DC Is Killing Off Green Lantern John Stewart...

[ctc]

>Is it just me, or are superhero comics becoming designed for video-game attentuion spans/mentalities?

It's just you. Video games take hours to get through, with tons of little fiddly plot points you have to remember/parse out. Comics replay the same few stories over and over in a limited loop. (12 months equals about 150 pages.) If they were REALLY writing for the video game crowd they'd write stories with a definite beginning, a selection of events locked into a definite chronology that shows some kind of development/progression for the characters and/or setting, and a definite end.

Don C.

[Cosmicman]

This DC 52 thing is starting to become a joke. Anybody remember Wally and Donna? Cripes you would thing DC would have had a backup plan or maybe attempted a "soft reboot" like Marvel.

[The Toyroom]

The writer on "Supergirl", Mike Johnson, just walked off the book, two issues earlier than intended...

[Earth 2 Chris]

At this rate, the only writers left at DC will be the Bob Harras 90s Marvel teams. All books written by Scott Lobdell, Fabian Nicezia and Tom DeFalco!

Chris

[boynightwing]

Wow, what a mess. DC needs to clean out the current execs or something.

[Jase25]

I have always been heavy into DC Universe...a Fan since I was 5 years old...so some 37-38 years. My favorite era was in the 80's. Remember when Barry died and didn't come back?? Well until the whole Rebirth thing. Sadly DC has done this to me so many times....that I lost interest. Because nothing you read or enjoy holds any weight. I understand these characters are timeless and will be around long after I'm dead and gone...so keeping them fresh can be hard but well written stories can do that for you. The easy out to drum up readership and shock for no reason other then shock of Doomsday killing Supes or Darkseid frying Bats some how loses any meaning when next year everybody will be just fine. One of my favorite story lines is when the original Jason Todd was introduced....Detective Comics 520-something...He was actually a member of Dick's old circus and his family was killed by Killer Croc (working with all of Batman's foes)- the panels of Robin (Dick Grayson) finding Jason's parents dead in a alligator/croc pit (not sure which at this time in my life) and him running down and busting a rifle butt over one of the beast as he was trying to get to the bodies was chilling and in my pre-teen days made me hold my breath and brought tears to my eyes just from the pain and anguish on his face (artfully drawn by Don Newton)....those were strong and powerful stories. Jason was a likable...and a suitable replacement when the arc ended and Dick realized Batman needed a Robin more then he ever needed to be Robin...and that he wanted to grow up into his own person....Enter Nightwing. To this day it is my favorite Batman story and the reason I'm able to recall such hi points of it. It was prefect...(to me) and it meant something. That was like 1982 or 1983...then less then 5 years later they re-visted the story made Jason a street rat stealing the wheels off the Batmobile....really? Great security system that a 12 year old could rip off Bats. The reason to do this? So they could re-introduce the character as a little hot headed pr**k that no one would like so they could kill him off. What did this mean to my Newton story that stirred up so much emotion? It didn't exist anymore. As I got older and I saw this trick pulled over and over and over again...Oliver is dead?...ok...Hal is Dead? ok....Ted is Dead? ok....it gets to the point that enough is enough. If the only reason you can get people to read your product is to erase what came before and re-boot then you will constantly loose people that followed you in the first place. I read the first 3-4 issues of a bunch of the new 52 line, and I read the whole Flashpoint that led to it and I tried to have an open mind and I was left thinking I'd rather remember my Heroes the way they were. Where my Superman wore a suit...not a suit of Armor....Joker wasn't Leather Face's cousin.....and Blue Beetle and Booster Gold could be found in the pages of Justice League with at least one "BWHAHAHHAHAHA" between them....and Batman took out Guy Gardner with one punch.

....and wait...next year or two when DC has had enough and they have milk this cash cow until it's teats bleed dry they will see if Geoff Johns can write a story where the Flash runs back to were the hero's aren't wearing high collars...and everything you've been reading will be DC again.....um....DC meaning Don't Count.

Just my 2 cents.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^ Well said, and that comic you're referring to was the classic Detective Comics #526, celebrating Batman's 500th appearance in Detective. I'm a big fan of the "lost" Jason Todd. I loved that early costume Newton designed, and wish he had kept it. I HATED Max Allan Collins' new origin of Jason, and the changes it made to the dynamic between Bruce and Dick.

Chris

[Jase25]

Thanks for the number knew it was in the 520's...Not bad then that I remembered that about a story that was like 30 years ago! See I do have a pretty decent memory....now of I could just remember where I put my damn keys!
...but yeah the story helped cement the Bat-family. Because it was Dick passing the mantel to Jason which it was his to give, as he announced he was giving up being Robin. Plus Barbara played a pivital role in the story as well.

[PNGwynne]

Ctc--

mea culpa--haven't played vid games since the early '80s.

[The Toyroom]

Pre-Crisis Jason Todd got the shaft...

[ctc]

>and him running down and busting a rifle butt over one of the beast as he was trying to get to the bodies was chilling and in my pre-teen days made me hold my breath and brought tears to my eyes just from the pain and anguish on his face

I think the problem isn't the stories.... we can find all kinds of examples of the ol' "he's dead, Jim!" story in superhero comics that were perfectly awesome. I think the problem is that we've seen them all before, so we know there's gonna be a reboot, redo, return at some point and it cheapens the effect.

>As I got older and I saw this trick pulled over and over and over again...

Yeah; like that. It's a big reason why.... until the mid 80's or so.... it was generally accepted that the life expectancy of a comic fan was around 3 years. Then they'd lose interest and move on to other things and you could readjust the book for the next batch of fans. But at some point our generation kept reading the books; which is fine.... if you still enjoy them more power to you.... but it left the industry in a bind. They have to create stories satisfying to a long term reader, while still operating under the transient template they've been working under since the 30's. It's why you get problems nowadays; the fans CAN'T turn a blind eye to the blatant recycling any more, but the Big Two-ish can't publish stories with genuine consequence and linear storytelling because of the perpetual nature of their books.

Don C.

[madmarva]

^long running episodic TV dramas have handled the perpetual nature of the main characters by introducing characters who could change by using guest stars as the focus of conflict. In later years, in shows like Gunsmoke, Bonanza and the Virginian, the stars were more facilitators of individual episodes than the focal point, with the guest being the lead or co-lead.

Frank Miller effectively used a similar process with Gordon in Batman Year One and Elektra in Dare Devil. Other comics creators have done and continue to do it, but with arcs built for trades and hardbacks, long-running subplots have gone out of style.

Event-driven stories also have to be centered on lead or well know characters to make news in mainstream media.

Subplots were some of my favorite aspects of comics In The 70s and 80s. Sad to see them go.

[Jase25]

That and in the early to mid 90's it became more about the holo foil scratch and sniff blueberry flavored covers instead of what was between them. A practice that has been perfected in today's market where you have cover A B C D And E.... Which still begs the answer to the question which cover do I get when it's toilet paper printed on the inside?
....but wait I have a Super-Awesome-Man #4 cover G that is the second appearance of Spanky the Wonder Squirrel in costume and it has been CGC 9.8...It came out last week and I have it on eBay for $198! It's rare and hard to find.....ok I'm stretching it a bit but a turd sealed in plastic is still a piece O' ******.
I truly honestly hate it because a lot of these characters deserve better, and your right they may not be able to do anything to these characters that change them in a permanent fashion but they still could be pumping out some pretty entertaining stories. O'Neil and Adams GL/GA was a perfect example...great stories no one major died the earth kept turning and still highly entertaining without the triple bag black arm band with special limited edition cough drop included....ok I think I'm being a bit bitter again.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Pre-Crisis Jason Todd got the shaft...

Fo shizzle. I'm glad I was able to put Pre-Crisis Jason's history in print in my first Back Issue article. I understand that his origin may have been too close to Dick's...but that was the point. At least he was likable!

Chris

[Jase25]

Fo shizzle. I'm glad I was able to put Pre-Crisis Jason's history in print in my first Back Issue article. I understand that his origin may have been too close to Dick's...but that was the point. At least he was likable!

Chris

Chris - you might just become my new best friend! LOL!