A couple times a year, the “Big Two” put out some end-all-be-all story that is so epic that it takes over all the single issue comics. I remember reading Ghost Rider, loving the book, but I ended up throwing a fit when World War Hulk was out because the WWH tie-in issue was worthless. It was a whole issue of Ghost Rider riding his bike around, until the final page, which is burned into my memory forever. It’s Ghost Rider stopped in front of Hulk. The final page of a supposed tie-in issue. The second tie-in for it was 20 pages of fighting, followed by Hulk and Ghost Rider looking at each other and Ghost Rider riding off. 100% worthless. I really enjoyed the main storyline of World War Hulk, but all the tie-ins I read seemed not only forced but pointless. I feel this time every year when DC or Marvel puts out a “summer blockbuster” story. I usually enjoy the main storyline, but sometimes these tie-ins just become too much.

I’ve noticed this problem even more with Blackest Night. I’ve waited for this storyline as long as everyone else has. I’ve been very excited, and, for me, this book lives up to the hype. At first, the stories didn’t force their way into other books. Superman, Batman, and the Titans all had 3-issue arcs that didn’t affect those main titles. However, a few months after that I noticed that Blackest Night leaked its way into numerous books. Some of them are understandable, especially books like Booster Gold, JLA, and Teen Titans. I don’t understand why books like Superman/Batman are tie-ins. The book is about Bizarro, Solomon Grundy, and Man-Bat. No Superman or Batman in sight. A few others are just not that great overall. The stories feel forced.

Why does this upset me?

Well let’s say you’re reading your favorite book. You’re really enjoying the current story, and then half-way through, you get a 3 month break so a new writer and artist can come in and tell the main even storyline going on. Your book now becomes a tie-in and you’re stuck with mediocrity for 3 issues waiting to get back to the story you’ve been enjoying. It’s not fair to the fans. If they want to read about how their characters are affected within this storyline, they should separate it like Blackest Night: Batman, Superman, and Titans did. It makes more sense. Also take into consideration that people like myself and others want to read every tie-in involved with Blackest Night. I’m getting a couple tie-ins a week that aren’t that great. That’s a lot of not-so-great reading that tie-in to a story that is really great. This brings the awesomeness average per book down.

Summer events are a lot of fun. They always involve very intriguing and controversial storylines that keep people talking; however, when it comes to all the issues involved, it tends to get a little crazy. What do you guys think? Do you like random tie-ins? Or are you like me, full of the Red Lantern’s Rage?

I totally agree...some of the Civil War tie ins were horrible. Same with House of M and Secret war.

If I could afford to buy all the comics that I wanted, it wouldn't matter. So it feels like I missed out on something even though someone will say "This tie-in isn't relevant to the main story arc. You don't need to get it." It's that completist in me almost like OCD. 
 
The first big event I remember from Marvel was the  Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars in 1985. It had connections to other titles but it was not promoted as a crossover event. I didn't feel a need to buy other books although I was already buying most of those books. The promotion and marketing of these events has changed a lot since the 1980s. It would be more convenient if it was just a mini series that touched on other titles similar to Secret Wars.

I HATE THEM, I HATE THEEEEEEEEEEEEEEMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"As I think we all know, I detest the tie-ins ruining titles to the point that I just don't really read mainstream comics anymore...I mean I can't even remember the last time Marvel hasn't been in a major story arc that ties into EVERYTHING! And DC, well actually I guess they've even been in that phase longer (since the Crisis of Infinite Earths) but at least with them it seems more contained in the story arc title itself I had always thought, until Blackest Night... "

Most tie-in's don't bother me but the ghost rider/WWH was a prime example of how they should never be done...ever!

i think the pointless tie ins are frustrating, but understandable from a business perspective. of coarse, as a reader i could care less about the business side of things, i just want my good stories. when theyre forced into the main books, its annoying. but limited series, im okay with it. 
 
  
the only things that really frustrate me are things like the batman/superman tie in w/ blackest night, since batman and superman arent actually in it. or the spiderman secret invasion tie in. spider-man was in for like a second. so stupid.

good. i'm not the only angry one

The crossovers are bankrupting, but I do think the idea of a Man-Bat/ Bizarro team  up awesome

To me the perfect model for a big event (that could have been applied to a company wide event) was Sinestro Corps War. GL and GLC handling the main story and one shots as tie-ins. I really hoped that Blackest Night would be handled the same way, with the main arc in Blackest night 1-8 and 1 or 2 issue tie-ins to expand on necessary plot points. Unfortunately they're trying to squeeze every penny they can out of any book they have due to all the BN hype.  
  
...thing is, if you're not buying a certain book (cuz you don't like/care about the characters), then Blackest night tie-in or not, you STILL wont buy it! 
 
I'd be willing to get as many tie-ins as they'd like to make, as long as they're separate from on going titles. and leave each monthly series alone... having them all get a tie in is beating the horrse dead, in my opinion.  so yeah, you can hear my red ring go "RAGE" right about now...

Yes yes yes! There are way too many tie-ins lately, its very frustrating.  Most of them are useless & add nothing to the main story. Hell I'm only buying most of the tie ins for Blackest Night so I can get the Lantern Rings.

Blackest night just need to stick to Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and the Lantern Corps.

There's no question cross-overs can be mind-numbing interruptions to a great run in a title. Take for instance, Peter David's X-Factor. When Secret Invasion reared its ugly head, David basically shit the bed and just faxed in a nasty xerox of a story. However, he admitted later that he just wanted to get the obligatory cross-over over with. However, cross-overs help boost the sales of some titles that may be well-written but people are missing the boat (see Wonder Woman).
 
Now, flip the perspective to the other side of this coin. People who collect cross-overs on a budget can't collect every thing and depend on the main title to direct them. I noticed in Green Lantern that you need at least $9-12 to follow this title because there are several different things going on. Still, its not as bad as Dark Reign that has no core book but just satellite books where Siege is going to confuse you to all the different strands of plot spread out all over the marvel U. 
 
So while I do believe massive events help push sales, its the level of organization that really is the deciding factor.

I couldn't agree more. I remember the vast majority of the WWH tie-ins were barely connected to the main story and were probably just there to show how a specific hero fared against the Hulk.

The Blackest night tie-ins are little heavy on the one shots, but for the most part they've been pretty good. I am tired of hearing the Superman/Batman not having them in it. You knew they weren't going to be in it, it wasn't that big of a surprise, yes they could have put the story under a different title like the "Solmon Grundy" series or "Bizarro/ Man-bat", but they didn't so get over it. The one thing I'm having a problem with is the releases in January. These rereleases of stories that tie into the tie-ins instead the next Blackest Night book.

Right with you inferiorego.
 
 

Cross overs are great, in small doses.

I don't really mind as long as they fit naturally with where the story was going in the first place...some of them work some of them don't 
 
the worst that I remember was during Onslaught where every single book that Marvel was putting out had some sort of tie-in issue...the nice part about it was that they let you know if it was going to be a major tie-in or if you were only going to see how the event was effecting minor character's lives...like the Spider-man tie-in was only about Spider-man (Ben Reilly at the time) and Peter Parker fighting a few of the sentinels that Onslaught had let lose on New York so that issue didn't really seem forced since it made sense that with all those sentinels running around that Spider-man would run into them 
 
for the most part I've really enjoyed the Blackest Night tie-in issues...I have to agree that Superman/Batman was dumb....the only one that I really questioned was the Teen Titans tie-in that had Ravager and Deathstroke being targeted by the BL's...it just didn't make sense that Necron felt that they should have been targeted

" I have to agree that Superman/Batman was dumb....the only one that I really questioned was the Teen Titans tie-in that had Ravager and Deathstroke being targeted by the BL's...it just didn't make sense that Necron felt that they should have been targeted "

" @danhimself said:

" I have to agree that Superman/Batman was dumb....the only one that I really questioned was the Teen Titans tie-in that had Ravager and Deathstroke being targeted by the BL's...it just didn't make sense that Necron felt that they should have been targeted "

See, I really liked the Super/Bat issue, but I feel it should have been a stand-alone 2 part BN comic, not part of the Superman/Batman book. "

Meh, they dont bother me to much, some are good some are bad thats life. I personally think what marvel is doing with Dark reign is great gets me invested in the universe and all its wonderful characters. I have been enjoying it a lot, A new way to do an event. Might not like it, but you have to admit its a pretty cool way to try to do an event in a different way.
 
But I do agree that some tie in just should not do it and stay on track, but then again you will have people saying "well what happened to them when this was happening, that's dumb". ha ha so you cant win in these arguments.

the tie-ins are kind of annoying at times, but i like most of them. 
 The stories like Infinite Crisis and Civil War kindof demand them. When the entire world or universe is being changed by the story, it only makes sense for all of the other comics to make reference.
 For the most part, i love the tie ins. When done correctly, they give you an awesome look at the characters. a chance to see their specific responses to the world/life shattering events in question. 
 The downsides are the sometimes lackluster story telling and yes, the interuptions of stories, whether they be one week or 4 months. But honestly, if your a huge fan of the character, you like seeing them involved lie this. You like seeing them fight off the emotions brought about by the return of their dead parents. You like seeing exactly what their part in the fight to save the galaxy was.
 and if your not that big of a fan, then you can consider these stories filler, or just not buy them for a couple of months and enjoy your other, favorite titles until the event is done. 

Most shouldn't happen but some of them are excellent... A crossover CAN be a good thing when executed properly, and without bankrupting the buyers who are trying to keep up with all of the action.

I want to start by saying, no offense to anyone that like these books. But all of the books that have tie-ins are either very low selling or crap. Here are the books that have gotten minis:

•  Batman-high sales and in the middle of an important story.
  
• Superman-good sales and in the middle of an important story.
  
• Titans- I'm not sure how this one got a mini.
  
• JSA-high sales and in the middle of an important story.
•  The Flash-doesn't have a series.
•  Wonder Woman-great writing.

• JLA-CRAP
• Teen Titans-crap and this will most likly be a jumping off point for Deathstroke's new Titans.
  
• Superman/Batman-not going anywhere and is going to be nothing but a tie-in book after Blackest Night.
  
• R.E.B.E.L.S.- very low sales and Blackest Night is really just a sub-plot.
  
• Secret Six-low selling and really just uses Blackest Night to start it's next arc.
  
• Booster Gold-low selling, so-so writing, and be honest you want to see Ted vs. Booster.
• Doom Patrol-low sales and this would be a good excuse to get people to start buying this new series.
• Adventure Comics-written by Geoff Johns.
  
• Outsiders-low sales and is going no where right now.
  
• Green Arrow- not only is it double shipping in Febuary but it's also one of DC's worst books.

• Sorry, more bullet points. :P
• Weird Western Tales #71-DC could have made Jonha Hex a tie-in book.
• Catwoman #83- This takes place of a GC:Sirens tie-in.
• The Question #37-They could have used Streets of Gotham or Detective Comics for a tie-in.
• Power of Shazam #48- This takes the place of JSA.

• YOU B#STARDS- BETTER START BUYING REBELS AND SECRET SIX AFTER THIS!

I enjoy crossovers as long as it flows nicely into the the comic series. I agree that some of them like WorId War Hulk tie ins were useless, but I enjoyed Civil War and Dark Reign is pretty enjoyable so far. I get all the books related to Marvel's Earth-616 and D.C.'s New-Earth anyway so I don't feel like I'm forced to buy them. You don't need to pick up every tie-in to follow the story anyway. It's not like when we had stuff like 'Maximum Carnage'  and major Batman storylines in the 90s  that forced you buy different books to follow the story.

See, Sinestro Corps war was NOT considered a big event. In fact, if you remember DC didn't push it at all. They weren't sure they could trust Johns. The reason why Blackest Night is so big is because DC felt they dropped the ball during the Sinestro Corps war event. Don't take my word for it, IGN Smash Podcast reported about it months before Blackest Night kicked off.

I normally don´t read the crossovers from the big two because you need to spend too much money to get  every detail. And I hate it when something big happens that affects the title I enjoy.
Crossovers by smaller companies like TOP COW, I´m enjoying. Big events are great when your purse hasn´t to suffer too much.

I have been waiting for a conclusion to Superman/Batman 64 but Ive had to wait through the Halloween special andnow the two BN issues = no bueno for me

I don't understand why people think that they have to buy all the tie-ins in a crossover to understand what's going on. Do you think titles like the recent Skull Kill Krew  mini affected the Dark Reign storyline in any significant way? If you have no interest in a particular title there's no reason to buy it just because it says it ties in to an event. The only time it really sucks is when it interferes with an already ongoing story.

"...I have to agree that Superman/Batman was dumb....the only one that I really questioned was the Teen Titans tie-in that had Ravager and Deathstroke being targeted by the BL's...it just didn't make sense that Necron felt that they should have been targeted "

"Right with you inferiorego.
 
 

   1:35 "

"The cross-overs are annoying, and seem never-ending.  What used to annoy (and slightly confuse) me was the 'fifth week'' events.  All regular comics were tied in to pointless spin-off cross-overs where the heroes were seen in the year 1,000,000 or de-aged into children, or turned into apes, etc etc...   But cross-overs sell.  And until fans stop buying these gimmicks, the companies will continue to cater to the fans' hunger for more junk-story telling. "

With Civil War, Secret Invasion, Infinite Crisis, and especially Dark Reign is agree with you. They just keep going on and on and on. Marvel is really doing a terrible job with marketing, pricing their comics, and telling stories. Dark Reign has been too much of a story, and one that is really expensive. Now with the Siege happening, they are going to keep continuing their quest of getting all the money from their fans they can get. With Blackest Night however, I have a different view. D.C. are the good ones because they know how to tell an incredible story, and at the same time, the6y are not charging you a dollar more in their tie-in books. D.C. plans ahead of time, while Marvel just    throws out an arc, and robs fans wallets. D.C. are the ones on top in my books right now, defenitly not Marvel.  

the only problem I have with them rushing so many events is that their isn't enough time for you to get used to the new status quo before the next event sets up a new one 
 
I really liked the first New Avengers team but before there was any time to get used to them and have some good stories with that team "Civil War" came along and changed everything....I just want some time to get used to things before they change them up again

" @inferiorego: Yeah, Batman Streets Of Gotham has a Manunter back-up, and that book is charged $3.99 I believe. "