Have superhero comics lost their innocence forever?

[MIB41]

For me, comics lost their innocence and much of their craft decades ago. Comics use to be like a monthly soap opera. You had to keep up with the stories to know what was happening. And writers had a standard of continuity to live up to. Marvel handed out awards when readers caught a mistake in that continuity. There were no wild shifts in costumes, identity switches, or heroes dying on a routine basis to artificially inflate sales. There were actually stories to tell. Now all the artwork looks computer generated, the stories turn the lives of these characters on their ears, and the most common trend sadly is race and gender baiting, which is just exploiting minorities for broaden sales. There is no respect for social issues. Its all about making a buck and hiding behind the trappings of social issues to get there. Turning Thor into a woman, is the headline grabber here. Exploiting the ravages of cancer is not. I too have just gone through the experience of losing a loved one to this horrible disease and find this storyline nothing more than cheap exploitation to those suffering. Isn't the topic of the disease relevant enough without burying it under a gimmick? I guess on top of no artwork and no writing these days, we can add no soul as well.

[enyawd72]

^Well said.

I also think a big part of the problem is a complete lack of respect for what has come before. How arrogant is the artist who changes a character's costume as soon as they start work on a book, just to say "Look what I did! Isn't this soooo much better?" How arrogant is the writer who exploits a character and spits in the face of continuity in an attempt to "leave their mark" on a book. Today's writers and artists fail to understand, that they do NOT own these characters. They are merely temporary custodians of them. They are there to SERVE the characters. The characters are not there to serve them.

[cdhall]

What's ironic is Jane Foster saying to Thor "I could use a good saving the world story." to divert her attention from her illness for a while. The writers should take their own advice.

Amen. I quit reading SpiderMan (and probably Iron Man at least) YEARS AGO because Spidey's life was more depressing than mine. And if I recall, I didn't want to see that super-rich epic guy with Iron Man armor was an alcoholic who couldn't handle life...

So I have to say the lost innocence started at least in the 80s.

[cdhall]

I said this when one of the Batman movies came out. Maybe the Michael Keaton one. I remember telling my friend, "Let's see. This Batman thing is about 75 years old. The studio wants to put a few million into making a movie so people can see it move. So who thought it was such a great idea to change ANYTHING? All that history and customers standing in line and when they get their you are going to sell them something ... Else?"

Stupidity of the highest order methinks.

[MIB41]

^Well said.

I also think a big part of the problem is a complete lack of respect for what has come before. How arrogant is the artist who changes a character's costume as soon as they start work on a book, just to say "Look what I did! Isn't this soooo much better?" How arrogant is the writer who exploits a character and spits in the face of continuity in an attempt to "leave their mark" on a book. Today's writers and artists fail to understand, that they do NOT own these characters. They are merely temporary custodians of them. They are there to SERVE the characters. The characters are not there to serve them.

Exactly right. And trying to romanticize the end of cancer is particularly cruel. There's an inevitability to cancer in its later stages that can not be conceptualized into a pop psychology examination. It's not dignified or poetic. And Marvel having Thor become a host to her dilemma is a naive move for poetic license to examine that struggle which must ultimately kill her. That in turn only exacerbates the suffering for those reading it who have experienced it. It also demonstrates a profound ignorance on the part of the writers to understand all the natural emotions those who suffer from it must travel through to that ultimate end. Despondence, untreatable pain, and a almost primal battle to hold on to the very fabric of life is not something you can capture or articulate by allowing Thor to play host to this character. It's another sad commentary on the continuous decline of comics as a art form.

[kingdom warrior]

For me, comics lost their innocence and much of their craft decades ago. Comics use to be like a monthly soap opera. You had to keep up with the stories to know what was happening. And writers had a standard of continuity to live up to. Marvel handed out awards when readers caught a mistake in that continuity. There were no wild shifts in costumes, identity switches, or heroes dying on a routine basis to artificially inflate sales. There were actually stories to tell. Now all the artwork looks computer generated, the stories turn the lives of these characters on their ears, and the most common trend sadly is race and gender baiting, which is just exploiting minorities for broaden sales. There is no respect for social issues. Its all about making a buck and hiding behind the trappings of social issues to get there. Turning Thor into a woman, is the headline grabber here. Exploiting the ravages of cancer is not. I too have just gone through the experience of losing a loved one to this horrible disease and find this storyline nothing more than cheap exploitation to those suffering. Isn't the topic of the disease relevant enough without burying it under a gimmick? I guess on top of no artwork and no writing these days, we can add no soul as well.

Well said......

[kingdom warrior]

Amen. I quit reading SpiderMan (and probably Iron Man at least) YEARS AGO because Spidey's life was more depressing than mine. And if I recall, I didn't want to see that super-rich epic guy with Iron Man armor was an alcoholic who couldn't handle life...

So I have to say the lost innocence started at least in the 80s.

I quit reading Ironman when he became an alcoholic, for me it hit too close to home as i saw family members deal with it.
I remembering thinking at the time....oh come on here too? so I stopped.

It's funny cause all my friends kept asking me my opinion on it. I said I don't read Thor, nor do I care to. If Marvel wants to do it go ahead, they get plenty of money from people who like this stuff....but I grew tired of gimmick ideas and comics in the 90's.

[Hedji]

M1B and Enyawd... Excellent points, and well said. I lost my love for comics long ago. Mainly because of the art. I hate computer coloring. Although in the 90s, I was into Mike Allred's Madman... That was a fun read.

[bobws]

After Frank Millers Dark Knight and X-Men Days of future past everything went dark and hopeless and it has spiraled down to what we have today.
No Joy in comics unless it's aimed at 6 year olds.
Another reason I no longer buy DC and Marvel.

[Hedji]

Even the stuff aimed at kids now is snarky and sarcastic. It seems sincerity and just plain old honest Good Guys vs Bad Guys is considered old fashioned.