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Topic: Gerry Conway "Cancel Every Existing Superhero Comic" Post ReplyPost New Topic
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Rick Whiting
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Posted: 24 September 2020 at 10:27pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

He's absolutely right. He's basically saying what JB has been saying for the last 2 decades.

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/punisher-creator-gerry-conwa y-cancel-every-existing-superhero-comic/
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David Schmidt
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Posted: 25 September 2020 at 12:39am | IP Logged | 2 post reply

Are DC Comics really heading in that direction?
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Greg McPhee
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Posted: 25 September 2020 at 2:21am | IP Logged | 3 post reply

Gerry hits the nail on the head. I find it difficult to disagree with any of the points he made or his view of how to fix things.
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John Byrne
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Posted: 25 September 2020 at 4:16am | IP Logged | 4 post reply

Is there an echo in here?
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Rich Johnston
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Posted: 25 September 2020 at 6:40am | IP Logged | 5 post reply

David, DC is cutting their list of monthly superhero titles. They are moving editorial resources to kids and YA graphic novels or "big comics", including recent hits like DC Super Hero Girls, Teen Titans: Raven or Gotham High, and have tripled those numbers every year. While also increasing the number of Black Label, prestige format mini-series aimed at adults, such as Three Jokers, The Other History and The Last God. That is DC's current publication trend, though it is slow. There is a move away from the comic shop to bookstores, bookfairs, online sales and digital.
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Peter Martin
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Posted: 25 September 2020 at 6:58am | IP Logged | 6 post reply

Eliminating any need for anything more than passing familiarity with continuity and pursuing multiple distribution avenues. These are essential.

The 9-13 target isn't wrong either.

Still not sure comics aren't screwed no matter what other than as a small niche industry.
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Michael Roberts
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Posted: 25 September 2020 at 7:04am | IP Logged | 7 post reply

I agree about the content portion, but this seems horribly out of touch:


 QUOTE:
And I'd do *everything* possible to get monthly comics into supermarkets and movie theaters and Walmart and Target and Costco and offer subscription services through Amazon. Pursue every alternate distribution Avenue possible.

In addition to the comic industry not catering to 40+ year olds, they need to stop catering to 40+ year olds ideas about what appeals to kids based on their nostalgia of what appealed to them as a kid. Periodicals are not a growing industry.

Look at the formats that /are/ selling to kids: manga volumes, Scholastic books.


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David Schmidt
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Posted: 25 September 2020 at 7:40am | IP Logged | 8 post reply

Thanks for the explanation Rich.
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Tim O Neill
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Posted: 25 September 2020 at 11:47am | IP Logged | 9 post reply



Michael R: "In addition to the comic industry not catering to 40+ year olds,
they need to stop catering to 40+ year olds ideas about what appeals to kids
based on their nostalgia of what appealed to them as a kid. Periodicals are not
a growing industry.

Look at the formats that /are/ selling to kids: manga volumes, Scholastic
books."

****

I agree completely - modern popular formats are the future of getting through
to young readers.   

I think this is the only flaw in Conway's comments - from an editorial POV, I
think he is spot on.


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Rebecca Jansen
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Posted: 25 September 2020 at 1:05pm | IP Logged | 10 post reply

The thing that lit the fire under comics was the creation of something new... so how do so many think regurgitating an old creation endlessly would do that? 1938 and Superman was a huge phenomenon that became widely knows and moved into other media. Captain Marvel, Batman, Captain America followed. 1962 and Spider-Man really reignites things with a new style of hero with problems plus humor (not to discount the ever lovin' blue-eyed Thing, a hero who looks like a monster). Has the business often enough cultivated new creations and creators? Well, The Mask and The Walking Dead didn't come from the big publishers. Nor Elfquest, the Rocketeer, Beanworld, Mutant Ninja Turtles... you reap what you sow and they haven't sown as much as they could. It's cool that an Enemy Ace or The Warlord could still happen at DC even before the creators' rights push got really going, and i do give points for Marvel's 'New Universe' even if it wasn't any kind of real success (comics are a visual medium, you simply have to be very visual for success is how I see it).

There's also availability and affordability whatever that would be in these times, people seeking out a specialist shop is asking your customers to come to you, and also, if someone doesn't read comics as a kid they are not likely to take them up later on... need lots of quality kids' comics. I would love to work on those; things to spark imagination and thinking! That is an audience I respect where frankly a lot of older collectors who are going to analyze something against whatever they think of as significant literature or art leaves me cold... and out. What was so distasteful about Scribbly, Sugar And Spike, Super Turtle or those cute super pets? Or even artwork that looks like a human being drew or lettered it? What was wrong with girls and women reading comics that they started into killing or maiming so many heroines (notice huge drop in letters pages of female readers names for around ten to fifteen years). Or howsabout The Smurfs? They were as big as anything and they started in comics albeit in Belgium. Records, games, toys, films... and loads of their story 'albums' kept in print!

Thanks for this forum, I hope something positive actually gets done; cynical and manipulative (variant covers and all that kind of b.s.) was a very bad strategy long term. Significant mature pictorial literature (which exists perfectly well in mediums other than comics more accessible to adult readers) is not as much fun as, well... fun! Make comics fun! Almost every major success has been fairly light fantasy and melodrama of a very visual kind.
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Darin Henry
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Posted: 25 September 2020 at 5:10pm | IP Logged | 11 post reply

Great takes.  Totally agree. Are you a writer or artist, Rebecca?
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Rick Whiting
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Posted: 25 September 2020 at 6:11pm | IP Logged | 12 post reply

I think that the the Big 2 should increase the size of their comics (in regards to the number of pages) so that each series would be a co-feature comic and contain two series. So if the number of ongoing monthly MU and DCU comics are reduced to 8 to 10 comics a month each comic would be actually 2 monthly series in one comic. For example, Marvel could publish a Spider-Man ongoing series called "SPIDER-MAN AND THE NEW WARRIORS" that would feature an ongoing Spider-Man series and an ongoing New Warriors series. I would also do a lot of selective retconning maintenance of ALL of the MU and DCU characters and get rid of,ignore,and NEVER mention again a lot of past stories and multiple redundant knockoff characters (who either have the same or powers/weapons or names as existing active characters) REGARDLESS of how popular,loved,or critically acclaimed those stories and characters may be. So instead of having multiple characters with the same powers as Spider-Man and Spider-Woman, I would either get rid of or completely revamp those other spider characters into being their own unique superhero characters or be new replacement versions of characters who are no longer being used or never caught on. For example, instead of Miles Morales being another Spider-Man, I would revamp the character and get rid of some of his powers,give him some new powers,and give him a new origin for his powers and make him the new Prowler.
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