Do comics matter?

[Bruce Lee]

The comics I grew up reading still matter to me a great deal. I'm not terribly interested in the modern superhero comics of today. I don't enjoy the gimmicks. Silver Age and Bronze Age comics are more my thing. My comic and comic book related purchases tend to be collected trades, reprinting comic runs, etc. For instance, I'm excited that DC is about to release a hardback that collects the Don Newton era BATMAN stories and another volume that will be collecting the Gene Colan's BATMAN run. I'll enjoy seeing those classic stories get the book treatment they deserve. I just plopped down $125 pre-ordering the WALLY WOOD ARTIST'S EDITION that IDW is releasing in October. I can't wait to get my mits on that! A 15" X 22", 144-page book featuring Wood's EC stories, all scanned from the ORIGINAL art! It's a must-have for me!

I'm not currently following any monthly titles. Instead, I'm enjoying collecting runs of comics from the 60s and 70s. I enjoy collecting, and the nostalgia of the past. It's just who I am.

The last time I followed a monthly title I was reading Brubaker's CAPTAIN AMERICA, and I was really digging it. Then "Boom!" goes the dynamite, and the fancy lads at Marvel decide to killed off Cap to sell a few books. Just like the death of Superman, and the "death" of Batman, etc, etc. It was kind of the last straw for me, and I've given up Marvel and DC's modern direction. Sorry, but I just don't care. I'm tired of the gimmicks, stunts and sales ploys. I'm not interested in comics without continuity, where everything can be tossed out suddenly and rebooted. Not interested enough to spend money on that sort of thing, anyway.

While the monthly books aren't getting my dough, I will probably be picking up the KAMANDI OMNIBUS in October. I'm looking forward to it.

[hadesillustrations]

Comics DO matter, as they are a cheap medium to churn out lots of ideas. Making a movie costs millions - comics are a tiny fraction of that to create. That said, the medium is going to change drastically and fairly soon, I believe. It only makes sense that comics move to digital distribution as their primary and physical floppies and trades as a secondary production method within the next 10-20 years. I envision a two-screen tablet - akin to a laptop, but with one touchscreen and one view only screen. This way you can still have a 2-page reading experience. Digital comics can be dumbed down for the digital medium, but I think a tablet like that would market well (the 2 screens could be used to view movies in a larger format and all that jazz) and will help comics retain one of the things that make them special (the anticipation of the page-turn).

Anyway, comics are still viable. There are things that can be done easily in comics that simply can't be done in other mediums, or cost too much to do. Yeah, comics matter.

[Symson]

Comics matter to each person that buys one. I've never bought Vogue or Cosmo, but it matters to the people who buy them.

[RKillian]

I like comics and love cartoons, but what I've gotten extremely tired of is "product."

[weirdozhead]

People will always enjoy comics in one form or another.. it may not be superhero stories, it may not be in the "comic book" format that we're used to paying 3 bucks for, but artists will always have an opportunity for creative storytelling.

If it's the romantic notion of Marvel & DC (and a few independents) pumping out Spidey and Batman stories in monthly 32 page magazines then I honestly think that's a slowly sinking ship. That stuff got kinda boring anyway, I'd rather see a new Shel Silverstein or Bill Watterson personally than another explosion of superhero books.

If traditional comics do die it might be the beginning of a wonderful new evolution, artists using their full creative potential and not relying on the tried and true stereotypes of the format that seem to plague 99% of the comic book creators today.

[cbikle]

If traditional comics do die it might be the beginning of a wonderful new evolution, artists using their full creative potential and not relying on the tried and true stereotypes of the format that seem to plague 99% of the comic book creators today.

I think that's a cop-out; there's nothing really stopping creators from doing original, non-franchise stuff and many do that right now. If creators work on superhero titles or a new Transformer book, they do it for the money or because that's the stuff they want to do.

Most of the art on this very site is superheroes, Star Wars, etc.

[Matt001]

Killian had a good point, that comics are product. A friend has been loaning me the Universe X graphic novels, and at times they are so bad they make me laugh. They are desperate to bring all the Marvel universes together that I'm thinking, why bother. You're trying way too hard to be relevant and no once cares. I may have mentioned KEV'LAR here, my comic (I don't know. I tend to post drunk) but I'm trying to just bring the fun back to comics. I wish the big three would do the same.

[Duhburger]

Comics suck.

If the movie industry weren't making superhero movies would they still be a viable product?

They only matter to the fans that support them.The fans seem to love the constant re-hash of the same bullsh*t. Its like they recycle the same poses and storylines, the same character types for eons. The same gnashing teeth panel after panel. Hurling pop words like KA-ZING or Ka-BOOOMM, as if elementary children are slightly amused by it.

Even the underground stuff is bewildering and banal. Its more like artists exercising out demons from their childhoods or freewheeling artists trying to stretch the medium as a means of artistic expression.

As a kid, the only thing the comics did was decimate your chances with the opposite sex or get laughed out of the county. Nothing good comes out supporting the comics industry. Yes the art is good, the girl with giant juggs looks nice but how long does that last? You'd better off reading novels at least you would get your money's worth.

I fell like I'm in some sort of virtual hell where they re-release the same Batman, Superman, Dumbman in movies, comics, bed sheets etc. Nine out of ten super films suck ridiculously to where even other studios are making fun of the films. When they talk about making the next Superman I get sick to my stomach. Its enough to make me wanna watch only Russian films for next ten years.

Don't get me wrong, I love comics, I just hate of what they've become. Hallowed-out husks, sold to highest bidder. Instead of dealing with contemporary issues, they hide from it. Instead raising the standards of storytelling they stick to old tried and true. I know people will complain, "there's a lots of good stuff out there!"

Sure...I believe you. That's why sales of comics are so high and stores are so packed, that the owners are building franchises all over the U.S.

[lancermonna]

Comics are a means of escape from our mundane realities. But aside from that, they are a vehicle for communication, thought, can be for any age group, talk about anything under the sun, and can make you feel a plethora of emotions. So for me comics be it Batman or One Piece do matter. They teach fun and entertaining lessons about life and I can't see my life or the lives of my future generations without it.

[NickRocks]

when are comics going to be exciting again?