comics, cognitive dissonnance and the man behind the curtain

[The Toyroom]

In this week's Final Crisis, Batman goes after Darkseid with a gun. Now it's been a long standing fact that Batman will not fire a gun because of the trauma of his parent's deaths. There have been more than a few stories that revolved around this fact at some point. But it was all wiped away by Grant Morrison writing in the line, "Just this once I'll make an exception". Baloney- did Morrison do this for shock value? Are we to believe the situation is so dire that Batman will break his personal convictions because the end justifies the means? No he did it because no one said " No, Batman does not do this. Use a batarang, use a rock, use a blowdart, use a slingshot, but you can't use a gun. Change it." Because then li'l Granty would run away and cry boo-hoo and not write big name comics for DC. AS IF THERE ARE NO OTHER TALENTED WRITERS IN THE WORLD THAT WANT A JOB. And DC, hey guess what? Eventually Grant will leave your company and go elsewhere, so why are you coddling him? Face facts people, all big name books, writers, artists, etc are replaced. Grant will leave, but will you still have an iconic Batman brand to give the next guy if you continue to allow this?

The whole "gun thing" is a cop-out of a bad writer IMO....as if the only way for Batman to defeat Darkseid is to break his rule about firearms and shoot the Big D with this "god bullet". Batman is smart enough to be able to think of another scenario I'm sure without resorting to a gun. But in all actuality a good writer wouldn't have put Batman in that situation in the first place....that's what SUPERMAN is for...to go up against guys like Darkseid. Morrison however chose Batman to justify an "ending" to his crappy "R.I.P." arc.

[johnnystorm]

Silliest thing in this entire debacle: After all the violence, brainwashing, death, and destruction caused by Darkseid's Anti-Life equation, it seems you can defeat it by drawing on your forehead with a Blue Sharpie.

Stupid Batman and his magic God-Gun! Some World's Greatest Detective he is!

[The Toyroom]

Silliest thing in this entire debacle: After all the violence, brainwashing, death, and destruction caused by Darkseid's Anti-Life equation, it seems you can defeat it by drawing on your forehead with a Blue Sharpie.

Yet another example of Morrison's "high-concept" gobbledegook approach to things lately...all flash but no substance.

[ctc]

>that usually means a 1 +year delay in seeing the storyline run it's course,

Other problems include the idea that "Super Writer-X" is usually hired based on the success of a specific thing they've written; and you end up with "Character X plus whatever it is that Super Writer-X is known for." And tv shows, movies, books and comics are DIFFERENT. Each medium has it's own demands and advantages, and skill in one doesn't always translate to another.

>"but I'm a big fan and have always wanted to tell a story about him!"

Don't forget the old: "And we've decided to update the character while remaining true to their roots." And then we get the "Judge Dredd" movie....

>Many of them do have comic material such as Shonen Jump. Solution is to create a similar ADVERTISING DRIVEN thick magazine that magazine dealers would stock.

Well.... I think what makes Shonen Jump sell so well is that you get 250+ pages of story for $5 a month. A Marvel/DC/sometimes Image book gives you about 22 pages for $4. (250 doesn't include the ads. Most issues come in at about 300 pages INCLUDING ads.) On top of that, being an anthology means they can sneak in a completey NEW story every so often.... testing the water and seeing what the readers like. The book is predominantly the "boys' action" comics, but they manage to sneak in some soap operas, sports comics, comedies.... So when the reader starts tiring of young kids fighting in tournaments they know there are OTHER kinds of books available. So Shonen Jump doesn't just keep on top of the trends, they MAKE them. (25+ volumes of a comic about a guy playing tennis?!?!? Who knew?)

Marvel/DC/ and sometimes Image are kinda stuck in a superhero rut. Not just on THEIR end, but on the older comic fans' internalizing the "comic=superhero" formula.

>I truly believe that the leaders of the comic book companies live with the idea firmly planted in their heads that this is all going to end next spring and they need to gather as much cash while they can

HAW! You may be right, but I don't see them thinking that far ahead. I can see the big mucky-mucks thinking "I'm so great!" and then wondering why it all falls apart every few months.

>I think that all the main characters have had a defined persona per era of publishing

Oh, definitely.And I think it's cyclic too. Your Batman example is a good one, 'cos it shows how he goes back and forth from "dark gritty" to "determined" to "BAM! POW!" I think most long term fans sorta put this to the back of their mind though. Hence my wondering exactly how it is that the concept of "THIS is Batman" becomes established for the readers. Thers is no "ultimate" Batman. He changes as the real world does.

>I think, at least in the cartoons, there is an attempt to make him more friendly from time to time,

I think a lot of that comes from limits imposed by Standards and Practices. Although I do expect there's a pinch of the producer in that; since a lighter Batman means a larger audience, and more kids watching. More adults too, if their Batman fits dad's concept. Dads who'll then be more likely to buy junior that "Ultimate Ice-Commando" Batman figure....

>isn't that the one where Perry White keeps yelling "Great Schwartz's Ghost!" at Jimmy Olsen?

Ouch.

>aren't we talking about branding?

Oh yeah! That's a good way of looking at it.

>I'd love for the Big Two to return to the Silver Age style of just telling a good story, yes with some continuity but not at the expense of it.

Yeah. Those one or two issue stories WERE continuity! If it happened, it happened. THAT'S continuity! But since the 90's "story arc" has become a fetish for the nerdly arts. (I suspect 'cos that was a selling point for "Babylon 5.") SO even though it was there all along, now you've got to be beat over the head with it. And the SADDEST part is, the limits of a perpetual series mean that these multi-issue epics STILL can't change anything! So we get a neverending parade of super-hyped non-events.

>they don't choose an image and back that up no matter what by saying to whatever writer or artist "This is how Superman acts. This is how Superman looks. Tell a great story but remember these two things".

Back in the day every Marvel and DC comic had a one or two line blurb on the first page that summed the character up. THAT was the core of the character, and an inportant addendum. That one line was often enough to initiate a new reader.

>Does George Lucas allow any deviation from his vision of Star Wars?

**coughcough*HolidaySpecial*cough**

>The whole "gun thing" is a cop-out of a bad writer IMO

Well.... to kinda go on a tangent here.... It's been well established that Batman DOESN'T use guns. Ever. Even when you THOUGHT he did in "The Dark Knight Returns" he really didn't.... BUT he DOES use the Batarang, which is still a potentially deadly weapon.... so there's kind of a double standard there. He doesn't use the Batarang as a lethal weapon though.... but there are characters in the DC universe that use guns, but not as lethal weapons....

Don C.

[garagesale]

thank God for DC's multiverse... makes this all make more sense!

JamesD