End Comic Continuity?

[Professor S]

The comic industry as a whole right now is steadily circling the bowl. This is disappointing to me considering how string the medium has been over the past few years. One thing that stikes me is that there was never a comic boom that couldn't be busted by publishers trying to cash in on giant "events" or sad attempts to create a unified universe is efforts to expand readership of other books.

Attempts at detailed universe continuity almost always fail. It's simply too big to manage and give weight to, and in the end these giant cross-overs just collapse under the weight of overwrought plots and too many writers.

I think there can be continuity, but it needs to be fluid and not as strict as D.C. and especially Marvel seem to dictate. Robert Kirkman does an excellent job of keeping a loosely tied together universe that allows for some crossover but doesn't restrict the individual storylines of his and Image's superhero books.

So, is it time to end the myth that a continuous comic universe is achieveable?