|
Post by G on Oct 13, 2013 10:53:53 GMT -5
This comes as no surprise to anyone that knows me but as I sold roughly 1,000 comics this year, when I think about making a comeback id be hard pressed to find a reason to buy any modern comics or basically new comics off the stands or by preorder anymore. Ive quite simply lost all faith in them and with the people who are in charge today, I have absolutely no faith that anything will ever get corrected. Day after day my Facebook and other media sites are filled to the gills with exclusive previews and cover shots and im constantly being treated to groups of characters fanning out towards me or bracing for some unseen villain in totally unrealistic battle ready positions and proclaiming this is the next great event with not a clue what can be expected inside only that the flavor of the decade is writing and drawing it. Below that is comments literally divided almost 50/50 with one half going cant wait and this looks great. I often feel these people would be hyped for anything and dislike nothing and therefore serve no purpose for the long term future of comics and the other half proclaiming they've seen all of this before and they're getting tired of washed out events, mindless pose covers and rampant molestation of their favorite characters. Their is never a response and clearly the cries continue to go unheard because they continue to peddle the same events and present the same covers at nauseum. My creative heroes barely whisper a negative comment towards the machine and clearly they are scared to do or say anything that expresses their dissatisfaction with the direction of comics. Todays leaders seem more interested in trying to land a movie deal or the next cash cow instead of making decent comics anymore. When it seems most movies are inspired from long past days of classic comics when creators cared about the craft of comics and less inspired about turning their story into a possible movie or tv show. The top men in comics today have taken what used to be fun cheap entertainment and made it into something I no longer care to support with my dollars and dedication. I can still see myself collecting comics and ive always tried sampling new comics just in case something might be good. But honestly hardly anything has kept my attention nor drawn my praise since about 1995. I just feel like given a chance to buy again, I feel like it is almost impossible for me to ever support new comics again.
|
|
|
Post by defiant1 on Oct 13, 2013 13:52:49 GMT -5
This comes as no surprise to anyone that knows me but as I sold roughly 1,000 comics this year, when I think about making a comeback id be hard pressed to find a reason to buy any modern comics or basically new comics off the stands or by preorder anymore. Ive quite simply lost all faith in them and with the people who are in charge today, I have absolutely no faith that anything will ever get corrected. Day after day my Facebook and other media sites are filled to the gills with exclusive previews and cover shots and im constantly being treated to groups of characters fanning out towards me or bracing for some unseen villain in totally unrealistic battle ready positions and proclaiming this is the next great event with not a clue what can be expected inside only that the flavor of the decade is writing and drawing it. Below that is comments literally divided almost 50/50 with one half going cant wait and this looks great. I often feel these people would be hyped for anything and dislike nothing and therefore serve no purpose for the long term future of comics and the other half proclaiming they've seen all of this before and they're getting tired of washed out events, mindless pose covers and rampant molestation of their favorite characters. Their is never a response and clearly the cries continue to go unheard because they continue to peddle the same events and present the same covers at nauseum. My creative heroes barely whisper a negative comment towards the machine and clearly they are scared to do or say anything that expresses their dissatisfaction with the direction of comics. Todays leaders seem more interested in trying to land a movie deal or the next cash cow instead of making decent comics anymore. When it seems most movies are inspired from long past days of classic comics when creators cared about the craft of comics and less inspired about turning their story into a possible movie or tv show. The top men in comics today have taken what used to be fun cheap entertainment and made it into something I no longer care to support with my dollars and dedication. I can still see myself collecting comics and ive always tried sampling new comics just in case something might be good. But honestly hardly anything has kept my attention nor drawn my praise since about 1995. I just feel like given a chance to buy again, I feel like it is almost impossible for me to ever support new comics again. I wish that I'd have quit collecting "new" omics in 1996. That was the cutoff year for me. I wish I'd quit collecting DC in 1972 when I started. Certain issues always lure me to try them out. I wish I'd quit collecting Marvel completely in 1984. Most modern comics are a huge letdown. df1
|
|
|
Post by G on Oct 14, 2013 19:46:08 GMT -5
This comes as no surprise to anyone that knows me but as I sold roughly 1,000 comics this year, when I think about making a comeback id be hard pressed to find a reason to buy any modern comics or basically new comics off the stands or by preorder anymore. Ive quite simply lost all faith in them and with the peo:-Ople who arI in charge today, I have absolutely no faith that anything will ever get corrected. Day after day my Facebook and other media sites are filled to the gills with exclusive previews and cover shots and im constantly being treated to groups of characters fanning out towards me or bracing for some unseen villain in totally unrealistic battle ready positions and proclaiming this is the next great event with not a clue what can be expected inside only that the flavor of the decade is writing and drawing it. Below that is comments literally divided almost 50/50 with one half going cant wait and this looks great. I often feel these people would be hyped for anything and dislike nothing and therefore serve no purpose for the long term future of comics and the other half proclaiming they've seen all of this before and they're getting tired of washed out events, mindless pose covers and rampant molestation of their favorite characters. Their is never a response and clearly the cries continue to go unheard because they continue to peddle the same events and present the same covers at nauseum. My creative heroes barely whisper a negative comment towards the machine and clearly they are scared to do or say anything that expresses their dissatisfaction with the direction of comics. Todays leaders seem more interested in trying to land a movie deal or the next cash cow instead of making decent comics anymore. When it seems most movies are inspired from long past days of classic comics when creators cared about the craft of comics and less inspired about turning their story into a possible movie or tv show. The top men in comics today have taken what used to be fun cheap entertainment and made it into something I no longer care to support with my dollars and dedication. I can still see myself collecting comics and ive always tried sampling new comics just in case something might be good. But honestly hardly anything has kept my attention nor drawn my praise since about 1995. I just feel like given a chance to buy again, I feel like it is almost impossible for me to ever support new comics again. I wish that I'd have quit collecting "new" omics in 1996. That was the cutoff year for me. I wish I'd quit collecting DC in 1972 when I started. Certain issues always lure me to try them out. I wish I'd quit collecting Marvel completely in 1984. Most modern comics are a huge letdown. df1 I quit comics for financial reasons in 1997. It was around the time Heroes Reborn had been out for awhile and I remember thinking I wasnt liking the new direction comics were taking at the time but up until then I pretty much knew just about everything going on with comics. I came back excited and dying to get back into comics around late 2001 - early 2002 mainly because eBay and CGC was making it feel like comics were hot again. When I left, they were ice cold. I started picking up new comics and was instantly confused. I had no idea what was going on any more. I had the same type of hiatus around 1986 - 1990. When I came back then, I jumped into comic books and knew what was going on within 2-3 months and it remained that way until i left in1997, but this time I kept picking up new issues for the next 2-3 years and still never really felt I grasped what was really going on. Everything had become story arcs and mini series and colossal mega crossover events which I simply couldn't afford to get the full picture. Continuity had vanished and it was replaced with overdriven colors and movie and tv show wannabe hopefuls. I further think the internet has way more harm than good. I often wish I had enough money and resources to do things my way and being back the craft of comics and storytelling and continuation. Since I cant do it ive been waiting for someone else to do it. I read comments all the time that people dont like what is being peddled at them but we just keep being ignored. In the end I feel like a hypocrite for having a comic message board and I dont love new comics. But in reality I think I love them far more than the average person and the atate comics are in just pains me.
|
|
|
Post by defiant1 on Oct 14, 2013 20:19:22 GMT -5
I wish that I'd have quit collecting "new" omics in 1996. That was the cutoff year for me. I wish I'd quit collecting DC in 1972 when I started. Certain issues always lure me to try them out. I wish I'd quit collecting Marvel completely in 1984. Most modern comics are a huge letdown. df1 I quit comics for financial reasons in 1997. It was around the time Heroes Reborn had been out for awhile and I remember thinking I wasnt liking the new direction comics were taking at the time but up until then I pretty much knew just about everything going on with comics. I came back excited and dying to get back into comics around late 2001 - early 2002 mainly because eBay and CGC was making it feel like comics were hot again. When I left, they were ice cold. I started picking up new comics and was instantly confused. I had no idea what was going on any more. I had the same type of hiatus around 1986 - 1990. When I came back then, I jumped into comic books and knew what was going on within 2-3 months and it remained that way until i left in1997, but this time I kept picking up new issues for the next 2-3 years and still never really felt I grasped what was really going on. Everything had become story arcs and mini series and colossal mega crossover events which I simply couldn't afford to get the full picture. Continuity had vanished and it was replaced with overdriven colors and movie and tv show wannabe hopefuls. I further think the internet has way more harm than good. I often wish I had enough money and resources to do things my way and being back the craft of comics and storytelling and continuation. Since I cant do it ive been waiting for someone else to do it. I read comments all the time that people dont like what is being peddled at them but we just keep being ignored. In the end I feel like a hypocrite for having a comic message board and I dont love new comics. But in reality I think I love them far more than the average person and the atate comics are in just pains me. We are being ignored. That's why my board is now called Life After Comics. I'm a little sickened by fans who say they don't want Jim Shooter to touch the Gold Key characters and that his writing is out of date. People have as much understanding about comics as a cockroach has about television. In all honesty, I don't want Jim touching the same characters again either, but not because his writing is out of date. I want him to quit touching them because the past is over and he can write better characters that are more interesting. The economics of the industry now just escalates the risk for retailers. Since posting on the CGC forum, I've seen the posting dwindle and there's more buddy (clique) chat than real comics discussion.As more creators work on kickstarter campaigns preselling their comics, Diamond becomes more and more irrelevant. It's only a matter of time until more retailers make the wrong purchase gambles and find it impossible to recover from their mistakes. df1
|
|
|
Post by bigw1966 on Oct 27, 2013 11:33:45 GMT -5
What you wrote in your first post G is the primary reason that I tend to not buy superhero comics anymore. I have moved to other types of books, because superheroes were just regurgitating the same old crap.
Now, I have been enjoying a few superhero titles. Ultimate Spider-Man with Miles Moralis has actually been fresh and stands completely on its own while still honoring Peter PArker. I will be sad to see it come to an end when they destroy the Ultimate Universe soon. The New Valiant books have consistently been enjoyable. Pretty much the entire line. The Hellboy line of titles are also consistently good. But that is about it. Everything else kinda blows.
|
|
|
Post by G on Oct 29, 2013 19:01:57 GMT -5
What you wrote in your first post G is the primary reason that I tend to not buy superhero comics anymore. I have moved to other types of books, because superheroes were just regurgitating the same old crap. Now, I have been enjoying a few superhero titles. Ultimate Spider-Man with Miles Moralis has actually been fresh and stands completely on its own while still honoring Peter PArker. I will be sad to see it come to an end when they destroy the Ultimate Universe soon. The New Valiant books have consistently been enjoyable. Pretty much the entire line. The Hellboy line of titles are also consistently good. But that is about it. Everything else kinda blows. What's wrong with superheroes is not the superheroes themselves, it's the companies and creators who are doing the regurgitating, endless mini series, mega crossovers and shock and awe as our heroes have been molested and disrespected for the sake of a quick headline with no thought process on how to plan it out to be something worthwhile beyond 6 - 12 months. I don't see any reason to go from Superheroes, a genre I grew up likng to get something comparable to a paperback novel or some other genre I never had an interest in. That seems like a recipe for lost customers. Unfortunately, the comic companies take that approach with literally 90% of the fanbase lost over the past 20 years to cater to the 10% who are willing to just look elsewhere at an area most didn't want to resort to in the first place. Being accepting to this being just the way it is and pointing out works that seem to shine above normal dreck just means you are pointing out what is probably mediocre at best because none of that sounds any good to me. I have no interest in Ultimates or Valiant rehashes just to follow the crowd of "aint it cools" out there. There is literally nothing out today that I would plunk down money for month in and month out. Rather than looking elsewhere, id rather turn my back to it altogether and let all the dreck go on without me.
|
|
|
Post by G on Oct 29, 2013 19:26:24 GMT -5
I quit comics for financial reasons in 1997. It was around the time Heroes Reborn had been out for awhile and I remember thinking I wasnt liking the new direction comics were taking at the time but up until then I pretty much knew just about everything going on with comics. I came back excited and dying to get back into comics around late 2001 - early 2002 mainly because eBay and CGC was making it feel like comics were hot again. When I left, they were ice cold. I started picking up new comics and was instantly confused. I had no idea what was going on any more. I had the same type of hiatus around 1986 - 1990. When I came back then, I jumped into comic books and knew what was going on within 2-3 months and it remained that way until i left in1997, but this time I kept picking up new issues for the next 2-3 years and still never really felt I grasped what was really going on. Everything had become story arcs and mini series and colossal mega crossover events which I simply couldn't afford to get the full picture. Continuity had vanished and it was replaced with overdriven colors and movie and tv show wannabe hopefuls. I further think the internet has way more harm than good. I often wish I had enough money and resources to do things my way and being back the craft of comics and storytelling and continuation. Since I cant do it ive been waiting for someone else to do it. I read comments all the time that people dont like what is being peddled at them but we just keep being ignored. In the end I feel like a hypocrite for having a comic message board and I dont love new comics. But in reality I think I love them far more than the average person and the atate comics are in just pains me. We are being ignored. That's why my board is now called Life After Comics. I'm a little sickened by fans who say they don't want Jim Shooter to touch the Gold Key characters and that his writing is out of date. People have as much understanding about comics as a cockroach has about television. In all honesty, I don't want Jim touching the same characters again either, but not because his writing is out of date. I want him to quit touching them because the past is over and he can write better characters that are more interesting. The economics of the industry now just escalates the risk for retailers. Since posting on the CGC forum, I've seen the posting dwindle and there's more buddy (clique) chat than real comics discussion.As more creators work on kickstarter campaigns preselling their comics, Diamond becomes more and more irrelevant. It's only a matter of time until more retailers make the wrong purchase gambles and find it impossible to recover from their mistakes. df1 Once it became apparent the Dark Horse Valiants were going to flop, I threw in the towel on ever caring for Shooter to do Valiant characters ever again. I had a luke warm desire to even want to see that but it was Shooter and I have more faith in what he can do than just about anyone. Unfortunately Dark Horse has forever been stuck in underwhelming its audience, they outdid theirselves so badly with those books that it made it look like Shooter sucked when really it was Dark Horse that sucked. Im over Valiant. They bore me. I cant see how they would ever be exciting again. I have no interest in Shooter and anything Valiant related. I also have no interest seeing him work on projects where his ideas are not respected or seen as outdated and put on a failing title in hopes he will revive it. I would rather see Shooter put on something where he is completely in charge and on something that can be completely molded by him over a long period of time. If people dont follow what Jim wants, fire them. Comics is void of leadership and vision. People laying groundwork for better tomorrows. We need more people like Shooter in comics and less people like Dideo, Quasada, Lee, Larson, McFarlane single handedly destroying 70 years of a hobby with their 20 years of fucking it all up.
|
|
|
Post by defiant1 on Oct 31, 2013 18:48:35 GMT -5
We are being ignored. That's why my board is now called Life After Comics. I'm a little sickened by fans who say they don't want Jim Shooter to touch the Gold Key characters and that his writing is out of date. People have as much understanding about comics as a cockroach has about television. In all honesty, I don't want Jim touching the same characters again either, but not because his writing is out of date. I want him to quit touching them because the past is over and he can write better characters that are more interesting. The economics of the industry now just escalates the risk for retailers. Since posting on the CGC forum, I've seen the posting dwindle and there's more buddy (clique) chat than real comics discussion.As more creators work on kickstarter campaigns preselling their comics, Diamond becomes more and more irrelevant. It's only a matter of time until more retailers make the wrong purchase gambles and find it impossible to recover from their mistakes. df1 Once it became apparent the Dark Horse Valiants were going to flop, I threw in the towel on ever caring for Shooter to do Valiant characters ever again. I had a luke warm desire to even want to see that but it was Shooter and I have more faith in what he can do than just about anyone. Unfortunately Dark Horse has forever been stuck in underwhelming its audience, they outdid theirselves so badly with those books that it made it look like Shooter sucked when really it was Dark Horse that sucked. Im over Valiant. They bore me. I cant see how they would ever be exciting again. I have no interest in Shooter and anything Valiant related. I also have no interest seeing him work on projects where his ideas are not respected or seen as outdated and put on a failing title in hopes he will revive it. I would rather see Shooter put on something where he is completely in charge and on something that can be completely molded by him over a long period of time. If people dont follow what Jim wants, fire them. Comics is void of leadership and vision. People laying groundwork for better tomorrows. We need more people like Shooter in comics and less people like Dideo, Quasada, Lee, Larson, McFarlane single handedly destroying 70 years of a hobby with their 20 years of fucking it all up. It's hard to be excited about any of it. df1
|
|
|
Post by defiant1 on Oct 31, 2013 18:49:50 GMT -5
What you wrote in your first post G is the primary reason that I tend to not buy superhero comics anymore. I have moved to other types of books, because superheroes were just regurgitating the same old crap. Now, I have been enjoying a few superhero titles. Ultimate Spider-Man with Miles Moralis has actually been fresh and stands completely on its own while still honoring Peter PArker. I will be sad to see it come to an end when they destroy the Ultimate Universe soon. The New Valiant books have consistently been enjoyable. Pretty much the entire line. The Hellboy line of titles are also consistently good. But that is about it. Everything else kinda blows. What's wrong with superheroes is not the superheroes themselves, it's the companies and creators who are doing the regurgitating, endless mini series, mega crossovers and shock and awe as our heroes have been molested and disrespected for the sake of a quick headline with no thought process on how to plan it out to be something worthwhile beyond 6 - 12 months. I don't see any reason to go from Superheroes, a genre I grew up likng to get something comparable to a paperback novel or some other genre I never had an interest in. That seems like a recipe for lost customers. Unfortunately, the comic companies take that approach with literally 90% of the fanbase lost over the past 20 years to cater to the 10% who are willing to just look elsewhere at an area most didn't want to resort to in the first place. Being accepting to this being just the way it is and pointing out works that seem to shine above normal dreck just means you are pointing out what is probably mediocre at best because none of that sounds any good to me. I have no interest in Ultimates or Valiant rehashes just to follow the crowd of "aint it cools" out there. There is literally nothing out today that I would plunk down money for month in and month out. Rather than looking elsewhere, id rather turn my back to it altogether and let all the dreck go on without me. I agree. df1
|
|
|
Post by bigw1966 on Nov 9, 2013 12:17:08 GMT -5
Shooter is not involved with Valient in any way. The characters were purchased a time back by a couple of guys, who sat on them for a couple of years planning how to bring them back and then hired solid people to work on them. They have been well done. Far superior to the Dark Horse ones in every way.
As for all of those other types of books whose genres you labeled as "Dreck" are of interest to me, because aside from comics, I read a healthy amount of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror novels, with a periodic crime thriller or Espionage book thrown in the mix.
Walking Dead, which IS great, is the number one book in the industry again this month. It has great writing. the art is solid and the book is free of all of the things that you pointed to as destroying your interest in other comics. But, as I have said before, it is a story that you would really have to give a chance too, like 3 trade paperbacks worht. I say this because there are no one and done stories here. no two issue arc's. Every one of them, runs the length it needs to. Usually 12 - 18 issues and the character growth is never ending. They are not frozen in time like the Superheroes. When someone dies, it has meaning and they are gone for good. That helps keep the book exciting and always surprising. There are a number of books like that right now.
|
|