Worst Crossover of 2008
Doom DeLuise says: Batman RIP!
While I enjoyed the Batman RIP story told within the pages of Batman proper, I can’t say that I much cared for dragging all of the other Bat-books into the big crossover event, as they never really interconnected in any sort of crossing-over fashion, aside from the fact that it was occasionally mentioned in Nightwing and Robin that Batman was busy taking care of other business or out of action for the time being.
I, for the most part, really enjoyed the stories told in Nightwing and Detective Comics, but why they were advertised as RIP tie-ins, I simply don’t know. I mean, Detective seems like it was telling a completely unrelated story about the latest threat from Hush. While Batman was taking care of that threat, he was roaming the streets of Gotham in his flagship title, high as a kite, thinking he was some Batman from an alternate reality. That doesn’t exactly line up.
So that’s my big complaint with this so-called “crossover.” Nothing crossed over.
Honorable Mention: Final Crisis
I’m not sure if this even counts as a crossover, but it certainly had a boatload of books that came out as a direct result of its existence, all of which were advertised as Final Crisis tie-ins. Other than the ones written by Grant Morrison, I have a hard time understanding why they even had the Final Crisis logo splashed on the cover.
I mean, honestly, how the heck is Legion of 3 Worlds going to have anything to do with Final Crisis?
Fin Fang Doom says: Secret Invasion!
I hate Skrulls. I really frakking hate Skrulls. They infested nearly every corner of the Marvel Universe in 2008, from New Avengers to Thunderbolts to She-Hulk to Deadpool and more. So if you were one of the folks who decided not to buy Secret Invasion, it turns out you didn’t get that option.
But I fought my own secret war on Secret Invasion. Skrulls appearing in Thunderbolts and Avengers: The Initiative led directly to me dropping those titles. I normally would have jumped at a new Deadpool series, but a SI crossover in the first three issues meant my first issue was #4. And X-Factor succumbed to a lethal dose of Skrull poisoning only one issue after the ill-fated X-Factor/She-Hulk SI crossover.
Jim Doom says: Secret Invasion!
I actually liked the main Secret Invasion series quite a bit, with the exception of the last issue. And I usually profess that a big event needs to be felt throughout the comic universe, or else it seems insignificant. In theory, that seems good, but in practice, I hate it. Guardians of the Galaxy was the only Secret Invasion crossover I liked. Otherwise, I quickly tired of the New Avengers and Mighty Avengers crossovers. I tried to keep up on others but just got so sick of Skrulls so quickly. I’ve heard that there were some good SI crossovers out there (maybe the Captain Britain one?) but eight months of it was just too much for me.
It is probably worth noting that this crossover gets the “Worst” title because I couldn’t think of very many crossovers. New Krypton has been good. I liked the Batman RIP tie-ins I read. And now I can’t think of any others. There’s probably an awful Spider-Man crossover, because it seems there’s always an awful Spider-Man crossover, but I don’t read Spider-Man.
Here’s what our picks were for Worst Crossover in years past:
2007:
Fin Fang Doom: Countdown
Doom DeLuise: The Lightning Saga
Jim Doom: Countdown
Doominator: Countdown2006:
Fin Fang Doom: Black Panther/Storm Wedding
Doom DeLuise: Brave New World
Jim Doom: Annihilation