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Hmmmm....
Agree? Disagree?
Y'know.... I think ANY of these COULD be done well. I think the bigger trick would be getting a suitable audience.
Some specifics:
-#1: Who? On the up-side, being so generic gives the creative team a lot of room to experiment. I think of Wayne's comment that he'd rather be given a book like this, that nobody cared about over a big name character 'cos it'd give him more room to work, and more chance to earn reknown when he took said forgotten character to new heights of popularity.
Wayne had an ego, but he was right.
-#2: I think the problem here is that "gun guy" has been WAY overdone, so it'd be tough making this dude stand out as his own thing. (Not that this has ever been a problem for DC before....)
-#3: THIS is one of them things that could be done well, and could be a great way of showing the normal human side of the DCU.... BUT you'd NEVER get the current crop of readers to go for it. You MIGHT get the kids who grew up on the Japanese stuff interested, since everyman stuff is more inherent to the Japanese comics.... but those folks would never think to pick up a DC book.
-#4: Another dude that could be used to great effect, given how many lost worlds/lost civilizations/alien artifacts/dimensional anomalies the DCU is riddled with. Doing them right would be tricky 'cos you'd need a semi-cohesive explanation for why the metallic Romans haven't destoyed the mer-Nazis; and neither group was aware of the radioactive Ant-borgs....
-#5: Hee heee.... I've been WAITING for these guys to come back, since they've been such a meme for decades. If they did get a comic, I have no doubt it'd be along the lines of their return in "Young Justice." Another book that could easily be done, but would never find an audience, since they'd never think to buy a DC comic.
-#6 is trickier, given the current political climate of the US. No matter what interpretation you use, you're gonna offend 50% of your perspective audience with your imperialist warmongering / bleeding heart apologist character. Funny thing:
>Uncle Sam would be reduced to a helpless invalid. And an opening splash of him face down in the gutter isn't the best way to start a New 52 ongoing
Wasn't that the EXACT beginning of the 90's Vertigo one?
-#7: Haw! Okay.... you stumped me with this one.
-#8: The Foglio one was brilliant! Still a comedy book, VERY inventive, and managed to fit right into the DCU. Keep it like that, and it'd work.... IF you could get some fans of humour books interested in a DC comic. Of course, they undid the Foglio one a few years back, with dark grittiness. *sigh* Of course:
>What kind of parent today would be 100% okay with their kid reading the story of Stanley and his beloved hellspawn?
Kids read comics? Anyhoo; isn't this what Naruto is about?
>Stuff like that is what loads up those anti-comic book whackjobs with plenty of misinformed ammunition.
It's called "free advertising." Any time the concerned citizens get all uppity over something, they make it cool and interesting. Remember D&D? Heavy Metal? Mortal Kombat? And if they want to burn it, they have to buy it first.
-#9: Again, masterfully done by Foglio. There's no reason you couldn't do a book like this, excpt for the aforemetioned lack of humour amongst the current DC. Books like this appeal more to a general audience, and the Big Two-ish haven't had that for a while. Not that they shouldn't; but they'd be hard pressed to get the folks who'd like this sort of thing to try it because those folks have no interest in general DC stuff. (I wonder if the "One Punch Man" crowd would go for this? Nnnnaaahhhh.... not enough speed lines.)
>DC would only dig the hole its currently found itself in deeper if they decide to give Dumb Bunny, a superheroine that essentially embodies demeaning female stereotypes, a modern update
Mmmmmaaaayyyybbbeeee.... although again, Foglio handled it quite well by making her likable and sympathetic without actually changing her. It's not that a character is based on a stereotype that's the problem; it's when they never go beyond it that there's a problem. Besides; nowadays I'd be more worried about the Blimp.
Y'know.... I can't understand why Foglio doesn't get more press in the comic world.
-#10: Has Foglio done this one yet? Anyhoo; it's another one that I think COULD be done, but would be hard pressed finding an audience. Kind of the ultimate sidekick series. (I wonder if you could siphon off some of that MLP goodwill with this one? )
-#11: Hmmmm....
>the target audience that occupies the overlap of the comic book and sports markets is small and carries minimal profitability
But the stories weren't actually about SPORTS; they were sci-fi with a sports-esque twist. They were also one-offs; so yeah, you COULD do this one, as long as you could keep thinking up new twists. You could even link it into the regular DC continuity by showing the sports of the different worlds and species of the DCU; or even what regular pro sports would look like in a world of superhumans.
-#12: This seems almost inevitable to me, given how well Archie has been doing and DC's ability to never pass a trend. Incorporating it into the regular DCU would be pointless; it either becomes Jimmy Olson, with Superman rescuing Binky on a regular basis, or it becomes a series of meaningless "Hey! There goers Superman" vignettes. But setting it NOMINALLY in the DCU.... or rather, never explicitly saying it ISN'T part of the regular continuity.... would work. Hell; DC has so many Archie rips you could set them all in their OWN continuity. Binky, Scooter, Windy and Willie.... But again; the Archie crowd has little interest in a DC book.
Y'know.... DC has the opportunity for a lot of sub-settings like that. What about a mythic past where their old sword and sorcery chaarcters dwell? Or a post apocalyptic future where all of THOSE characters still exist? A retro-future populated by Space Cabbie, Tommy Tomorrow, the Cometeer....
They used to do this back in the day. I can remember how the Atomic Knights tied in with Hercules Unchained; and they dropped hints that Kamandi was part of that setting as well.
The only part of the article that kinda bothered me:
>But in the scant year and a half since DC took gasoline and matches to its decades-long web of continuity
No.... they took a match to their couple of year old continuity. The decades long one disappeared back in the 80's with the first Crisis.
Don C.
Agree? Disagree?
Y'know.... I think ANY of these COULD be done well. I think the bigger trick would be getting a suitable audience.
Some specifics:
-#1: Who? On the up-side, being so generic gives the creative team a lot of room to experiment. I think of Wayne's comment that he'd rather be given a book like this, that nobody cared about over a big name character 'cos it'd give him more room to work, and more chance to earn reknown when he took said forgotten character to new heights of popularity.
Wayne had an ego, but he was right.
-#2: I think the problem here is that "gun guy" has been WAY overdone, so it'd be tough making this dude stand out as his own thing. (Not that this has ever been a problem for DC before....)
-#3: THIS is one of them things that could be done well, and could be a great way of showing the normal human side of the DCU.... BUT you'd NEVER get the current crop of readers to go for it. You MIGHT get the kids who grew up on the Japanese stuff interested, since everyman stuff is more inherent to the Japanese comics.... but those folks would never think to pick up a DC book.
-#4: Another dude that could be used to great effect, given how many lost worlds/lost civilizations/alien artifacts/dimensional anomalies the DCU is riddled with. Doing them right would be tricky 'cos you'd need a semi-cohesive explanation for why the metallic Romans haven't destoyed the mer-Nazis; and neither group was aware of the radioactive Ant-borgs....
-#5: Hee heee.... I've been WAITING for these guys to come back, since they've been such a meme for decades. If they did get a comic, I have no doubt it'd be along the lines of their return in "Young Justice." Another book that could easily be done, but would never find an audience, since they'd never think to buy a DC comic.
-#6 is trickier, given the current political climate of the US. No matter what interpretation you use, you're gonna offend 50% of your perspective audience with your imperialist warmongering / bleeding heart apologist character. Funny thing:
>Uncle Sam would be reduced to a helpless invalid. And an opening splash of him face down in the gutter isn't the best way to start a New 52 ongoing
Wasn't that the EXACT beginning of the 90's Vertigo one?
-#7: Haw! Okay.... you stumped me with this one.
-#8: The Foglio one was brilliant! Still a comedy book, VERY inventive, and managed to fit right into the DCU. Keep it like that, and it'd work.... IF you could get some fans of humour books interested in a DC comic. Of course, they undid the Foglio one a few years back, with dark grittiness. *sigh* Of course:
>What kind of parent today would be 100% okay with their kid reading the story of Stanley and his beloved hellspawn?
Kids read comics? Anyhoo; isn't this what Naruto is about?
>Stuff like that is what loads up those anti-comic book whackjobs with plenty of misinformed ammunition.
It's called "free advertising." Any time the concerned citizens get all uppity over something, they make it cool and interesting. Remember D&D? Heavy Metal? Mortal Kombat? And if they want to burn it, they have to buy it first.
-#9: Again, masterfully done by Foglio. There's no reason you couldn't do a book like this, excpt for the aforemetioned lack of humour amongst the current DC. Books like this appeal more to a general audience, and the Big Two-ish haven't had that for a while. Not that they shouldn't; but they'd be hard pressed to get the folks who'd like this sort of thing to try it because those folks have no interest in general DC stuff. (I wonder if the "One Punch Man" crowd would go for this? Nnnnaaahhhh.... not enough speed lines.)
>DC would only dig the hole its currently found itself in deeper if they decide to give Dumb Bunny, a superheroine that essentially embodies demeaning female stereotypes, a modern update
Mmmmmaaaayyyybbbeeee.... although again, Foglio handled it quite well by making her likable and sympathetic without actually changing her. It's not that a character is based on a stereotype that's the problem; it's when they never go beyond it that there's a problem. Besides; nowadays I'd be more worried about the Blimp.
Y'know.... I can't understand why Foglio doesn't get more press in the comic world.
-#10: Has Foglio done this one yet? Anyhoo; it's another one that I think COULD be done, but would be hard pressed finding an audience. Kind of the ultimate sidekick series. (I wonder if you could siphon off some of that MLP goodwill with this one? )
-#11: Hmmmm....
>the target audience that occupies the overlap of the comic book and sports markets is small and carries minimal profitability
But the stories weren't actually about SPORTS; they were sci-fi with a sports-esque twist. They were also one-offs; so yeah, you COULD do this one, as long as you could keep thinking up new twists. You could even link it into the regular DC continuity by showing the sports of the different worlds and species of the DCU; or even what regular pro sports would look like in a world of superhumans.
-#12: This seems almost inevitable to me, given how well Archie has been doing and DC's ability to never pass a trend. Incorporating it into the regular DCU would be pointless; it either becomes Jimmy Olson, with Superman rescuing Binky on a regular basis, or it becomes a series of meaningless "Hey! There goers Superman" vignettes. But setting it NOMINALLY in the DCU.... or rather, never explicitly saying it ISN'T part of the regular continuity.... would work. Hell; DC has so many Archie rips you could set them all in their OWN continuity. Binky, Scooter, Windy and Willie.... But again; the Archie crowd has little interest in a DC book.
Y'know.... DC has the opportunity for a lot of sub-settings like that. What about a mythic past where their old sword and sorcery chaarcters dwell? Or a post apocalyptic future where all of THOSE characters still exist? A retro-future populated by Space Cabbie, Tommy Tomorrow, the Cometeer....
They used to do this back in the day. I can remember how the Atomic Knights tied in with Hercules Unchained; and they dropped hints that Kamandi was part of that setting as well.
The only part of the article that kinda bothered me:
>But in the scant year and a half since DC took gasoline and matches to its decades-long web of continuity
No.... they took a match to their couple of year old continuity. The decades long one disappeared back in the 80's with the first Crisis.
Don C.
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