couple of random things
After much hype, the movie of Watchmen seems to have gone over like a lead balloon. Or at least Hollywood is on to the next thing.
Good. I'm relieved. How different that is from the reaction to the book in comixfandom.
What should we learn from this? That comics need to stop being so inbred, & that we need the diversity that Japanese manga has, that Hollywood has.
If DC & Marvel want to just be superhero companies (well, I think Marvel does now, & DC has two minds on this); if Dark Horse is still playing in the direct sales sandbox (or was that just ten years ago?); if Image is really a vanity press (well, not quite, but it's pretty small-time)--then someone else needs to show them how it's done.
Mass-market. Comics for kids--more Fox & the Crow than Spider-Man, more Maurice Sendak than Marv Wolfman. Fair play mysteries with visual clues (having superheroes in a book called "Detective" is a total waste). War comics--whether historical or weird. Horror. Romance. All mass market.
In short, what made print comics succeed in the first place. What makes them succeed anywhere they do.
And superheroes? They'll eventually adapt. But they're not the point. Not for me anyway, I'm a cartooning fan.
~ ~ ~
(that said...)
We've been thinking 616 is the real Marvel Earth. It's not. It was created by Alan Moore (a bad sign, right there) in the 1980's.
So if on 616, North America is ruled by vicious mutant haters, & Spidey sells his soul to the Devil (of course it's his soul, who sells their marriage? who'd buy it?), well, remember, it's the evil Earth.
The real Marvel Earth is much nicer, & will make an appearance someday, even as this present mess descends into raving chaos.
Sorry, everybody.
Good. I'm relieved. How different that is from the reaction to the book in comixfandom.
What should we learn from this? That comics need to stop being so inbred, & that we need the diversity that Japanese manga has, that Hollywood has.
If DC & Marvel want to just be superhero companies (well, I think Marvel does now, & DC has two minds on this); if Dark Horse is still playing in the direct sales sandbox (or was that just ten years ago?); if Image is really a vanity press (well, not quite, but it's pretty small-time)--then someone else needs to show them how it's done.
Mass-market. Comics for kids--more Fox & the Crow than Spider-Man, more Maurice Sendak than Marv Wolfman. Fair play mysteries with visual clues (having superheroes in a book called "Detective" is a total waste). War comics--whether historical or weird. Horror. Romance. All mass market.
In short, what made print comics succeed in the first place. What makes them succeed anywhere they do.
And superheroes? They'll eventually adapt. But they're not the point. Not for me anyway, I'm a cartooning fan.
~ ~ ~
(that said...)
We've been thinking 616 is the real Marvel Earth. It's not. It was created by Alan Moore (a bad sign, right there) in the 1980's.
So if on 616, North America is ruled by vicious mutant haters, & Spidey sells his soul to the Devil (of course it's his soul, who sells their marriage? who'd buy it?), well, remember, it's the evil Earth.
The real Marvel Earth is much nicer, & will make an appearance someday, even as this present mess descends into raving chaos.
Sorry, everybody.