tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post5194539287474152630..comments2023-09-07T22:24:51.654-05:00Comments on League of Melbotis: Things I Could Do Without Seeing In Comics Ever AgainThe Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836241071795980225noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post-82597423518297753562007-09-11T18:16:00.000-05:002007-09-11T18:16:00.000-05:00Hear hear!Time travel is a particular bone with me...Hear hear!<BR/><BR/>Time travel is a particular bone with me. I love and hate it, but mostly I hate it. It never makes sense, it's too great a plot point (too easy to undead someone or correct a horrible mistake).Michael Corleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01441107947600810769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post-17256800409051643912007-09-11T10:32:00.000-05:002007-09-11T10:32:00.000-05:00I more or less agree. I do think superhero comics ...I more or less agree. I do think superhero comics try to break the mold, sometimes more successfully than others. Those stories of superheroes that do move beyond the tired tropes of the medium, or which manage to use the tropes in a new light, are the ones that keep me excited not just about comics, but superhero comics in general.<BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, as with any medium and genre, 90% of the stuff that comes out isn't much above average. Editors are trying to create events rather than letting comics become a phenomenon naturally, and often the folks writing those stories are the same guys who seem to love treading well-worn ground.<BR/><BR/>I'd point to Grant Morrison's SeaGuy and Alan Moore's Supreme as prime examples of comics that appear to be fairly standard hero stories at first blush, but have a lot more going on.<BR/><BR/>But, I certainly would like to see non-comic writers step into the realm of comics, or folks with fresh ideas who aren't going to be fenced in by editors who don't know how to handle new ideas (see the recent utter failure to cultivate Jodi Picoult on Wonder Woman).<BR/><BR/>Fans need to expect more as adults, editors need to be willing to challenge fans. Different kinds of stories need to be tried out.<BR/><BR/>Luckily, a quick perusal of the shelves at Austin Books will tell you that a huge number of genres are represented in comics, although the success of the creators is always up to debate. And comics defying genre make appearances as well up in the black and white indies.<BR/><BR/>All that said, the particular elements in the list are so overused that it indicates a laziness on the part of editorial and writers that I feel is bogging down the industry for longtime readers. It's more or less a checklist that I would hand editors at DC to suggest: hey these stories are overdone. These ideas are overdone. Let's try again and see what we come up with.<BR/><BR/>The guys who first wrote comics were mostly kids who were fans of pulps and b-movies. There's heavy influence of the Shadow and Zorro in Batman. Superman is a combination of Doc Savage, Tarzan and mythological ideals. But one of the great differences between the unpolished writers of those days and a lot of what is currently passing for comic writing is that the writers seem to be informed only by what they read in comics, and too little by outside forces, be they fictional or based in reality. Writers who seem to read stuff outside of comics while having an appreciation for what made many of the comics they liked work in the first place seem to be the ones who tell the stories which seem the most fresh or have the most resonance.The Leaguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04836241071795980225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post-18177907816405118282007-09-10T22:38:00.000-05:002007-09-10T22:38:00.000-05:00Man, you're kicking some of the cornerstones of co...Man, you're kicking some of the cornerstones of comic book writing right out from under the poor bastards. I don't mean to be cruel, but some of these complaints just make it sound like you're progressing as a reader beyond the scope of the traditional good versus evil costumed comic book superhero (I mean, aren't the costumes always going to be improbable, the schemes of the villains a little overwrought, the characters constantly finding ways to return from the dead, and the heroes arising from backgrounds as picked upon nerds so that the audience can relate to them?) Personally, I think the future of comics, to the extenet that they continue to evolve in a realm appreciated by adults, lies outside of the superhero format, although not necessarily outside the realm of fantasy, sci fi, and/or horror. We'll always need superheroes, but the same traditions and familiar plot devices that make people love them and admire them also kind of limit their ability to expand and change. One dude's opinion.J.S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/03903186469796595837noreply@blogger.com