Since Rebirth, many of the comics seem to feature heroes with problems who are nonetheless heroes, and nowhere can that be seen more than in the recent Superman comics. (When three of the Teen Titans are mass murderers, that’s not good.) Those comics were joyless and the New 52 reboot faltered. I’ve noticed the big two superhero companies often forget #3: they’re writing heroes.ĭC went through a whole period in the New 52 of Superman as an angsty, jerky loner with a Batman who seemed to be so driven as to be insane, and other heroes who seemed to be people with super powers who had no understanding of what it means to be a hero. Maybe sometimes they die–see DC: The New Frontier–but they leave the world a better place. Good people with flaws who fight the good fight and win. Okay, supposedly he is but we all let go of the fact there’s no way a normal human can take the kind of punishment Batman does. Let’s marvel over the amazing action sequences that David Finch has done in his recent run on Batman or admire the re-styling of Batgirl via Babs Tarr as she fits into a brand new neighborhood. Let’s see Jack Kirby’s Captain America fight the MadBomb. Let’s see Darwyn Cooke’s Justice League take on the Island That Time Forgot in DC: The New Frontier. Let the artists who are the true stars of this genre show up. So what are the non-negotiable elements of the superhero genre? Romance readers will desert a writer in droves if that writer promises a Happily Ever After (HEA) at the end and then says “oops, nope, nevermind.” It’s not a trope, it’s a non-negotiable part of the genre. Not that an audience should always determine what a writer should write, but a writer and company who don’t stay attuned to what their genre readers expect are quickly going to find themselves in deep trouble. Smart marketing, right? Wrong: there is at least one comic shop owner who feels Secret Empire is failing Marvel, sales-wise.īut, hey, the story has lots to say about the current state of the world and how people view heroes. It’s weird when your own television show throws shade on your storyline.īut the point is to draw all that ire and sell comics because people must see how Steve Rogers gets out of this and how our heroes save the world again. on television, for one, isn’t buying the whole “Hydra isn’t Nazis in the least” thing. What’s more shocking than Captain America being a Nazi, er, oops, Hydra, as Marvel Comics has been careful to point out?īut Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I’m sure the decision to do this was based on the need to draw attention– hey, look that worked–and to have a big event in order to force those reading Marvel Comics to buy other issues to get the complete story. Naturally, it will all come out right in the end because no one, even Marvel, wants Nazi Cap forever. To the objectors, Marvel people are saying that this is a story that needs to play out. Clearly, they decided shock value would be the way to go this time. Marvel and DC always do these big events to boost sales, complete with tie-ins and various covers. So Cap was always Hydra in this rewritten universe. In this alternate reality, Hydra won World War II but the Allies used the Cosmic Cube to win instead, thus forcing Captain America, a secret Hydra agent, to go undercover. Let’s use Marvel’s Secret Empire as an example. (Though, usually, one will come from the other.) Yes, it’s been said before and we can say it again: Marvel and DC Entertainment still have a diversity problem.Īnd I mean that not only by the diversity of talent but diversity of stories. This is a chance to get in on a new universe on the ground floor, and it’s written by talent as diverse as the world around us–talent that isn’t tone deaf to the world around us. The first book, Catalyst Prime: Noble #1, is written by Brandon Thomas with art by Roger Robinson, and it’s in stores May 3rd, 2017. For example, I’m thrilled to see the new Catalyst universe from LionForge Comics. This misreading is shifting me away from Marvel and some DC properties and to other publishers. ( Wonder Woman is a wait-and-see proposition.) DC did with the New 52 line of comics and Warner Bros. And Marvel’s not the only one to make this mistake. Marvel’s current Secret Empire event, aka Hydra/Nazi Cap, is one of them.īecause the idea of Hydra/Nazi Cap is a misreading of what superhero readers want from the genre. Thoughts that roll around my brain until I put them down on virtual paper. But every now and then, a story concerning the comics industry comes along and I have thoughts. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve written this column. A page from Catalyst Prime: Noble #1, coming Free Comic Book Day from LionForge
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