AC
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Post by AC on Feb 14, 2014 17:53:43 GMT -5
They have lost sight of what their forefathers learned during their previous 50 years of experience. Deiiver solid stories with dynsmic storytelling art, using a continous episode chronological order. Develop characters and drop bird seeds for future events keeping readers coming back to see what happens next. Give the reader plenty to read with numerous fast paced scened, not stretch out one or two scenes per issue to barely move the story slong. Make every issue a jumping on point. No mini series or displaced story arcs and mega event crossovet which do more to confuse than answer questions. Give comics insight covers which gives a glimpse of what can be expected inside and entices readerd to buy. Have cliffhangerd at the end of each issue. Make them want to come back. Dont spoil or tell the outcome beforehand and ask them whatthey think. Keep it a secret and surprise readers after they buy it. Dont rape characters with radical overhauls, gender bemding, ethnicity changes, sexual preferences and have obviously biased polical issues that represent the mood of the author. You're right... the powers that be are more interested in "making a statement" than "telling a story"... I mean, which is more likely to get headlines? The Death of Jean DeWolff, or one panel in an issue of Ultimate Spider-Man showing the new spidey is black? One's a great story... the other's a stunt. But only one of those will get any play. Those turds at TMZ and whatever other sniveling shits pop-culture blog aren't interested in dynamic stories and art... they want the shit. So, now we're told to eat shit and like it. Comics also has such an inferiority complex, that it almost feels as though these yahoos "making a statement" and begging for "mainstream attention" is their justification for slumming it in comic books. Growing up, I knew if I were ever lucky enough to score a gig STAPLING comic books I would be proud to be a part of a field and industry I held dear. Now, it's the nerd trying to get the cheerleader's attention. "Ooh, the guy who made Buffy smiled at me." "Whoa, the Clerks guy passed me a note." Comics have been around for a lonnnnnng time... you'd think they'd at least take THEMSELVES seriously. It's also odd, among the fandom... it's almost as if it skipped the backlash to all this, and jumped straight into backlash against the backlash. Many fans online (perhaps to get the attention of pros) have been talking about the "evils of continuity" for awhile now... how it "gets in the way"... I really don't get it, we really are such a self-loathing bunch. |
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Post by defiant1 on Feb 14, 2014 20:57:56 GMT -5
Continuity is the journey. An epic story is the destination. If you have no interest in the journey, you really don't know anything about the characters you are reading. I remember picking up DC comics in the 70's. There was no Robin in Batman. Clark Kent was a television reporter. I knew of these characters from television. The comics were all stand alone stories that never explained anything. One issue seemingly had no relevance to the next. I was lost and did care that I was lost. I started buying Marvel which cared about the journey and I never looked back. Now, the industry is taking stand-alone stories like DC printed, and they decompress it into a 6 issue story arc. Not only are you getting less story, but one arc isn't relevant to the next.
Also, "bait and switch" marketing is illegal in the retail world, but publishers pull it all the time. Ms. Marvel is now a Muslim woman. Spiderman is hispanic. The title makes you think you are buying an established character that you know. The insides are some unrelated crap that they knew wouldn't sell unless they branded it with a popular character's name.
I remember when a restaurant would get sued if you ordered Coca-Cola and they served Pepsi.
df1
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Post by G on Feb 14, 2014 23:14:10 GMT -5
The whole continuity getting in the way, backstory weighs down a title, jumping on point, story arc deal drives me insane. To me it excuses failures in the overall story. I used to think of editors as quality assurance specislists who not only graded details of the story and art but also did fact checking and keeping thinhs in order both in the story but also in the overall universrs. I reember hearing stories of pages getting shit canned and told to fo it again. Now I dont know what editors do. I seen Rob Liefeld Tweet that editors are supposed to work for him while he drew normal people as tall as street lights. There is nocontinuity now. No need for fact checking. Pages dont get thrown away.
Defiant1 is right, without continuity all you have is stories. There is no need to come back. 1 issue fills the void. Continuity fleshes the character out. The Dark Phoenix saga wasnt a single arc told over 6 issues. It was breadcrumbs peeking in hete and there over the course of about 35 issues. While other main stories were happening, this was slowly building in the background until eventually it took over as the main story and had an epic finish. This cant happen over single story arcs. This happens with quality over every level.
Does your backstory weigh down what happens to you in the future? No, you still get up each day and move forward. But it did determine how you got to where you are now. If I check in on you periodically over long periods of time, I might have an idea of what you are like but I wouldnt really know you. Continuity allows you to jump on at any point and really get to know you. Much like when you make a new friend. I can follow you from here and get to know you very well but I understand you have a past before I came on board. I can be just fine following you from where I jumped on. But its up to me to dig into your past if i want. With continuity I can dig up your back story and know even more. Without continuity I will only be familar with you but Ill never entirely know you.
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Post by defiant1 on Feb 15, 2014 4:37:50 GMT -5
Bingo. You nailed it.
df1
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AC
Standout Worker
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Post by AC on Feb 15, 2014 10:03:17 GMT -5
Totally agreed with both of you.
It's been so long since any writers have utilized the "breadcrumb" methodology. Your Dark Phoenix example is great, as Chris Claremont was, at least in my experience/opinion, one of the best at sprinkling bits and pieces of hints and nudges to move organically from one story to the next (sometimes lining things up that wouldn't pay off for YEARS, which created rewards for following the book and being a longtime fan).
The only writer these days who does anything resembling this (again, in my experience) is Dan Slott on Spider-Man. It's good in that the stories progress, and don't simply end and restart every six issues, I will admit however, that sometimes the "breadcrumbs" are a little too convenient and are at the expense of established characterization and are even contradictory to past stories... hmm, okay, maybe he's a bad example, ha!
I grew up Marvel for the same reasons as d1. I just couldn't get into the one and done "pre-crisis" mentality of DC. It always felt so static, as though nothing was really changing, and the heroes were simply facing off with the "monster of the week". Marvel always felt like they were going forward, on the "journey" as was previously stated. The Marvel Universe always felt so interconnected as well, something I wish they'd get back to. During a Thor battle with Frost Giants, it would be snowing in all the other books... Spider-Man urgently zips though a Fantastic Four panel, there's a footnote telling you where Spidey's going and where you can find him next... When Wolverine was away doing his solo thing, HE WASN'T IN THE X-MEN BOOK!
It sucks that the fandom has shrunk, and the line between fan and writer has all but disappeared... our fandom is now full of enablers, apologists and addicts (I know I fall into at least 1 of those... maybe 2), and all we can do now is watch the world burn.
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