Un-fucking-BELIEVABLE

Or: REALLY Un-fucking-believable

I was going to post a Season 4 review of "The Dead Zone", but just as I was wrapping it up, I discovered that the Image series "Small Gods" has been cancelled as of issue 12.

Right now? Every negative thought I have about this talent-forsaken industry feels justified. I've always taken the stance that there's enough good material out there to balance out the enormous amount of subpar crap we have to wade through. But when a quality book is cancelled while Marvel and DC flood the shelves with meaningless tie-ins to even more meaningless events, I can't help despairing.

Because, really, what does it take? What does it take for a good book to succeed these days? "Small Gods" was well-written, the art was great, it had a premise that allowed a lot of room to maneuver... so why did its sales plummet into the cancellation zone? Lack of advertising? Lack of reader interest?

What is WRONG with these people? Is this really the kind of market they want? Where any good idea that doesn't revolve around superheroes is rewarded with swift cancellation while Frank Miller writes meaningless drivel? Where an original concept and excellent execution of that concept gets axed while "Spawn" just goes on and on?

This is just not right. Not on any level. It's infuriating that no quality book can seem to stand without those crutches. Sure, said crutches have given us very good stories. But we are all rapidly running out of viable alternatives when we want to take a break from the spandex and try something different.

I'm not the Chicken Little type. Most of the time, I don't actually believe the comics industry is moving towards some apocalyptic collapse. But at times like these - when creativity is cut off at the knees while repetition earns moans of awe and delight - I almost wish it would. Because maybe if the whole thing came crashing down once and for all, the next incarnation would be a place where a series like "Small Gods" could thrive.