This is what needs to happen with Comics...

[Blue Meanie]

Been trying to organize my books and came across my box of independents and found what looks like every issue from the Future Comics company. Bob Layton/Dick Giordano and many other comic veterans start up company. Damn good books from the "Old Guys". In my opinion this needs to happen again real soon...because I am just sick and tired from the crap that's coming out of the 2 majors. I mean really, how many Batman, Superman, Spiderman, X-Men titles are needed. It's just a bunch of diluted DREK that's coming out. Cancelling titles left and right. This is a shout out to any of the "Old Guys" out there that may be reading (hey, I can dream) Do it again...Hey Mike Grell, Bob Layton, Dave Michelline(SP) and many others...START YOUR CREATOR OWNED COMIC COMPANY. Anything you guys put out would be 100 times better than the crap that's coming out these days. BTW, here's an older article on the Future Comics I was talking about if anyone is interested:

A Look at Future Comics

Another thing that needs to happen is a "REAL COMIC CON" with some artists and writers that are still alive as GUESTS at the show. I didn't even know who 85% of the so called artists/creators were at the NYCC. Oh yeah, and actually sell vintage comics and toys at a COMIC CON...now there's a concept that was completely lost at NYCC. Sorry for the rant...but these shows today just completely SUCK.

[The Toyroom]

I agree about a lot of the "old guys" still doing stand-up, bang-up work (Check out Len Wein's DCU Legacies where he's paired up with craftsmen like Gibbons, Garcia-Lopez, Ordway and Perez.

Unfortunately in today's market stuff with out the Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, X-Men emblems plastered all over the cover are gonna be hard sells. I for one am only buying 1 Superman title, no Batman, 1 Spider-Man and no X-Men at his time. BUt I'm sure I'm in the minority.

[samurainoir]

I really wish the Legend imprint at Dark Horse had fared better.

It really gave a showcase to the generation that was starting to get pushed out by the Image crowd in the nineties.

I've only recently gotten into John Byrne's Next Men and it really did mark and evolution in his work that the audience at the time might not have been ready for. The ideas and scifi concepts he brought to the Superhero table really foretold what the Wachowski Bros did with The Matrix.

There are so many creator owned concepts from the eighties that deserve a home where they can leverage their marketing potential... Grell's Sable, Mike Baron and Steve Rude's Nexus, Ostrander's Grimjack.

Fortunately, guys like Grell, Layton et al have been getting work from the majors still.

[kingdom warrior]

Total agreement! Love the old Guard. that actually know how to craft a story out and don't fill their pages with endless pin-up shots.....and actually know how to use pen/brush and ink.

[The Toyroom]

There are so many creator owned concepts from the eighties that deserve a home where they can leverage their marketing potential... Grell's Sable, Mike Baron and Steve Rude's Nexus, Ostrander's Grimjack.

There was a recent relaunch but I don't know what happened to it...I got the first two issues and then it disappeared.....

[kingdom warrior]

There was a recent relaunch but I don't know what happened to it...I got the first two issues and then it disappeared.....

Anthony I posted on another thread about Steve Rude having problems with foreclosure of his home........that's why the book wasn't coming out

[WannabeMego]

Very Interesting Read from WiKi:

Future Comics - Wikipedia

...check out some of the Referenced Links on the WiKi Page for more details

From Bob Layton Himself:

Future Comics - THE DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

[samurainoir]

There was a recent relaunch but I don't know what happened to it...I got the first two issues and then it disappeared.....

Low sales and Steve Rude's financial hardships may have been the reason. I've been rereading the run and I really do wish that they could have hooked a contemporary audience. Nexus really was a ground-breaking book in so many ways, from it's production values to the complex scifi concepts to the willingness to tackle contemporary politics within that millieu

Anyone who wants to help save Steve Rude's home can buy some of his original artwork at his site and on ebay...
Steve Rude Art Store

In my opinion, because he's flooding the market with them out of his desperate situation, many great pieces are going for well under what they should be. I just wish I had the cash right now for original art 'cause I'd be all over that.

[Blue Meanie]

Reading the Wiki entry posted by my bro...it looks like Diamond strikes again. Someone really needs to put a boot in that company's backside . Seriously. Also the Wiki post address' what also needs to be done....way too much of the industry is reliant on computers. It needs to go back to real letterers and colorists to do what's being done by computers. I don't know about you guys but a lot of the stuff that's being done with computer help leaves me cold. There's no "POP" to anything anymore. Maybe the industry needs a complete re-haul back to the old days of doing comics. I know one thing...the new stuff is really starting to wear thin. Even Dynamites character revival have worn thin.

On a side note...Never really got into Nexus..but the watercolor pages he has on ebay are BEAUTIFUL. I would love to have gotten some of the stuff he did for the FF Worlds Greatest Magazine 12 issue series. He is soooooo influenced by the KING it's not even funny.

[The Toyroom]

Even Dynamites character revival have worn thin.

Behind multiple Alex Ross covers, there's really no substance to any of that SuperPowers stuff IMO.....bad writing and lackluster art made me drop the series early on....

I was also buying Dynamite's Lone Ranger but the pacing was excruitatingly slow.....That got dropped too....

[samurainoir]

On a side note...Never really got into Nexus..but the watercolor pages he has on ebay are BEAUTIFUL. I would love to have gotten some of the stuff he did for the FF Worlds Greatest Magazine 12 issue series. He is soooooo influenced by the KING it's not even funny.

Rude's Mister Miracle special that was a very loving homage to Kirby, was what first drew my attention to the character.


Rude's main influence back in the day though, was Alex Toth. Regrettably, Rude's idol provided a critique of his art that, while making some very valid points, seemed a little too scathing in it's underlying bitterness.

Theory Discussion: Professional Critique - ConceptArt.org Forums

After that, you really see the shift over to Kirby.

[samurainoir]

Very Interesting Read from WiKi:

Future Comics - Wikipedia

...check out some of the Referenced Links on the WiKi Page for more details

From Bob Layton Himself:

Future Comics - THE DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

Diamond's monopoly really is a regrettable fallout from the 90's distributor wars.

Unfortunately for those of us that love old school floppy comics, the future for indie publishers like Future Comics would be to forego traditional print and go directly to digital distribution via itunes etc. That is not to say that print-on-demand isn't an option as well, but they might at least have some chance of success if they don't have the overheard, the distributer and the retailer's huge cut of the action, and take that direct-to-consumer model offered by digital.

[VintageMike]

Another thing that needs to happen is a "REAL COMIC CON" with some artists and writers that are still alive as GUESTS at the show. I didn't even know who 85% of the so called artists/creators were at the NYCC. Oh yeah, and actually sell vintage comics and toys at a COMIC CON...now there's a concept that was completely lost at NYCC. Sorry for the rant...but these shows today just completely SUCK.

Such cons minus the guests exist here in NJ (yes I know you hate it but..) I attend both on these shows monthly and always come back with nice haul of 70's/80's books. Plenty of 60's stuff is available too but I've pretty much gobbled up the stuff I need in low grade from the dealers that attend these.

http://www.njcomicbookshows.com

[WannabeMego]

WOW Mike...I'm gonna have to attend one of these for sure.

Clifton & East Hanover Con Pictures

I noticed that the guy from Mile High attends too.

Even the Tables are pretty cheap if someone wanted to set one up:

Clifton - 1 table for $40, $20 for each additional table
East Hanover - $60 for the first (6') table, $55 for each additional

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

Having always been an "independant" kind of guy I find the notion of creator owned books being a "thing" really odd. For me that's how it's ALWAYS been. It's also the reason I think comics are the only entertainment media worth a damn any more: it's the only media wherein ONE PERSON can do everything, and thusly the only medium wherein ONE PERSON can actually have their say.

I've found that when a lot of the "mainstream" guys go indie they have a horrible habit of producing books that are either rips of the sort of thing they did at the "Big 2 and a half;" or they produce stuff that's SOOOOO "adult" or "experimental" it's nearly unreadable.

I'm okay with digital too. For me it's a matter of reading the story. Period. HOW that happens isn't too important: online, B&W reprint, original comic.... doesn't matter.

Don C.