Checking off a few topics on the To Do List including the Top 5 overused words in comics! (35:26)
NOTES:
Co2 Comics:
www.co2comics.com
David Anthony Kraft’s Comics Interview:
www.comicsinterview.com
Nerd Goggles Podcast:
nerdgogglespodcast.blogspot.com
Nonplayer comic:
www.nonplayercomic.com
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Another great episode. Loved this Top 5.
Exclusive – you are so “on the nose” with this one. I don’t find much worth reading on the news sites, but whenever I see exclusive, they guarantee I’m not clicking that link.
Rushed – this goes to the old adage that “art is never finished, only abandoned.” These artists have to find a balance between doing the best they can and doing it in a timely fashion. It’s lamentable, but how else can they survive (and, on the flip side, if left to their own timetable how much less art/creativity might we get from these artists?)
All-Ages – I totally agree with your comment that children are not given enough credit. My oldest son was reading Stephen King by age 13, and when I was around that age I was reading Dark Knight Returns, V for Vendetta (I remember this specifically because the LCS employee who rang me up had to ask my Dad if it was okay for me to purchase, but assured him that what was in the comic was no worse than what was on Miami Vice), and learning that Karen Page was a drug-addicted prostitute/porn actress in Daredevil: Born Again. Ah, those halcyon days of my youth.
Corporate Comics – As much as I will rail against this, I do understand it. Paul Pope’s approach, which I believe he shared on the CGS interview he did, is perfect. Accept that Batman (or Spider-Man, or whichever character) is a corporately owned character, work to the best of your ability within the parameters laid out since you are being sub-contracted to work on this character, and then work on your personal projects in between work for hire gigs. And, as you said, it isn’t like this is new. Jim Shooter was the one who mandated Jean Grey’s death in the Dark Phoenix saga. Claremont and Byrne argue against that vehemently, but later Byrne admitted that it was the right thing to do. (If I’ve muddled this, chalk it up to my severe deficit in X-Men reading).
overrated – I don’t know that I’ve got anything to add to this.
And, my MIA comic: Big Numbers. *sigh*
chris
Chris! “Art is never finished, only abandoned” has been used in my theatre experience as well. You never “finish” working on a show, you “abandon” it on opening night. Well said!
I forgot I fired off those tweets to you until I heard it on the podcast haha.
Out of curiosity I looked up when Infinite Vacation #1 came out. Jan. 12, 2011. I recall the 2nd issue coming out a month or two after that. #3 and #4 are the ones where there was massive space between the issues.
Matthew! Totally forgot to mention on the episode that Infinite Vacation #5 should be on its way according to artist Christian Ward’s twitter. He was dropping images from the issue on his feed every now and then. Can’t wait!
Good stuff with the additional mention of Comico or “Comeeco” as many call it. Love the top 5 words thing as well. Its still Comic Co to me. Just grabbed a nice digital pack of Elementals V2 from Comico and it actually reminds me of early Image with its emphasis on digital coloring and paper quality. I think we need a retrospective on Comico! Just tossing it out there for a no news type of day.
Always hated the word Corporate but it fits today’s Marvel, not so much DC in my opinion. DC is certainly run like a business how ever it doesnt shy away from controversy and lets it all loose on the page. The New Dc almost needs to be toned down in some aspects as it is NOT “All ages”. Marvel on the other hand is hurting their properties by trying to streamline the books to look and feel more like their movie line. It has hurt the product as it has made their continuity more scrambled than DCs pre Crisis in the 80s. Marvels needs a visit from the Anti Monitor and clean that shit up.
Rushed is rushed…I agree with you argument that that is the style that results from deadlines..however one word that some are guilty of is “Lazy”. Example, Ditko on ROM and yes STARS Chuck Norris and The Karate Kommandos that is lazy ass art. Next example Re: Mark Bagley on Amazing Spiderman during the Clone Era. Horrible. I actually just hate Bagley so strike any constructive criticism from the record.
Screw it Ill rant on him. Bagley cannot draw women. Everyone looks like they have plastic surgery or botox. When he draws people with jeans on it is very strange looking. Reminds me of Ditko when he tried Speedball in the 90s and all the people he would draw looked like they stepped out of a 1960s Sear Catalogue with every one wearing “Slacks:. Bagley sucks, just get someone else to draw the human end of the characters and let Bagley draw the costumed heroes and we are all good.
I have also thought about comics most Unused words when involved in comics discussion. One word that many podcast’s avoid rather than using it when talking about comics is..get ready for this “Torrents”..my god I said it lets move on.
My ramble is over..good job Pete loved the episode.
Hey Chris! I responded on Feedback Friday this week – I think initially some podcasters didn’t want to use the Torrents word – simply so they didn’t give it any exposure. They didn’t want listeners to seek out what they were talking about.
I’m listening to your Friday Free for all episode, and I’m enjoying it lots. But for someone who’s going to great lengths to define words like “rushed” and “all ages”, I’m curious why you’re willing to use reboot and relaunch interchangeably. I think it might have been when you were on CGS recently when you seemed to scoff at the idea that the two words had two different meanings. It’s certainly true that when DC or Marvel is doing a relaunch or a reboot, the hope is that it’s going to be a fresh start and bring new eyes to a book or company.
To me, a “relaunch” is a fresh start, whether it’s coming from a new creative team or a new direction for a character or concept or a simply new number one. And while a reboot may have all of those characteristics, where it differs is that a reboot wipes the slate clean of everything that came before. There’s no opportunity to go back. There’s no more history and no more potential story lines to be explored.
To use your example of Daredevil, sure… Waid’s take on the character is fresh and new and has little in common with what Bendis and all those that followed him did with the character. And while Waid is choosing to ignore recent history with the character (from what I hear. I’m not picking up the book) there’s absolutely nothing stopping him from revisiting the events that led to Shadowland. Anytime he wants to dip his toe into the doom and gloom of pre-Waid Daredevil, he’s totally free to do so.
Same thing with Marvel Now. Those stories might be a good jumping on point, and they might be aiming to tell stories that are fresh and new, but there’s nothing to stop writers from referring to “Civil War” or “House of M” or “AvX”. There’s a straight story line (well, not a straight line. But a loopy zig zaggy line of some kind) that can be traced from the beginning of the Marvel U all the way to Marvel Now.
You can’t say that for any book that has been rebooted. DC 52? There’s no history there. Writers can’t go back and decide to reference that time that Flash’s wife died because it never happened. He doesn’t have a wife, and she hasn’t been killed. They can’t go and write a story about the annual JLA/JSA teamups because neither of those teams exist in the new DC.
Or the Legion… they’ve had all kinds of reboots, and each one has broken from the past and started history all over again (although I’ll grant you that the Legion has had it’s own share of relaunches within reboots).
Always enjoy listening to you!
Murry! I responded on Feedback Friday’s ep. Even with Flashpoint, I think there’s still a line to the previous DC continuity. It came back during Infinite Crisis – I imagine anything’s fair game in the future should they choose to do so.
I’m just listening to this episode now–just have a comment on two of the words. “Overrated”–I was a little surprised that you just confined this to Watchmen. I’ve noticed that “overrated” is coming to mean “I don’t like this”, at least in some people’s minds. It’s easiest to notice with series like Watchmen and Sandman, but I’ve heard it with other books too. I think it’s not only misused, it’s a form of arrogance–“this is not my cup of tea therefore everyone else must be wrong about it.”
“All ages”–I’m not really sure what that means, actually, and I think that’s the problem with the phrase–nobody seems to have defined it. When I see it, I think comics that my seven year old granddaughter can read, but someone else might see it as comics that the parent of a teenager will feel comfortable seeing his or her child reading. I think you might be right about the nostalgia factor as well. (I wouldn’t call Maus all ages reading either, and that was also mid 80s.)
Anyway, very enjoyable episode as always.
Hi Anne! Thanks for the comments! I read them on the Feedback Friday ep this week. I’ve given a few comics to my nephews and rarely do I let the ratings determine their readability. They’ve probably heard/seen worse from my family. Haha.