It took them fourteen years to do it, too.

It was a long, arduous process, but Marvel finally lost me as a reader. This isn't some grand, OMG I'LL NEVER READ THEIR BOOKS AGAIN statement, a la One More Day or Civil War. No, this was a steady stream of making creative decisions that turned me off of one book after another, until there were none left.

Spider-Man was probably the first to go, although One More Day wasn't the breaking point. Oh, I hated OMD for all the obvious and non-obvious reasons (MJ Fan fo' life), but the talent pool lined up for Brand New Day intrigued me. And I was willing to give them a chance, especially considering people like Roger Stern (<3) saying that Spidey is fundamentally more workable as a single character. Now, I wasn't sure I agreed, but if writers were honestly ham-strung by the marriage, then I suppose I should let them put their money where their mouth was. Dazzle me!

And...I was not dazzled. Ironically, it wasn't the new villains that irritated me, (I liked Mr. Negative, Overdrive, Screwball and Paper Doll), or the new supporting cast, or even the return of Harry Osborn (although he's fallen right back into the same Is He Evil or Isn't He? rut he'd been in just prior to his death). No, it was Peter Parker himself.

The character has effectively been neutered with the OMD-induced realization that he's never going to change. He's even becoming tangential to the stories he's in, being a bystander through most of the Character Assassination arc. When even Aunt Freaking May has a more interesting sub-plot going on than the main character....

I stuck around up to New Ways to Die, mostly because Eddie Brock and the Thunderbolts intrigued me. But I had to force myself through the new Kraven arc, because Kraven will always suck, no matter who he/she/it is. And it was a pretty stupid arc to begin with. But getting to NWtD is when I realized how inconsequential Peter Parker is in his own book. He's a victim of circumstance.

And NWtD also turned me off of another old favorite: Eddie Brock. Sure, Eddie was written as consistently as he'd ever been, but...I just didn't care anymore. When I was younger, I though Brock-Venom was the shiznit, but now that I'm older...well, Eddie whines a lot. And gets preachy for absolutely no reason. And is kind of annoying. Now that I'm long past my teen angst phase, I don't find his character appealing anymore.

Of course, Spidey had another strike against him that was beyond his control: he was my first comic book hero, and the one I followed the most extensively. I mentioned a couple posts back that the original Hobgoblin was really the only major Spidey arc I hadn't read, and...well, it's harder and harder to 'wow' me with Spidey. I've seen it all before at this point.

Besides, any and all Spider-Man is going to pale in comparison to the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon at this point.

New Avengers was next; I just got tired of the post-Civil War status quo of...well, I'm not sure what they're really about, now. The group's very reactionary. And when Clint Barton is a valid contender against Bullseye for the title of "Most Psychotic Person to Wear a Hawkeye Uniform", I'm not heavily inclined to keep following.

I kind of liked Avengers: Initiative, but just about every plot line was comandeered for Secret Invasion. Alas.

The X-Men just can't decide what the heck they've been about since House Of M. I liked Whedon's run well enough, but afterward, you've got Messiah Complex, which blew everything up. Manifest Destiny sent them to San Fran. And now Utopia sent them onto a private island, or whatever that was supposed to be. That's, what, four or five status quo's they've gone through in eighteen months? Gah.

I liked X-Force in a "shoot 'em up" action movie sort of way, but it keeps getting sidetracked for crossovers I don't care about.

I was only ever interested in Captain America when Bucky Barnes was in the role, so...

I've never been able to care about the Hulk, no matter what color they make him.

I gave the new Thunderbolts a chance, and while I like the characters that compose them, for some reason the new direction hasn't clicked with me. I was pretty much holding on in hope of Songbird coming back and kicking ass.

That pretty much leaves Dark Avengers. And I've come to the dawning revelation that the book is going to be taken apart and put back together again after the events of Siege. And I really don't look forward to Siege in general, because I don't like Thor or his mythos.

But while all this is going on, I'm really enjoying the new status quo in the Batman books in the wake of Final Crisis. I like the Third Man, Spoiler, Nightwing, and the Gotham Girls, and they've all got their own titles now. Plus, Bagley on Batman, Hush being used well, and more of Morrison's head-trippiness. And yes, Bruce will return before the end of 2010, but that won't necessitate a complete rejiggering of the status quo.

I also kind of like Green Lantern, but I'll wait until the Blackest Night craziness dies down before committing to that. Or when Larfleeze gets his own series. Whichever comes first.