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Is the comic book world stagnating?

Started by zarus tathra, February 04, 2014, 08:33:07 PM

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Hydra009

Quote from: "stromboli"Everything has a saturation level. there are only so many plots and so many ways to portray people in them. I'm old enough to recognize old ideas rehashed into new ones. It has become so blatant that they are rehashing stuff like Batman, Superman and other comics even before the last rehash leaves the theater. Oh, sorry- the correct term is "reimagining"; my bad.
Yeah.  The part that really gets me is when they give characters dramatic, unambiguous deaths only to somehow bring them back to life later.  And a related annoyance is to have the character die for real and replaced by some alternate reality counterpart or younger version or somesuch.  So you keep the character, but change a little of their background and ditch continuity.

Jutter

Lemme tell you that, for one thing, technologicly the profession didn't stagnate. On the contrary. It made a giant leap.

[youtube:1yw66zbc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ETOEKIokNU[/youtube:1yw66zbc]
I have this program, and it kicks ass (might still be on sale for a bargain)

I'd love to have one of these but they're very expensive
[youtube:1yw66zbc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79SdxuA1WjY[/youtube:1yw66zbc]
But for now I'm happy with the medium size bamboo Fun pen&touch.
The one in this video is the small size
[youtube:1yw66zbc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD2VH8ECYG8[/youtube:1yw66zbc]
No religion for me thank you very much; I 'm full of shit enough as it is.

Being flabbergasted about existence never made anyone disappear in a poof of flabbergas, so nevermind why we're here. We ARE here.

zarus tathra

Quote from: "Hydra009"
Quote from: "GrinningYMIR"the comic world is dying a slow death sadly, most of the new books are just rehashed version of the old ones, so much retconning going on that its not even funny, and the books themselves cost too much to justify buying them regularly.


its only a matter of time
I dunno, there's still some diversity.  (Walking Dead, Kickass, Locke and Key, Empowered, etc)

But yeah, there's some serious problems creeping in.  Which is really a shame, because the artwork is really starting to look amazing now.
[spoil:y5sje7ba][ Image ]
[ Image ]
Slight improvement.   :-D[/spoil:y5sje7ba]


Their artists are amazing, no doubt; the writers, however, are boring. Which is funny, because The Sandman is like the bestselling comic of all time if you count the graphic novels, and the art in that comic was at best mediocre. What really carried it was the quality of the writing. And obviously, good writing carries much lower production values than good art.
?"Belief is always most desired, most pressingly needed, when there is a lack of will." -Friedrich Nietzsche

Ideals are imperfect. Morals are self-serving.

zarus tathra

I think the basic problem of the superhero is that the ethos involved is inherently conservative and unadventurous. Superheroes are dedicated entirely to the maintenance of the status quo. Even the "antiheroes" basically do nothing but pick on people who are disliked by the vast majority of people. There's no discipline or morality involved except perhaps the idea of discipline or morality itself.
?"Belief is always most desired, most pressingly needed, when there is a lack of will." -Friedrich Nietzsche

Ideals are imperfect. Morals are self-serving.

Hydra009

#19
Heroes in general are pretty reactive.  Occasionally, they do get proactive, but they tend to quickly become Justice Lords.  The problem isn't just the heroes, but that the fact that the status quo is God in these universes.  In these worlds, disasters happen but there's almost never much of a lasting aftermath, characters change then quickly change back, and characters die only to be inevitably revived.  Nothing really changes.

One example of this that's particularly galling:  Reed Richards is Useless.  Superheroes will have access to advanced technology but that technology will almost never be put to practical use in people's day-to-day lives.

stromboli

There are some stories like Road To Perdition that stand out, and American Splendor. The problem is you can only do so many super heroes in so many different aspects.

And nowadays we don't redo the same old movies, we "reboot" or "reimagine" them. Like now you buy a used car its a "previously owned". And recycling is "repurposing." Gag me.

the_antithesis

Comics are deader than dead. No one buys them anymore, especially their core audience because they don't produce product for their core audience anymore.




Hydra009

#22
Somewhat disagree.  While there was plenty of a dark-and-gritty excess in the 90s, the industry eventually did recover from it.  And even though the over-pocketed, bandolier-totting muscleheads and the skin-tight, high-heels eye candy are a pretty accurate depiction of some of the comics at that time, it wasn't universal.  And the 90s actually had some really great comics.  I mean, you have Infinity Gauntlet/War/Crusade.  IMHO, Iron Man really hit his stride (metaphorically of course, Stark was briefly paralyzed) in the 90s.  Darkhawk made his debut in '91, and while the series definitely started sucking as time went on and eventually got cancelled in '95, it did have some really good issues.  And your mileage may vary on this depending on what series you read during the 90s, but even with all its faults, I still prefer 90s comics to 80s comics.

And moving on to video gaming, while console prices are admittedly pretty high, they are not more expensive when adjusted for inflation.  And games themselves are cheaper than ever.  And yes, there are still making games for kids, like Pokemon and Call of Duty.  So, reports of the video games industry's demise are greatly overestimated.  One thing that is genuinely worrisome is the consolidation of the market into only two major players, but that's only really a problem for console gamers.

(Sorry in advance for all the blue links, but I feel the need to show how I arrived at my conclusion and it helps establish a common point of reference)

doorknob

I use to read american comics til I discovered manga. Then I said screw comics!

Comics are dry and they mostly target males as their main audience. This is why they are failing. That and the art work hasn't changed to meet modern standards. Amazing art can at the very least make up for lack of story. Americans can't write their way out of a wet paper bag.

SGOS

I seem to remember a Captain Marvel.  Why hasn't the Marvel franchise made a Captain Marvel movie?

PickelledEggs

Quote from: SGOS on April 06, 2014, 04:55:35 PM
I seem to remember a Captain Marvel.  Why hasn't the Marvel franchise made a Captain Marvel movie?
I bought a few captain marvel books in highschool. I never was too in to comic books though until I went to comic con this past year and was introduced to the comic book, Mercy Sparx.

Sent via Internet Explorer


aitm

I read comic until I saw a bare tit, then lordy, that was the end of that.
A humans desire to live is exceeded only by their willingness to die for another. Even god cannot equal this magnificent sacrifice. No god has the right to judge them.-first tenant of the Panotheust

Hydra009

Quote from: doorknob on April 06, 2014, 04:50:54 PM
I use to read american comics til I discovered manga. Then I said screw comics!
I like manga but the right-to-left thing is really hard to get used to.  I keep reading out of order and nothing really makes any sense.  Then I read it in order (I think) and nothing really makes sense.  *shrugs*

the_antithesis

Quote from: SGOS on April 06, 2014, 04:55:35 PM
I seem to remember a Captain Marvel.  Why hasn't the Marvel franchise made a Captain Marvel movie?

Which Captain Marvel do you mean?





PickelledEggs

Quote from: the_antithesis on April 06, 2014, 07:31:03 PM
Which Captain Marvel do you mean?




Yeah... I got the fake captain marvel that no one cares about.... :(