2004, the Avengers were "Disassembled", leaving room for a new team of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Filling that gap shortly after was the New Avengers, including members never thought to be "team material" (Spider-Man, Sentry and Echo). That in itself was a great idea, bringing new ideas and themes to such a old publication, but it didn't stay still for long. Marvel's desire to "shake things up" had a San Andrean effect, causing ripples for years to come. I give credit to the gargantuan architecture, but the execution leaves us at times thinking, "Where is this going? What value does continuity have? Why should I keep reading if things are just going to change in six months?" Below is a list of Marvel's events since Bendis has taken the reigns:

• Disassembled (2004)
  • The Avengers break up after Scarlet Witch kills teammates, leaving a super power vacuum. New Avengers are formed by Captain America and Iron Man.
• House of M (2005)
  • New Avengers and X-Men decide to euthanize Scarlet Witch. She alters reality to make mutants the dominant species on Earth. Heroes revolt against the utopia and Scarlet Witch depowers 98% of mutants.
• Decimation (2005-2006)
  • 198 remaning mutants on Earth seek refuge at Xavier's. Government seeks to keep them isolated, dividing mutants into two camps.
• Annihilation (2005-2007)
  • Cosmic villain Annihilus kills billions in attempt to dominate galaxy. In retaliation,
• Civil War (2006-2007)
  • Government approves Super Human Registration Act, requiring all super powers to register or be interned (forever). Captain America leads heroes against registration, Iron Man leads heroes for it. After his defeat, Cap is assasinatied, captivating the Marvel U and real world.
• World War Hulk (2007
  • Hulk returns from exile and exacts revenge on the Illuminati. He is defeated an imprisoned by the government.
• Initiative (2007-2008)
  • Super humans enlist in military to cover all 50 states. Young heroes face the trials of military life and some pay the ultimate price for the chance to save lives.
• Secret Invasion (2008)
  • Reveal that shape-shifting aliens have infiltrated Earth since Disassembled, plotting heroes against each other and orchestrating humanity's destruction for the colonization of Earth.
• Dark Reign (2009)
  • Norman Osborn (Green Goblin) assumes command of SHIELD, the Avengers and the Initiative, rebranding them HAMMER and the Thunderbolts Initiative. He becomes America's hero after Iron Man is publicly disgraced.

As you can see, Marvel has not taken a break from events in five years. To be completely knowledgeable of the happenings in the Marvel U, you essentially need to read (buy) everything they print, at least the ones with "event banners" on the cover. It's too expensive to be feasible for the average consumer who just likes Wolverine to have to read Civil War to know why he was chasing Nitro for over a month. The only alternatives are to buy books at a cheaper price (off Amazon or in collection after the even is obsolete) or to get it for free off the Internet. This is good for consumers (and for the publisher, as long as they make money), but horrible for comic book stores, who have been suffering since the e-conomic revolution eliminated the middleman. When Marvel ties all of their expensive titles together, consumers have the choices of buying all or buying none. In this economy, they've made the wrong choice. They need to go back to independent titles that exist on their own, allowing Spider-Man to be Spider-Man and Wolverine to be Wolverine, etc. Of course, Marvel's answer to that is to have multiple titles for major characters. The previously mentioned characters have had each up to five titles simultaneously, the flag title being drawn into the event continuity and the rest being tertiary stories. This means that their effort goes into the flag titles and the tertiary character titles have no effort and are frequently for young readers. If you look at Marvel's weekly publication schedule, they have quite a bit on their plate, most of them relating to one another. They have spread themselves too thin.

Another thing that comics have forgotten is the "Editor's Note". What may seem like an obtrusive addition to the page, the note alerts and informs the reader that they may be missing context that is located in another issue or another title (great for crossovers). I'm sorry, Marvel, but even I need help sometimes referencing years of history. Civil War made fairly good use of notes, but they forgot one thing: to keep them for the paperbacks. While I was working at a comic book store during Civil War, many customers asked when it would be reprinted "in one big book" (yeah, Marvel will get right on collecting 200+ randomly integrated issues in one finitely organized book). Although they packed books in themes, they took out all of the editor's notes, meaning that people that waited to buy all the Civil War trades after the event finished would have no idea when they need additional context (especially if they don't buy that one trade). Amazing Spider-Man, following "One More Day", has reintorduced the ENs, but they're more obnoxious in their language than helpful to readers.

Leave it to an industry to make their consumers so dependent on them. Marvel, I love you and your stories, but I can't afford to stay informed on all of them. I will see you when comics get cheaper, become independent stories or I become very rich.