Before I get things started, I want to point out that I follow the American comic book industry, I buy and read certain titles, and I enjoy it. But I feel that this industry is in a sad pathetic state, so much so that I won't ever admit to the people that know me that I follow it.

Below are why I feel the American comic book industry is so pathetic:

1) Never ending stories. All good stories have a definite beginning and ending. But most american comic book sagas keep going on and on and on. They will never end. Spider-man, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, even newer ones like Spawn. Unless, they stop selling well.

"People keeping buying them, we'll continue putting them out to the end of time. Ending? There's no ending. They are evergreen. They never age." that's what the people running Marvel and DC would say to each other.

.... wait, I retract my earlier statment. Even if they don't sell well, they "reboot" the titles, or try other methods. "Heroes Reborn"... *shudders*

The American comic book industry should take a cue from the Japanese market, where while their comics (manga) run for years, they have definite endings and once it reaches its end, it ends for good and the title is retired.

2) Superhero dominated. Spider-Man, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, etc. Yawn....

3) Variant covers. Apparently to increase its collectibility. Pathetic.

4) Alternate universes. Marvel Universe. Ultimate Marvel universe. 2099 Marvel Universe. Heroes Reborn Marvel Universe. 1602 Marvel Universe. Manga Marvel Universe. They put the same characters into different universes. Yes, superheroes again.

5) Guest artists who replace the regular artist in the middle of a story arc.

6) Lazy superstar artists who never meet deadlines leading to titles being late for months (even years), and then an actual effort on part from the fan to keep in the know when this delayed title is due. *still waiting for Hunter-Killer #5, Wildsiderz #3, All Star Batman and Robin #3. Extremely grateful that Revelations is always on time.*

7) Characters who come back from the dead. If I had a nickel for every time that happened... If you think I'm exaggerating, you don't know your comics at all. Best example I can think of now, Aunt May (Spiderman). Turns out she wasn't dead all those many years (if I'm not mistaken, she was "dead" for more than a decade in the comics) and was actually kept by the Green Goblin somewhere and her death was faked by him.

8) Crossovers. Big events which brings together characters from different titles. It gets worst, sometimes they have company crossovers.

9) Continuity. Muddled and confusing superhero continuities. Highly inaccessible to newcomers. Try getting your dad to read Infinite Crisis.

10) The fans. They are just as responsible for the sorry state of the industry as the companies. Advice to comic fanboys. Buy less of corporate-owned superhero titles and more of creator-owned titles.

11) Making no common sense. More often than not, most american superhero comics have storylines and elements in them which make no sense. Such as villians capturing costumed superhero, and then not bothering to remove his mask to uncover his identity. Right now, the thing with the OMACs in DC comics is another great example.