@CaptShazam, I think there are definitely still some titles out there you can do that with. The Umbrella Academy being a great example, Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE is a lot of wackiness, Deadpool is generally pretty fun (if a little bloody). I see what you're saying, but they really just don't make comics for kids anymore.
Somehow I missed Umbrella Academy and I feel like a goof for it. I will pick it up next time I get a chance.
I think we are very like minded on this issue. While there is definitely room in the market for all types of books, I just want a few fun superhero books. I think that I may just be a grumpy (kind of) old comic book fan and not in the mainstream of fandom anymore.
The Bleeding Cool article then lists some books/creators that have had issues.
"It’s the reason Gail Simone walked off Firestorm, it’s the reason Paul Cornell walked off Stormwatch, it’s the reason John Rozum walked off Static Shock."
Who are/were the editors for those books?
I would just remind people about Marvel in the mid 90's...look at what creators back then were saying about how books were done with editors dictating to writers what they would write, dialogue being changed to tell a different story than what was plotted (or drawn). Then think about who was in charge of Marvel back then.
I think we're REALLY going to see more and more creators moving away from DC (and Marvel to a lesser extent) and setting up over at Image for self-publishing.
Which is a very good thing.
Isn't this a bad thing tho as so many readers dont read indie books?
It seems even now your average comic fan won't read anything that isn't from the big 4 or a licensed property. Which is sad cause there is so many great books out there that aren't from the big 4.
big 4? we have a big 4 now? is that Image and Dark Horse? or Dynamite and Boom!? ( that was mostly an explosion joke)
Detective was "canceled" twice (once in 1977 and once in 1983) and then was "uncanceled" the Monday after as DC didn't want to end the comic their name was based on.
The Bleeding Cool article then lists some books/creators that have had issues.
"It’s the reason Gail Simone walked off Firestorm, it’s the reason Paul Cornell walked off Stormwatch, it’s the reason John Rozum walked off Static Shock."
Who are/were the editors for those books?
I would just remind people about Marvel in the mid 90's...look at what creators back then were saying about how books were done with editors dictating to writers what they would write, dialogue being changed to tell a different story than what was plotted (or drawn). Then think about who was in charge of Marvel back then.
I think we're REALLY going to see more and more creators moving away from DC (and Marvel to a lesser extent) and setting up over at Image for self-publishing.
Which is a very good thing.
Isn't this a bad thing tho as so many readers dont read indie books?
It seems even now your average comic fan won't read anything that isn't from the big 4 or a licensed property. Which is sad cause there is so many great books out there that aren't from the big 4.
big 4? we have a big 4 now? is that Image and Dark Horse? or Dynamite and Boom!? ( that was mostly an explosion joke)
Marvel,DC,Image and Dark Horse=Big 4.
Unless I'm wrong on the sales numbers, I think you're overestimating Image and Dark Horse.
(note that the overestimation is referring to sales, not quality.... definitely not quality)
The Bleeding Cool article then lists some books/creators that have had issues.
"It’s the reason Gail Simone walked off Firestorm, it’s the reason Paul Cornell walked off Stormwatch, it’s the reason John Rozum walked off Static Shock."
Who are/were the editors for those books?
I would just remind people about Marvel in the mid 90's...look at what creators back then were saying about how books were done with editors dictating to writers what they would write, dialogue being changed to tell a different story than what was plotted (or drawn). Then think about who was in charge of Marvel back then.
I think we're REALLY going to see more and more creators moving away from DC (and Marvel to a lesser extent) and setting up over at Image for self-publishing.
Which is a very good thing.
Isn't this a bad thing tho as so many readers dont read indie books?
It seems even now your average comic fan won't read anything that isn't from the big 4 or a licensed property. Which is sad cause there is so many great books out there that aren't from the big 4.
big 4? we have a big 4 now? is that Image and Dark Horse? or Dynamite and Boom!? ( that was mostly an explosion joke)
Marvel,DC,Image and Dark Horse=Big 4.
Unless I'm wrong on the sales numbers, I think you're overestimating Image and Dark Horse.
(note that the overestimation is referring to sales, not quality.... definitely not quality)
Aren't Image and Dark Horse at the front of the catalog like DC is? That is the reasoning I have heard people refer to them as part of the "Big 4".
Detective was "canceled" twice (once in 1977 and once in 1983) and then was "uncanceled" the Monday after as DC didn't want to end the comic their name was based on.
wait.... what??
You never heard about that? It's how Detective Comics became "Detective Comics starring The Batman Family" in the late 70's. IT was cancelled, and then they decided to save it by folding the MUCH more successful Batman Family into it.
Dick Giordano talked often about cancelling Detective (I think in 1983...?) on a Friday afternoon and then changing his mind over the weekend and uncancelling it when he got back to the Office on Monday.
So has the "Liefeld may suck but he sells books" myth finally been dispelled?
He will definently sell more books in the future. My problem is not that he is a "bad" artist. Its that he makes poor decisions with his art. And hes a bad writer. A really bad writer.
Wow. I just read the the deluxe hardback of Batman Incorporated and could not have been more disappointed. Well... I suppose I could have been. But seriously, this was not what I was expecting.
I can't say I'm very familiar with Grant Morrison, so maybe thats why I didn't expect this. I read the Stephanie Brown centered issue sometime last year and read another one from the library. I loved the idea of Batman going around and recruiting others, but overall there were many about this series that bothered me. Non-spoiler review below.
In no particular order:
1) The violence: I know, comics have a lot of violence and of course Batman's books tend to have murders or other crimes that Bats investigates or stops a violent plot. But this series seemed to have waaaaay more violence than I've been accustomed to in comics and was treated in such a fashion like it was no big deal. Splattering blood that completely covers people and gets all over everything is a near constant. In issue two I think a hospital is blown to bits, cars and bodies flying everywhere, and then its never mentioned again. Like all that had no weight for anyone whatsoever. People get run over, stabbed, beheaded, shot, have their faces melted off and it just keeps on rolling.
2) The trippy time line. Individual issues have sometimes constant shifting back and forth in time. Sometimes it seems to be only hours that its cutting between, sometimes days... in other issues years.
3) Outright refusal to explain anything: Several times Batman would say something to his group like "All right, I need to explain to you what I've seen, what I know, and what Leviathan is...." Smashcut to the conversation is over and us, the reader, didn't get so see any of this explanation. To me that's just laziness.
4) sometimes little things, like that Robot Bats. Thats not what I read Batman for. Batman is not science fiction. Its not robots and space ships and never-ending power sources created by "meta materials". Also, Lucius explaining that each Bat Robot can be built for $5,000 and will easily cost less than a cheap hatchback car is SUCH A LOAD OF BS. That's just flat out ridiculous. Sure, its a "small" thing, but its the type of thing that if you see that in a comic, TV show, or movie it makes you stop and go "uh.... WHAT?" It rips you out of the story. At least it did me.
Like I said, I like the idea of Batman recruiting others... but not the execution.
Comments
I think we are very like minded on this issue. While there is definitely room in the market for all types of books, I just want a few fun superhero books. I think that I may just be a grumpy (kind of) old comic book fan and not in the mainstream of fandom anymore.
(note that the overestimation is referring to sales, not quality.... definitely not quality)
Dick Giordano talked often about cancelling Detective (I think in 1983...?) on a Friday afternoon and then changing his mind over the weekend and uncancelling it when he got back to the Office on Monday.
I can't say I'm very familiar with Grant Morrison, so maybe thats why I didn't expect this. I read the Stephanie Brown centered issue sometime last year and read another one from the library. I loved the idea of Batman going around and recruiting others, but overall there were many about this series that bothered me. Non-spoiler review below.
In no particular order:
1) The violence: I know, comics have a lot of violence and of course Batman's books tend to have murders or other crimes that Bats investigates or stops a violent plot. But this series seemed to have waaaaay more violence than I've been accustomed to in comics and was treated in such a fashion like it was no big deal. Splattering blood that completely covers people and gets all over everything is a near constant. In issue two I think a hospital is blown to bits, cars and bodies flying everywhere, and then its never mentioned again. Like all that had no weight for anyone whatsoever. People get run over, stabbed, beheaded, shot, have their faces melted off and it just keeps on rolling.
2) The trippy time line. Individual issues have sometimes constant shifting back and forth in time. Sometimes it seems to be only hours that its cutting between, sometimes days... in other issues years.
3) Outright refusal to explain anything: Several times Batman would say something to his group like "All right, I need to explain to you what I've seen, what I know, and what Leviathan is...." Smashcut to the conversation is over and us, the reader, didn't get so see any of this explanation. To me that's just laziness.
4) sometimes little things, like that Robot Bats. Thats not what I read Batman for. Batman is not science fiction. Its not robots and space ships and never-ending power sources created by "meta materials". Also, Lucius explaining that each Bat Robot can be built for $5,000 and will easily cost less than a cheap hatchback car is SUCH A LOAD OF BS. That's just flat out ridiculous. Sure, its a "small" thing, but its the type of thing that if you see that in a comic, TV show, or movie it makes you stop and go "uh.... WHAT?" It rips you out of the story. At least it did me.
Like I said, I like the idea of Batman recruiting others... but not the execution.