Ace of Dread
Hey.
One fact about the Internet: there is always somebody who is more fanatic about whatever subject there could ever be, than you.
Some people (or maybe just one guy) post scanned comic books from the forties through today over the binary groups on USENET, and I've made a habit of going over them every so often. It's part of our national culture, such as it is. And so, I come upon the theme of my post here.
Is it a terrible habit for an artist to repeat the same elements of a successful work again and again? Case in point: the secondary stories found in DC's war comics of the fifties and sixties. I found three stories that shared so many of the same elements it was nigh ridiculous.
All three were set in World War One, with American Army flyboys as the central characters. Their planes were invariably SPAD S.13s while the German antagonist planes were always Fokker D.7s.
The plots were all the same. A neophyte joins a unit on the front and is immediately called upon to perform at a highly ambitious level, either because of an honor that needs to be fulfilled before he can be accepted by the unit regulars, or because of a rivalry with a fellow soldier. But no matter how well he fights, it isn't enough. Either somebody is doing better, or the hero is hounded by bad luck. The dishonor mounts humiliatingly fast and the stakes climb to dangerous levels.
Either way, the protagonist gets shot down by a German ace and survives. When he's subjected to taunts from his captors, he escapes--along with a comrade who was also shot down, either the rival who was better or the one soldier who would vouch for the hero's honor when they return to base. Which they do, after eliminating the German responsible for their predicament.
How many times did the writers, artists and editors get away with recycling the same story? A dozen times? A hundred? A thousand? Every month they've been in business?
Well, the title of one of the stories was "Aces of Dread". Which I may use if I ever start an online squadron for an aviation wargame.
FP
One fact about the Internet: there is always somebody who is more fanatic about whatever subject there could ever be, than you.
Some people (or maybe just one guy) post scanned comic books from the forties through today over the binary groups on USENET, and I've made a habit of going over them every so often. It's part of our national culture, such as it is. And so, I come upon the theme of my post here.
Is it a terrible habit for an artist to repeat the same elements of a successful work again and again? Case in point: the secondary stories found in DC's war comics of the fifties and sixties. I found three stories that shared so many of the same elements it was nigh ridiculous.
All three were set in World War One, with American Army flyboys as the central characters. Their planes were invariably SPAD S.13s while the German antagonist planes were always Fokker D.7s.
The plots were all the same. A neophyte joins a unit on the front and is immediately called upon to perform at a highly ambitious level, either because of an honor that needs to be fulfilled before he can be accepted by the unit regulars, or because of a rivalry with a fellow soldier. But no matter how well he fights, it isn't enough. Either somebody is doing better, or the hero is hounded by bad luck. The dishonor mounts humiliatingly fast and the stakes climb to dangerous levels.
Either way, the protagonist gets shot down by a German ace and survives. When he's subjected to taunts from his captors, he escapes--along with a comrade who was also shot down, either the rival who was better or the one soldier who would vouch for the hero's honor when they return to base. Which they do, after eliminating the German responsible for their predicament.
How many times did the writers, artists and editors get away with recycling the same story? A dozen times? A hundred? A thousand? Every month they've been in business?
Well, the title of one of the stories was "Aces of Dread". Which I may use if I ever start an online squadron for an aviation wargame.
FP