Comic Books

So in a big news story that surprisingly does'nt seem to be April Fools-connected (and indeed, so far they've wisely avoided positing information on Day Two coverage today to avoid anyone mistaking it for a joke), Marvel held a retailer summit over the previous week and openly admitted their diversity push wasn't finding an audience

http://www.comicsbeat.com/marvel-retailers-and-readers-turning-their-nose-up-at-their-more-diverse-titles/

As I understand it, the only people pushing for it were the kind of people who don't buy comics.
As per usual.

Yeah, the crowd that complain 'till they're red in the face about representation lacking in every corner, then when there is, they just quiet down and vent about that other corner that does'nt have a patch of their red-hot ire on it.

It's like throwing a fit at a colouring book when there's only the tiniest patch of the page that is'nt filled in

iank wrote:As I understand it, the only people pushing for it were the kind of people who don't buy comics.
As per usual.

Indeed. https://www.themarysue.com/diverse-comic-sales-not-readers-fault/

To extend an olive branch, Marvel didn't handle it in the best way. When you do shit like take a book called Iron Man and make the main character a (black) teenage girl you have to expect people to get annoyed.

I think the biggest problem was that it was all so inorganic, and a cynical money making agenda. If they just created a bunch of new characters to carry brand new titles it could have been different but a lot of it seemed to be taking established titles and forcing it in. Thor became a woman, Ms. Marvel became muslim etc, which only pisses off the people who were enjoying what they had before and does little to bring in the people who weren't interested in those books to begin with.

Adam Ant Driver wrote:To extend an olive branch, Marvel didn't handle it in the best way. When you do shit like take a book called Iron Man and make the main character a (black) teenage girl you have to expect people to get annoyed.

I think the biggest problem was that it was all so inorganic, and a cynical money making agenda. If they just created a bunch of new characters to carry brand new titles but a lot of it seemed to be taking established titles and forcing it in. Thor became a woman, Ms. Marvel became muslim etc, which only pisses off the people who were enjoying what they had before and does little to bring in the people who weren't interested in those books to begin with.

Agreed, these people who demand for things like a female Bond, female Batman or female Doctor don't understand that some characters gender and race and sexuality are too important to change.

That's not always the case. The Kingpin for instance could be played by a black man (and was to great effect) as his race is utterly unimportant. His look isn't dependent on race. All you need is a big heavy set, menacing guy and its still recognisably the Kingpin.

However at the same time characters like say Mary Jane I feel it would be a bit more difficult to change her race, as Mary Jane has a definite look which is a white girl with red hair. Its a two way street of course as Blade's look for instance is very dependent on his race too, thus he needs to always be played by a black guy.

Gender meanwhile I think is something that matters more as there are differences between men and women (doesn't mean they are not equal, just different) and thus a characters gender will often become a part of who they are really by default.

Similarly a characters sexuality will often be a defining aspect of their character more than race too, though not as much as gender. For instance I had no problem with Dorothy being a lesbian in Once Upon A Time as her sexuality had never been an aspect of her character in any previous versions (for obvious reasons). Hell for all we know she could have been gay in Return to Oz. However a character like James Bond obviously couldn't be gay and still seem like Bond, and at the same time an openly gay character couldn't just be made straight no problem.

With things like a female Doctor, a female Bond, the question is never "can a woman play a hero". Obviously they can, no one but a true bigot would say they can't. Its can they play that specific character and would it still seem like the same character? Again its a two way street, as I don't think a man could play Xena either.

However the likes of the sjw's who run Marvel never take that into account. They just shout down anyone who doesn't like their changes to other people's characters as sexists, racists and homophobes, and blame their own flagging sales on the fact geeks apparently can't stand anything with a non white male hero because they aren't enlightened like them.

Of course in saying this they not only completely ignore the likes of Red Dwarf, Blade, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Xena, Buffy, Once Upon A Time, Charmed, Alien, etc all of which were huge success stories, but they also hilariously shoot themselves in the foot by insulting their audiences as racists, sexists and homophobes.

Marvel deserve to go out of business TBH. I hate saying that as its a shame for Stan Lee (not that he needs the cash mind you) and I do adore their characters, but fuck are they smug virtue signalling cunts these days.

DC milk Watchmen for what it's still worth with an animated adaptation

http://www.cbr.com/watchmen-r-rated-animated-movie/

RIP Leo Baxendale, creator of Minnie The Minx and Bash St. Kids

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/04/27/leo-baxendale-creator-bash-street-kids-dies-86/

Welcome to Atop the 4th Wall...where bad comics burn
These fans are gonna teach Marvel a lesson theyll all learn
Spencer you're not the smartest...

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/05/07/burning-copies-of-secret-empire-on-free-comic-book-day/

People who have been reading it have told me the Captain Hydra stuff is actually pretty good.

"Darksied Is"

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/05/exclusive-tom-king-mitch-gerads-miracle-man.html

So we're basically ignoring the last Darksied arc in the New 52 and reuniting Barda and Scott immediately

Justice League Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Issues Cancelled
http://comicbook.com/dc/2017/05/16/justice-league-power-rangers-issues-cancelled/

Marvel have fired the editor of the X-Men comic books

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/05/26/daniel-ketchums-departure-from-x-men-sends-out-shockwaves/

Batman asks Catwoman to marry him

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2017/06/06/exclusive-batman-catwoman-marriage-proposal/102539296/

Danny Elfman is doing the score for the Justice League movie, will this be the first memorable (original) soundtrack to a superhero movie since X-Men: First Class or the Spider-Man trilogy before it?

Zarius wrote:DC milk Watchmen for what it's still worth with an animated adaptation

http://www.cbr.com/watchmen-r-rated-animated-movie/

Watchmen tv series in the works at HBO. Damon Lindelof of Lost and Prometheus fame is behind it.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/watchmen-tv-series-damon-lindelof-works-at-hbo-1014987

Secret Empire was a disaster for Marvel, and there's been a troubling 25% drop in the month of August across the board for the industry.

In the meantime, the Superman comic books have unveiled their big twist, revealing the mysterious Mr. Oz, who has been a staple of the books since even the New 52 days, is actually Jor-El, Clark's kryptonian father, only now he's moustache-twirling evil and wants to condem the very humanity he sent his son to live among.

Zarius wrote:

I used to like Dan Slott's work. His She Hulk series is brilliant. Sadly however he has become a self loathing fanboy, a tedious fuck, a condescending cunt, a third rate hack, and based on this recent episode, certiviable.

I read Philip Sandifer's Wonder Woman book the other day. Gotta say, I really enjoyed it. Inspired me to check out the recent film which I had been avoiding - and that was really good too!

Still, haven't bothered to read any comics yet cos I got tons of actual books to read.

I thought Renew Your Vows#11 (out today) was an awesome issue, Peter just savaging a whole bar full of villians and Rhino for info on what happened to his kid made my day, it's taken almost a year to have him kick ass like this in this book, his wife's been getting a lot more attention in it than him, which I often felt was Marvel's way of trying too hard to please people critical of how they treat MJ in the main continuity

I only read comic book adaptions of films. I did buy an Italian X-Men comic once but to this day I still can't understand it.

I don't know if it counts as comic book, but it's Japanese manga, so I might as well include it.

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (1987-Present): A generational saga through different periods of times, following the bloodline of the Joestar family. Through different protagonists, different horror genres and diverse characters and clothing, Jojo is certainly a unique franchise, and feels like a Japanese version of Doctor Who.

I'll admit that I followed this franchise at first, due to huge word of mouth on the Internet, but I am certainly glad that I did. It's certainly a difficult thing to describe what it's about, but the appeal of it, is the unique and varied styles it is in, especially since the franchise is split off into multiple parts. From Victorian Gothic Horror, Twin Peaks Murder Mystery, Wild West Odyssey, Italian Mafia Action Drama, there's always something varied about the franchise. And from the different genres, come the different members of the Joestar family, and all of them are endearing and enjoyable, even the weakest ones. From the kind hearted Victorian gentleman of Jonathan Joestar, the Clint Eastwood-like teenage delinquent of Jotaro Kujo, the quirky and likeable high school student of Josuke Higashikata, the abrasive and feisty female of Jolyne Kujo, and others. My favourites being Joseph Joestar, Josuke Higashikata and Jolyne Kujo.

Another aspect is the problem solving is so different to how other action manga handle conflicts. Jojo often handles fight scenes not just by utterly punching the shit out of enemies, there's often a strategic side in defeating bad guys, like a game of chess. And they're so entertaining to watch, even if some are overly bafflingly complex.

And one final point is the art. My word, the art is magnificent. It's all so diverse, and feels like the writer/artist, Araki is constantly evolving, with him taking inspiration from buff action heroes in the 80s like Kurt Russell, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to the Gucci eccentric fashionable clothing, and utterly insane poses, I'm always captivated by the art. And for the art being so good that it's the only Japanese manga to be constantly featured at the Louvre is an achievement. And the music references are just insane, it's no secret that the author is a huge Western fan, and loves naming characters or powers after either bands or songs, specifically 60s-00s bands and songs. Killer Queen, Steely Dan, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Bad Company, etc. I would have never heard the likes of Enigma, King Crimson or Earth Wind and Fire if it wasn't for the musical references in the franchise.

But yeah, I was pleasantly surprised with Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, considering that I'm not a huge anime/manga enthusiast. It might not be my favourite piece of media, but if it makes sense, it's probably the most fun that I have had experiencing a piece of media, even more than Doctor Who.

Some updates on what I've been reading

I've dropped Bendis' Superman...I don't actually 'hate' it the way almost all of the internet does, but I don't really trust how he's characterising people. Lois in particular. Greg Rucka has been making the current state of the Super-Marriage work far better in Lois' maxi-series, but that won't last much longer

Not really high on Tynion's Batman run so far...feels like it wants to be Hush all over again, and for some reason Harley Quinn randomly got involved. I'm kind of more or less waiting on Tom King's Batman/Catwoman title to begin so he can complete their story. Like with Bendis, I'm more forgiving of King than others on the internet, even if his Batman run did fizzle out

Nick Spencer's Spider-Man continues to be a highlight of my Marvel reading, and the recent spin-offs Amazing Mary Jane and Black Cat are holding their own too.

Dan Slott is leaving Iron Man, thank goodness, although if I had to pick between that and Fantastic Four, I'd get him off the latter as it's pretty stiff. Iron Man at least seemed to move along at a quicker pace. My only real issue was the Tony/Janet relationship, which Slott at least nipped in the bud before the Iron Man 2020 event, which led to the redemption of Pepper Potts.

I might start reading The Shadow comics. I hold the 1994 Alec Baldwin movie in very high regard and I'm curious to check out the source material.