Dark Horse? Well, they've lost a lot of books with Star Wars going to Marvel. They have a few things of interest, like Mignola's Hellboy line, and maybe Eric Powell's The Goon. Jeff Lemire's Black Hammer MIGHT actually be a start for a more popular universe for them. The horror books don't move that much anymore.
IDW. Don't make me laugh. Crossover every 6 months turns people off. Yeah, they do some interesting things on occasion. Right now, they've got Locke and Key, Wynona Earp, and Diablo House for their wholly originals, and almost everything else looks like licensed properties. Sure, they have their archival line, but they've fallen a lot from the horror kings they used to be.
Dynamite- Well, they also bank a lot on others' properties. They have very little consistency in writing and art vision, though. There's not much to really draw people in across titles. Sure, they do some cool things, but there's no universe of books that are uniquely Dynamite.
Image- There's a big smorgasbord here. Most of the titles are not part of a single universe, and Image keeps trying to bring back some of their one time heroes. They do have a few titles really propping them up right now: Invincible, Savage Dragon, Walking Dead, Saga, and whatever Top Cow productions gets out. A book ends, well, maybe it comes back, maybe not. And reprints? Not likely.
Boom! Studios bought Archaia, and now a lot of stuff they did is gone. Boom! has a couple of cool originals with Mouse Guard and Mech Cadet Yu, but they're living on Adventure Time and Steven Universe, with a hint of Henson properties here and there.
Valiant- My friend Jon Del Arroz basically should get commission for his promoting their books, though I haven't taken that plunge yet. Our friend jimfear138 did a good post on their lack of editorial vision for their universe. Character designs mostly look pretty cool, so I'll give them that.
After this, we go to smaller companies, like Avatar, American Mythology, and more. The problem here, is that you're already looking at companies small enough that store might not carry them. Oh, a really big store will, and any store will order subscriptions for you. But there's not the shelf space for these on a consistent basis, so even if they are good, only a few will find out.
Back to DC: They brought Chuck Dixon back to write a Bane story, so maybe they'll turn around a quit doing idiot moves like Batman: White Knight and Batman and the
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
"If they quit the replacement heroes act, they could come up with new and interesting characters. Bring back some great forgotten characters. TELL STORIES."
ReplyDeleteThey would need talented writers and artists to tell good stories. They have few if any of those, so they fall back on degrading the characters and retelling stories through the SJW lens --er-- circus mirror.
The best ending would be for the Big 2 to shutter the comics, keep the characters "active" via other media, and re-invent the entire genre after washing out the Marvel and DC "bullpens" Aegean Stables style.
Since both parent companies are more or less SJW converged, that may be a while in coming.
Too many aspiring and wash-out screenwriters, not enough real artists. Not enough people want to make COMICS anymore - Marvel and DC are basically just managing IP for movie/licensing use by the corporate masters, and indie comics are either licensed or are basically just illustrated movie/tv pitches (just read that movie Atomic Blonde was, yup, based on a comic book that was never actually released...). Depressing.
ReplyDeleteAtomic Blonde's graphic novel was released. It's far lesser work from the author, too. He does do a lot of female spy stuff, and Codename: Babushka is far more entertaining.
DeleteSorry, I should have clarified - the comic was still being drawn at the time that the movie went into development. It was definitely published years ahead of the film's actual release, though.
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