Hi-ho. I'm stuck for the greater part of this day at home while my kitchen is being torn out and replaced. I didn't think that in a small space like an apartment you could "dig up" things and find artifacts like old newspapers from the 1960s and queerly-shaped metal hooks but apparently you can.
This seems like a good time to talk about Change. I think I've talked about it before. But I feel strongly that there is Change afoot in Comics and figured it's as good a topic as any to chat about on a Friday afternoon as the rubble of a 50-year-old structure floats about me in a nice splintery haze.
The last time I think things were "normal" in comics -- the way "they have always been" -- was 2000, 2001. Things seemed still predictable. The phrase "oh, women don't really read comics" still had some currency. Manga was still very off-the-radar of the mainstream, though Marvel gave it an early shot with their brief "Marvel Mangaverse" and DC editor Andy Helfer was crying in the wilderness about these strange books he got in Japan that he swore were going to take over the industry. Sure, Andy. "Soon everybody will be reading manga." Right.
Back in 2000, Vertigo Comics was still synonymous with "comic books that adults read," and "Preacher" and "Sandman" had a dead-lock on the bookstore market. The Internet was mainly a place to engage in flame wars and read episode spoilers; the apparent failure of the e-book helped ease our fears that print was in any danger from the digital format. We were sure that "people want to read on paper."
And comic book movies, after a brief respite with Tim Burton at the beginning of the 90s, still sucked.
I'm not sure I can pinpoint when everything exactly changed. It might have been the success of Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man." It might have been when a big crater was blown into my city. Who knows? The important thing is, things changed.
Events like "House of M," "Identity Crisis," "Civil War," "Infinite Crisis," "World War Hulk," and "Countdown" are all responses to this change. It certainly seems as if nothing has been stable in either the Marvel or DC Universes in quite some time, hasn't it? It sometimes feels like as readers we are in danger of having the floors pulled out from the narratives and structures of our favorite comics at any second.
By next Summer, more than likely the structures of at least some of our most beloved characters are going to get a massive facelift. Whether those facelifts will be permanent, merely flash-in-the-pan gimmicks, or changes that receive early abortions when the public balks remains to be seen.
But I think, on the part of the publishers, the desire to change and present heroes that are not so much "legacies" as "peers" is strong. I think the publishers want to change. I think they are making active efforts to "keep with the times," even though there might not be a consensus as to what those times are and where they are leading us.2008 will be a very key year for comics. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd predict major changes of status quo in the Marvel, Marvel Ultimates, DC, Vertigo, and Wildstorm Universes. I'd predict the Spring and Summer comic book conventions as the major staging areas for rolling announcements of relaunches, reboots, and "universe integrations."
I know sometimes we bitch about this comic creator and that, this editor and that. But in the end, for better or for worse, they are the mythmakers and "world-shapers." They are, most likely, furiously laboring away at the future plans and reshapings of many of our favorite characters right at this very second.
I, for one, am very curious as to what's in store.
Well, it looks like they're just about done with my kitchen. Cherry oak on particle-board...very nice. But the fridge and the stove really need to go.
Oh...and I need a floor.
It's probably why I want to become a professional comic writer - I want to be one of those world-shapers to help make things go for the better.
ReplyDeleteYou know, looking at that Final Crisis poster really lends some credence to your theory, Val. Huh.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow: my pitch was: 52 earths plus apokalips & new genesis. Guess I called that one wrong.
i look forward to change, EXCEPT when it comes to Spiderman. This OMD shit has my blood boiling so bad I am starting to really loathe Joe Quesada.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought of linking the plethora of "superhero universe events" with national 9-11 paranoia but I think you're onto something. Excellent point. This "Skrull War" certainly has a Qaeda "sleeper cell" feel to it.
ReplyDeleteps I'm a new reader to your blog and I wanted to congratulate on it - it's excellent. And you may not have like the Rich Johnson article, but it's how I discovered your blog. Every cloud, silver lining, etc.
I'm not about hating new things- but OMD (& a lot of recent "shake-ups") are just sloppy, burning bridges.
ReplyDeleteSo far DC's turned me off from their book with Crisis overload, while Marvel has slowly caught my interest with their hinds to the Secret Invasion. I’m a diehard Wildstorm fan and would never want to see it merged with DC universe especially now with them using Armageddon and Revelations to set themselves apart from DC. The Ultimate line has been an off again and on again affair, but with the Ultimatum and Ultimate Origins coming I’m back on. Also there’s a lot of good stuff coming from the Indy arena. I agree ‘08’s going to be a good year or at least an interesting year for comics
ReplyDeleteI've dropped pretty much every single DC title I used to buy - and that was something like 12 to 14 titles a month.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of the most history obsessed, continuity students you can find - but honestly, Countdown and its six hunded or so tie-ins / spin-offs and all the rest of it (coupled with the endlessly dire stories) have switched me off completely to anything DC. I just couldn't give a shit anymore.
What's that? You're gonna kill Batman?
Meh.
And that pretty much sums it all up - "meh". Considering I'm one of the people DiDio dragged back into the fold with the promise of Inifite Crisis, that should probably ring some alarm bells for him.
It won't, of course. But....meh.
Sorry, this post might come off a little brusque. I'm writing this behind the haze of a migraine, but I don't think there will be any meaningful change in comics. I think it will all Change Back into the corporate properties we're currently familiar with.
ReplyDeleteMore thoughts:
- I don't think people reading manga now were ever even potential comic book readers. I think the manga readership is mutually exclusive of the comic readership.
- I think the template of post-9/11 superhero stories was created by Millar with the Ultimates. It's the first post-9/11 comic to really examine a superhero response to the idea terrorists want to blow us up, so to speak.
- Judd Winick is not furiously laboring away on anything. He's a prick and a hack and I just realized there isn't a word strong enough to describe what a miserable person he is. Oh yeah, and he's a sucky writer, too.
- The corporate comic companies need to understand people don't necessarily enjoy reading comics on their computers, they just like free comics. Comics books are so over-inflated in regards to price it's ridiculous. Bar none the worst entertainment value for the dollar. They should be looking to the internet as a way to reduce the costs of comics somehow, not trying to pimp crappy free webcomics on us (i.e. Zuda, no offense).
If they can establish a DC Universe where villains don't punch through teenage girls' chests every other issue, I'm all for it.
ReplyDeletePart of what made Infinite Crisis such a major disappointment is that it started out seeming to condemn the amped-up violence and "darkness" of late, only to end up fully embracing it. But then it was all part of Dan DiDio's grand vision, right?
As much as the diehard fanboy in me wants Batman to always be Bruce Wayne and Captain America to always be the thawed-out WWII hero, the fact is there does come a time when details have to change to keep the stories (and characters) fresh.
If this is what's happening, and it's done well, I can see much potential good coming out of it (some interesting stories, for sure). Of course, it could also blow up in everyone's faces and be retconned out after two months. Or, DC could simply pull another Armageddon 2001 and totally change their plans to foil all the leaks.
Re: to Kenny -
ReplyDelete"Bar none the worst entertainment value for the dollar."
Um, I dunno, I would say the $3 I shell out for an issue of Ennis' Punisher beats the $9 I spent on the movie any day of the week.
Sort of humorous considering the comments here on DCs current direction, that I hop over to Newsarama and the first thing I see is a pregnant woman being set on fire with laser vision.
ReplyDeleteI was going to mention it here last night, but...that whole eye-rolling "meh" thing came back to haunt me.
Gotta love DC, whether they're buzz sawing women and children in half at parties invaded by Nazis or turning pregnant women into charcoal.
Marvel and DC have sucked for a while and will continue to for some time. That’s the sad truth.
ReplyDeleteDreaming in Stereo:
ReplyDeleteIf they can establish a DC Universe where villains don't punch through teenage girls' chests every other issue, I'm all for it.
HALELUJAH!!!!!!!
Part of what made Infinite Crisis such a major disappointment is that it started out seeming to condemn the amped-up violence and "darkness" of late, only to end up fully embracing it. But then it was all part of Dan DiDio's grand vision, right?
WITNESS!!!!!!!
Um, I dunno, I would say the $3 I shell out for an issue of Ennis' Punisher beats the $9 I spent on the movie any day of the week.
If we're talking individual comics, then yes, the $3 I spend on Madman is better than almost any movie. Looking at any random 3 comics priced $3, though...I'm getting more entertainment out of any movie I go see, good or bad. If comics the quality of Madman or Ennis's Punisher shipped with regularity, then I could see where the average price of $3 an issue would be justifiable, but they're not.
Of course, saying all this makes me a hypocrite because I still buy comics.
I don't know what DC comics people are buying, but the stuff I'm reading (like JSA, the whole Sinestro Corps war, BoP, Grant Morrison's Batman, to hit a few) are great, & establish a range of story & emotion that I find Marvel to often lack-- I mean, Planet Hulk was great, but WWH is meh. Civil War was insultingly bad; compare to Infinite Crisis which was pretty decent & 52 which I liked a lot.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, I think there is something to be said for myth here; for the constant layering of continuity till the cream rises. See also: ancient Greeks.
I dunno; you say you see big changes on the horizon, triggered perhaps by relatively recent real-world events, but all I see is the 90s repeating itself. Big shocking changes to the status quo, particularly in the form of replacing "legends" with younger versions of the character: Kyle Rayner, Connor Hawke, AzBats, Teen Iron Man, Ben Reilly. Big shake-it-up crossovers: Zero Hour, Onslaught, actually far too many to list. (The "one big crossover every year" mentality is seeing a resurgence, now, primarily because everyone in charge has forgotten that the pattern of crossovers is "do well, do better, do great, sell tons, bomb spectacularly.") Costume changes: Oh, heck, who didn't get a hideous 90s redesign? Remember Electric Blue Superman?
ReplyDeleteReally, this stuff keeps coming up because the short-term sales effects are great; by doing something to take the comic-book universe in a different, unexpected direction, you can keep people reading just to find out how DC/Marvel is possibly going to find someplace to go with what seems like a terrible idea. The problem is, DC/Marvel isn't necessarily thinking far enough ahead to realize they don't have anyplace to go, and what seems like a terrible idea very frequently is. Which is why the big shake-ups of the 1990s have pretty much been categorically undone; name a big 90s revamp of an established character, and I'm guessing it's been retconned. Hal Jordan came back from the dead, AzBats fell off a bridge and died, Ben melted, Teen Iron Man got thrown into the Heroes Reborn universe and came out as normal Tony again, even the Thing's horrific facial scars that made him wear a bucket on his face all spontaneously healed without anyone mentioning it.
We are in the midst of the New 90s, a period of catastrophic creative missteps that DC and Marvel will spend the next decade undoing. My only hope is that 10 years from now, when someone says, "Hey! Let's (insert horrifically bad "shock storyline" here, such as 'kill Spider-Man and replace him with a teenage clone', or 'have Captain America go evil and kill a bunch of Avengers', or 'turn the Hulk blue')," someone will say, "That sounds like the sort of thing that nearly killed the company a decade ago."
See; I miss the potential of Kyle Rayner et al. I miss the theoretical Multi-cultural JLA that was supposed to come out of the Crisis.
ReplyDeleteJohn Seavey just said everything *perfectly*. All changes will be changed back so in 10 years time we can have big changes again....
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't know why I keep reading this crap.
I see big short-term changes coming that some celebrate and some revile and others just find confusing, followed by a reversal that reverses all those people's opinions. In other words, business as usual.
ReplyDeleteBut there will be the usual bright spots- the cream of the creators still turning out good work.
And I'll keep reading archive editions and reprints and indie comics and small publishers and international comics- and yes that also means Japanese ones- and pretty much avoiding tossing money at DC and Marvel monthlies.
Some of the big changes seem like fanboy wish-fulfillment. Since Marvel is essentially being run by the Aging Fanboy Demographic, they're the worst offenders. One example of this is the unmasking of Spider-Man. That really felt like someone said, "Hey, y'know what I always thought would be cool? If Spidey unmasked on TV! That would be wicked awesome!!" Then, a few months on, everyone realized, "Wow. That seriously limits our storytelling. How do we reverse this?"
ReplyDeleteA few years ago I considered pitching to Marvel and DC, and looked at their submission guidelines. One requirement for a pitch involved writing a story that fit into the established history and parameters of the character and did not rely on big changes to the status quo. I would challenge most of the current crop of writers to write to that requirement. I'm just curious if they could do it.
what people gotta understand is that comics are like soap operas.
ReplyDeletecharacters die, and come back, their personalities are completely changed, but in the end, it all reverts back to normal just to go through changes again.
you cant have 40 years of continued continuity, you gotta shake things up!
It occurred to me... every other industry does a press conference when they do something big and new. In comics, they go to the Conventions and talk to the folks that are already bought into this little weird culture of ours. They generally assume that no one else would be interested.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like if the Big Companies want to change with the time, they might want to change the way they think about PR first of all and foremost, and start trying harder to communicate with the external world rather than us diehards.