Was there any 10 year-old comic book fan who was begging to see Hal Jordan return to the role of Green Lantern? Was there any young would-be superhero fan who was itching to see Jason Todd brought back from the dead 15 years after he was infamously killed off? And is there any new-found comic book reader that is going to race to their nearest comic book store because Jean Grey has been brought back from the dead for the 7,435th time or because Barry Allen is once again The Flash 25 years after he was killed off in a universe-rebooting event? Yet the stories that are being told, and the "big events" that unfold on an annual basis, are inherently targeted not at the younger readers that might grow up to be life-long comic book fans, but the people my age or older, those who got into comics in the 1980s or 1990s, perhaps drawn by the various film adaptations or cartoons. We older readers, gripped by our nostalgia for the "Modern Age" and our misunderstanding of its two defining works (Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns, both of which were satires that were taken as literal gospel) have demanded stories that both return to the status quo that we remember (Poof! Jim Gordon is Commissioner again!) while delivering ever-more violent and sexual (translation -- misogynist) stories that all-but exclude the very audience that it should seek to be attracting.
There is a place for "mature content" in comics and it may even be in some of the more mainstream titles. And DC Comics certainly has the right to play around in the Watchmen universe if they so choose. But the constant desire to chase or replicate past glories while targeting not younger audiences but adults around my age, something that I've complained about before in regards to the film/television industry, is a prime problem with the current mainstream comic book industry. Yes, DC Comics has a strong line-up of books for the very youngest reader. But once they pass the age of eight or nine, there is literally nowhere left for them to go due to a mainstream set of books that are written for adults, and often sexually immature adults at that. Even when presented with the opportunity to bring new readers in the fold, as with the New 52 company-wide reboot of their existing characters, they botched it by catering to the stereotypical comic book reader: the under-sexed 30 year-old man still living in his parents basement who gets off on naked female superheroes and characters with their faces cut off. Would any of you encourage your kids, even older kids, to read such material? Even if they are old enough to handle the violent content, why would you want to expose them to such wanton and blatant sexism?
Obviously the "adult content" and the need to constantly return to the old at the expense of the new are two different issues. But the result is the same -- a comic book industry that seems to be actively trying to repel all but the conditioned and lifelong comic book reader at the expense of actually attracting new eyeballs.
For more on this topic, go HERE, HERE, and HERE.
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I still love bat manuel
What's killing comics is nothing more or less than what's killing magazines and books... fine online publications like this one. As the majors get more saavy at exploiting the online medium, they'll adapt just fine.
But you get grudging agreement on the portayal of women in comics. It's always been a problem, but the level of fan service is just getting ridiculous. You'd almost think the writers and artists of four-color butt-kicking spandex clad vigilantes haven't any notion of subtlety.
The reboot contains some of the most toxic destruction of beloved titles I have ever seen.
I used to buy lots of books when I was coming up. Now I would need a second job to afford all the comics I used to buy.
Comics were printed on regular paper for nearly 60 years, and then the publishers decided to go with fancy paper, extra covers, holograms etc, that really did nothing to the product except make it more expensive. Every story has to be some major event/crossover tie in 4 part whatever, instead of just a good comic for the month. And there is no reason to have 4 Avengers comics, 5 Batman comics, 7 X men comics a month. It saturates the market too much.
If a bunch of hacks were involved, ie bad talent, I would question the move but the best and brightest are, so I say- bring it on.
I was more disgusted with the dc relaunch.
I simply hate the erasing of history, especially when I invested much of my time admiring it.
The economics of comics have never been good. The industry has tittered on the brink of collapse since the seventies. Marvel's been in bankruptcy. At times, DC was rumored to be for sale to anyone who would take it. Magazine distributors hated comics because the returns rate (unsold issues returned to the distributor) was too high. Hence, the comic shop--to address distribution. That's also why you no longer see comic racks in general locations--not worth the trouble to keep stocked. With the comics shops, however, came all that collectibles nonsense in the eighties and nineties that also almost destroyed the industry.
I don't think you could ever price comics high enough to make these companies large scale, sustainable enterprises. Today, the majors function almost like movie companies, with tent pole lines that pretty much drive profit through higher sales and licensing (movies, TV, toys). Spiderman, X-Men, Batman, Superman, whatever. The mags themselves are almost secondary as anything other than material to mine for the next franchise or product license.
When I was a kid there were, as far as I know, no comic book stores. The closest we had was a booth at the local farmer's market that sold returned comics (the top cover page was cut off) 6 for a quarter.
They also realize that there of all the potential buyers who know those old heros and brands, most will no longer be children. So they have to target the stories at older people - the type of older people who are still drawn to comics. That pretty much rules out those whose careers and families fill up their lives - so, hello, basement-dwelling, undersexed 30-year-old.
I was crushed when they raised them to 20 cents. ;-)
I can't imagine paying $4.50 for a comic book like they do today.
I only watch comic movies these days and am very unhappy that everytime they reboot a franchise they seem to have to show an origin story . The new spiderman movie is going to be the same thing again.