What Do You Look For In a Comicbook?

I'm going to be honest and say that the current "Big Two" comic companies are crap. I do have loyalty to them because of good writing and excellent characters (Red Hulk included to all you anti-red haters out there). But outside of that, it's always the same plots, the same fights, the same redundant big tier heroes and villains etc. I usually get around this by supplementing myself with indie comics, but it's a topic that bugs me. Would you like a universe like in Marvel and Dc that has it that you essentially read certified fan fiction of the same groups of people, or one that breaks conventions and hits you like a punch to the face courtesy of Solomon Grundy? It also brings up character death. Why can't a character freaking stay dead after an event that ties up a story perfectly?

Why can't a character stay dead? That is such an excellent question... In comics, the only one that ever stays dead is Uncle Ben...

So, why can't they stay dead? Because comic book writers are afraid to let comic book characters, mature/age/change.... They have this idea that there is an ideal age and life sttyle for all comic book super heroes and it should never change...

That's how you end up with things like the "Ultimate Uinverse" heroes in which every super hero seems to be between the ages of 13 and 18... You have 16 year old Spider-Woman talking down to 13 year old new Spider-Man. You have 18 year olds that all have Ph.Ds talking to 16 year olds like they're children. It's just weird.

That's how Peter Parker was 15 when the Ultimate Universe started, and ten years later he died at the age of... 15...

That's why virtually NO comic book heroes have children that they actually gave birth to and raised. The only super heroes that are children of super heroes (that I can think of) always seem to be from the future, or an alternate timeline, or their clones that just show up out of the blue....

• Rachel Grey
• Cable
• Nate Grey
• Legion
• Damian Wayne (just appears one day... Very convenient)
• Hope Summers (Raised in the future so the heroes of today don't have to be bothered with raising a child)

Consider this, Franklin Richards was born in 1968 (our time) and here we are 54 years later and he's a little over TEN years old.... Wouldn't it be interesting if the characters could actually age, marry, have children, and (heaven forbid) die...

I believe a story loses MUCH when a character can neither lose nor die.... There's no tension... For example, Charles Xavier was just killed in Avengers verses X-Men by Cyclops... Shouldn't I, a fan, care? So he died... SO WHAT? He'll be back soon... Marvel made a big deal of Johnny Storm dying, and he wasn't even gone but a few months (comic book time/ two years our time). Marven even tried to make us feel bad that Bucky Barnes died during "Fear Itself" by having an issue where the Black Widow goes to a newspaper publisher to convince them that Bucky is really dead, and dying is really bad even if you come back... and just a couple months later, Bucky is back in his own series...

I couldn't agree with you more.

gore and lack of morality thx and no powers....zombies too

@Necrotic_Lycanthrope said:

I'm going to be honest and say that the current "Big Two" comic companies are crap. I do have loyalty to them because of good writing and excellent characters (Red Hulk included to all you anti-red haters out there). But outside of that, it's always the same plots, the same fights, the same redundant big tier heroes and villains etc. I usually get around this by supplementing myself with indie comics, but it's a topic that bugs me. Would you like a universe like in Marvel and Dc that has it that you essentially read certified fan fiction of the same groups of people, or one that breaks conventions and hits you like a punch to the face courtesy of Solomon Grundy? It also brings up character death. Why can't a character freaking stay dead after an event that ties up a story perfectly?

I have absolutely no idea what your'e trying to say.

@Juandicimo_Magnifico45: I think what he's saying is that since all we read is Batman, Hulk, Superman fighting the same old Joker and the rest of them, and ots of the stuff the big two puts out is crap, what we are reading is just people writing fan-fics of their favorite characters that happen to suck.

I completely agree with the OP. Most of the stuff being put out today, especially by DC is bull and garbage. I already started moving to indie. I wish I could do something about this problem, but I can't, because there are thousands of other people that support all the comics that are not good.

DC and Marvel i only read for a super heroe-y comic , i like more of the indie titles : Invincible, The Darkness, Saga, Harbingers, are just a few of the titles i enjoy when im not reading from the big two

@Timandm:

I always hated that bubble effect with comic aging. In cases like The Walking Dead though, you do get a sense of time, even if it's incredibly slowed down vs. what we have going on right at this very moment. I make it a point myself to keep only the characters I know will be incredibly important later on (I keep saying I want to write comics, but so far only bits of original fiction have come out of my brain XP), or else kill a top tier character in such a way that bringing that one back is sacrilegious (unless it's like a monster possessing the empty body of a popular character. Then that can slide.)

But re-animating Supes, Bats, Colossus, Flash, Torch, Rulk (most significantly when he died and later faked his death) etc. It's so freaking lame! Either kill them in a blockbuster move, or resign from writing, period.

@Timandm: Everybody was young in the Ultimate Universe because it was a complete reboot that started from the beginning and Peter Parker was 17 when he died

@Juandicimo_Magnifico45:

What I meant was: would you rather read the same crap every time, or something new that has the balls to do something to break the usual "good triumphs evil" type stuff.

• Quality storytelling; no rushing, PIS, CIS, or WIS
• Good art that fits the story
• Interesting characters that are appropriate to the plot
• Settings that make sense and fit in the story

What do I look for:
Is Christos Gage writing it? (If Yes, then buy it)
Is Grant Morrison writing it? (If Yes, then pass on it)

I look for consistent and quality characterization. Developments are good, they can enhance characterization, so I am not neccessarily looking for repetition, but if I wanted to watch a hip new trendy character I would for that character in a new comic, movie, TV show, game or book, rather than have a well established character shed some history and mannerisms to appeal to a type of fan who will lose interest after a short while anyway. Then I look for clever and original plotting that takes full advantage of the comic or graphic novel format. Incidentally I don't mind revivals, most of my favorite characters best stories have after they have died at least once. Most character deaths aren't done well, and I'd hate to see good writers punished because lazy writers want an extra bump in sales.

- Deep and usually serious plot

- Good / interesting characters

- Strong continuity

@SC:

The problem goes with that new ideas are dying out. Dan Slott for Spidey has broken new ground, but there's only so much there to mine. Also, usually nowadays getting the word out on comic characters just applies to children. Unless you're a comic reader and care more about their history than the the ones who gain interest from films, than popular characters will become repetitive. Even DC's New 52 is n danger or repetition; some of the storylines are lasting too long and gaining monotony, regardless of the art and writer attached.

I'd advocate a brand new universe to be "created". Not a Marvel-verse, or a DC-verse. But one that's less convoluted, and more centered on like 20 characters, rather than 20,000.

I look for:
 
- Good characterization of characters
- Strong plot
- Meaningful deaths that are not rushed or redone again

I put it in my mind this is going be my go to TEAM book which is now ( Xtreme X-men) my go to Solo book ( Winter Solider) Then from there I fill in my needs, like do I want to Follow big names like wolverine, spiderman or punisher. It really depends on the mood of the book like Deadpool to me is to goofy, so I pass on him and the Walking Dead is to much of a soap opera Horror so I read the Horror books with dark comedy like Hack/SLash. It all boils down to the characters and if the writer has a good grip on their persona, if not it feels shallow and lackluster, like an empty shell of it self.

And if the comic features someone you don't like, who should be dead dead, as you put it, move on you know? I mean thats just how comics work, characters return by demand, its like watching wrestling and saying why can't the faces stay a face and the heels says a heel, they always flipflop wrestlers. Except John Cena

We shouldn't forget that passion is now secondary, money is first, if you sell doing the same old stuff, then it's a roaded recipe. Why change if money comes in? changing is taking great risks nowadays, the big two arent' the big two for nothing, it's kind of a trademark for them. And they're now not the same to me, before Dc was distinguishing itself with a more dense and classy content now with the flashpoint and new 52 they went batsh*t crazy and became a Marvel style thing. They're too fierce too sure and too extravagant, they destroy they make it bling to sell more. Of course they're desecrating Dc but Dc's old standards are dead...they may have won some momentaneous young customers but lost long run afficionados. I don't buy from them anymore exept the things pre-flashpoint...that's sad..but what can we expect from the guys now leading Dc...

For sure we want new, nice and blinding stuff, tradition and evolution, powers, reality, that they don't modify our heroes like dummies, changign their personnality or giving them false pretention, a good run and classy story arcs again, but it takes balls to share passion, artists and writers are massively now only puppets, but what can we say they have to eat too...those who run the bussiness doesn't even read comics i think...

@Evpraksiya said:

We shouldn't forget that passion is now secondary, money is first, if you sell doing the same old stuff, then it's a roaded recipe. Why change if money comes in? changing is taking great risks nowadays, the big two arent' the big two for nothing, it's kind of a trademark for them. And they're now not the same to me, before Dc was distinguishing itself with a more dense and classy content now with the flashpoint and new 52 they went batsh*t crazy and became a Marvel style thing. They're too fierce too sure and too extravagant, they destroy they make it bling to sell more. Of course they're desecrating Dc but Dc's old standards are dead...they may have won some momentaneous young customers but lost long run afficionados. I don't buy from them anymore exept the things pre-flashpoint...that's sad..but what can we expect from the guys now leading Dc...

For sure we want new, nice and blinding stuff, tradition and evolution, powers, reality, that they don't modify our heroes like dummies, changign their personnality or giving them false pretention, a good run and classy story arcs again, but it takes balls to share passion, artists and writers are massively now only puppets, but what can we say they have to eat too...those who run the bussiness doesn't even read comics i think...

Wouldn't it be nice if we could both? Have share passion AND sell comics.... I like to believe it's possible, but then...I've never written or sold a comic book so..... maybe it's not...

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@Jonny_Anonymous said:

@Timandm: Everybody was young in the Ultimate Universe because it was a complete reboot that started from the beginning and Peter Parker was 17 when he died

Are you sure he was 17? I seem to recall reading he was only 15, but I seem to be getting alot of the Spiidey story-lines are messed up in my head lately... But if you're right, he did actually manage to age two years is the ten or eleven that the series was out...

You know... There were 160 issues of Ultimate Spider-Man, volume 1... he aged about two years over those 160 issues... I realize that some issues cover far less than a day. In fact, I 'think" the last four issues covered less than a 24 hour period... Nonetheless, on average, 160 issues spanning a period of roughly 730 days (2 years) seems odd. Of course, that matches the regular marvel universe... Franklin Richards was born around 1972 and fifty years later he's only 10 years old...

Have you ever thought about everything that happened to Peter Parker in the Ultimate Universe in that two year span and wonder how it could possible fit?!?! I think my second biggest peeve about comic books is that the time frame thing just doesn't make sense.... Oh well...

i think its time for a change in comics that begins to take into account modern culture. look we got illuminati government conspiracies smart ass kids higher levels of tolerance to differences in culture religion the whole nine i want a comic that thinks big. real big and different. it really is the same old same old. cool sometimes but we need a new comic visionary who can bring some new cool stuff to the table.

What I look for

• Strong, consistent characterisation to make me care about all the characters in the issue
• Interesting variety of characters. Applies to the heroes, villains and supporting cast.
• A developed, well written plot that keeps me glued to the pages and fascinated with what the writer is planning to do in the future.
• Plot points and developments that are introduced in the story and then play a major role later on in the story

@Necrotic_Lycanthrope:

My personal use of wording would be that the priority with comics and stories is traditionally safe money making tactics over explorative risk taking. The originality and thus newness of ideas is relative, at this point in the big 2's history, they are basically ignoring long term growth in favor of short term survival. Dan Slott is a great example to use, because yes he is breaking new ground and I would say the reason why is because he is one of the most continuity minded comic writers ever. He knows the history and characterizating of minor and major characters and develops them as such. Its writers and fans that don't know the past that can lead to stale ideas because they are ignorant of what ideas have already been explored. Popular characters will never become repetitive if you have a good enough writer. I would hate a smaller focus on characters, most of the best written Marvel and DC characters are the smaller ones, that is where fan appreciation is trending too for last 60 years. TBC

Its also why the big 2 are the big two, and why books like GeNext don't sell well.

@Necrotic_Lycanthrope:

My personal use of wording would be that the priority with comics and stories is traditionally safe money making tactics over explorative risk taking. The originality and thus newness of ideas is relative, at this point in the big 2's history, they are basically ignoring long term growth in favor of short term survival. Dan Slott is a great example to use, because yes he is breaking new ground and I would say the reason why is because he is one of the most continuity minded comic writers ever. He knows the history and characterizating of minor and major characters and develops them as such. Its writers and fans that don't know the past that can lead to stale ideas because they are ignorant of what ideas have already been explored. Popular characters will never become repetitive if you have a good enough writer. I would hate a smaller focus on characters, most of the best written Marvel and DC characters are the smaller ones, that is where fan appreciation is trending too for last 60 years. TBC

What I look for in a story.

Beginning, Middle, End.

I can enjoy a story so long as I know it is going to end someday. Will the ending be Epic sometimes yes, Frustrating yes, Heartwarming yes. If your series is getting cancel give it an all out ending. Make your story so it has room for a sequel or maybe leave it up to the reader to interpret it. Things can't stay the same way forever, and that what I find is most stories being told here.

Intense suspense. ^.^