You mean like crossover events that span a multitude of different titles? I think they're pretty much big marketing gimmicks & I don't like them. I'm loving Blackest Night, but I'm still not buying every Blackest Night tie-in. - josh neff, geek at large

I'd like them better if they were done in a very short period of time and self contained, but most of the events themselves are fine. What I don' t like are the ancillary books that are often uneven. For instance, in Secret Invasion, the Captain Britain title was great, but I don't think anything else was very good. The Young Avengers in particular seemed blah. I am looking forward to Siege, more than I care to admit. - RAPatton

So are you both saying that the problem is not with the main miniseries, but rather the "everything else"? Or do you evaluate this stuff on a case by case basis? Has an event ever caused you to drop a title? - Derek Coward

I dropped the non Ultimate Spider-man titles because of Brand New Day, and I read a lot less of 616 Marvel after Civil War because I disagreed with the characterizations of Tony Stark and Steve Rogers in particular. I don't think a DC event has irritated me, but they have the same issues with periphery series. - RAPatton

There are some crossever events where I've liked the overall story (like Blackest Night, for example), but I don't need or want huge storylines that tie lots of different titles together & push me to buy more than I already do. I'd be happy with a couple of titles that tie a bigger setting together (like a couple of team-up books) & having the occasional crossover between a couple of titles, with the emphasis on self-contained titles. But I understand that with a steady decline in regular comics sales, doing what you can to get people to buy more is a smart thing to do from a business standpoint. - josh neff, geek at large

I think in Marvel's case, the company events are now flowing through their Avengers titles which is where they should be. DC's are more hodge podge, because the Justice League titles aren't gelling. I do think the Superman titles have a good synergy (everyone cringed from that word choice?) right now, and are almost their own expanded universe at this point - RAPatton

Which do you prefer, the ones that are based around a single miniseries and branch out from there (like World War Hulk), ones that have no corresponding miniseries but rather capture a "moment in time" (like Dark Reign) or ones that are miniseries that lead to other miniseries (like how the Countdown to Infinite Crisis minis lead to Infinite Crisis)? - Derek Coward

If it's organic, comes about naturally, I don't have a problem. I like that the publishers are putting out minis (SI: Spider-Man, BN: Batman) instead of disrupting the flow of the ongoing. If this is supposed to 'change the fabric of their universe' (COIE), then I can see why it would be company-wide. If it only 'changes the lives of these characters FOREVER' (Siege), then keeping it contained to their titles and team books makes sense. If Asgard crashes down in Manhattan as Spidey swings by, throw an editor's note in the panel. It doesn't need a Siege banner in my eyes. - David Price

I like single miniseries that branch organically. I don't think of Dark Reign as an event, so much as a period in time. I didn't like Countdown because it was boring, but i liked 52 a lot, but their World War tie ins were bad. I thought it was a good idea, just poorly implemented and superfluous. - RAPatton

I don't read them, I don't like them. Best case is that I can avoid them on move on. Not reading Blackest Night, didn't read Secret Invasion, actively dislike Dark Reign. I'm hoping that it finishes soon enough and leaves things alone. I think these company wide crossovers are in part why sales slide - they increase the cost and time it takes to care about the company. In my case, it teaches me that I don't care that much. - Dave Slusher

Darkest Night is ok. I am reading it, and the superman tie in (good), batman tie in (wasn't that good), but somehow I haven't read all the green lantern tie-ins and I don't know that I harms it that much. I'd just rather Darkest Night some out all at once. like 8 in 2-3 month period. I've been liking the twice a month nature of X-Men Forever - RAPatton

At the same time, I like cross pollination that is natural and whenever you read a B level team like Teen Titans and they have to save all of existence you always have to ask yourself why they don't call in the Justice League - RAPatton