22nd March 2007, 12:32 AM
So I hear in the news, because this is apparently important, that Captain America is dead. Wow, that's a twist. Civil War and everything huh? Neato. Then, a few days ago, I hear that he's going to "get better" because people who actually read further in that comic say there's something about him recovering "in secret".
You see people, THIS is why no one takes comics seriously. They have these valuable intellectual properties and are totally convinced they can't make money without them (which may be true, but then again...) so they never actually kill any of these guys off! Even the bad guys are kept around, and they often just "let them go" at the end of some battle, even if the bad guy just KILLED A 3RD OF THE PLANET, because killing them "would make me no better than that guy", or some idiotic philosophy like that, and well philosophy is all well and good but you know that they are coming back to kill again and wouldn't you say it's wrong to allow those future deaths just to maintain some childish sense of super hero innocense? Look, either you grow up and don't worry about marketting, or you stop complaining when people say comic books can't be taken seriously as good narrative. Now, I've actually seen some interesting comics, some weird Japanese black and white affairs my friends have, which do something the big publishers would never consider doing. They END! They actually have an overarching plot that sees the characters wandering into the sunset and people actually die or retire FOREVER, major changes happen! Stuff! None of this eternal "lessons learned" then forgotten INSTANTLY as everything returns to the status quo.
You want to kill off a hero or villian? Do it, and don't bring them back! If you want to get me to ever actually read your comics, here's a thought. Try something NEW! Slowly retire your old heroes, one by one, as major changes happen, and bring brand new stuff into your worlds! I mean, HOW old is Batman at this point? Am I to believe this geriatric is still fighting crime? Bring in a new guy, like in Batman Beyond. They had a good idea there. In fact, go beyond THAT. I'm sick of the "universes" of heroes. Entire storylines that are so convoluted that they really can't do very much at all anyway. How about retiring the whole darned universe at some date in the future, and then creating brand new property after property, planning out a storyline, and retiring those in good time. I might see a constant supply of heroes going in and out on the shelves in stores, instead of "oh, look who's being dramatically wreslted to the ground by Superman this time".
What I'm saying is this. There's a reason no one cares about comic books. Kill off your old characters and start doing something new!
You see people, THIS is why no one takes comics seriously. They have these valuable intellectual properties and are totally convinced they can't make money without them (which may be true, but then again...) so they never actually kill any of these guys off! Even the bad guys are kept around, and they often just "let them go" at the end of some battle, even if the bad guy just KILLED A 3RD OF THE PLANET, because killing them "would make me no better than that guy", or some idiotic philosophy like that, and well philosophy is all well and good but you know that they are coming back to kill again and wouldn't you say it's wrong to allow those future deaths just to maintain some childish sense of super hero innocense? Look, either you grow up and don't worry about marketting, or you stop complaining when people say comic books can't be taken seriously as good narrative. Now, I've actually seen some interesting comics, some weird Japanese black and white affairs my friends have, which do something the big publishers would never consider doing. They END! They actually have an overarching plot that sees the characters wandering into the sunset and people actually die or retire FOREVER, major changes happen! Stuff! None of this eternal "lessons learned" then forgotten INSTANTLY as everything returns to the status quo.
You want to kill off a hero or villian? Do it, and don't bring them back! If you want to get me to ever actually read your comics, here's a thought. Try something NEW! Slowly retire your old heroes, one by one, as major changes happen, and bring brand new stuff into your worlds! I mean, HOW old is Batman at this point? Am I to believe this geriatric is still fighting crime? Bring in a new guy, like in Batman Beyond. They had a good idea there. In fact, go beyond THAT. I'm sick of the "universes" of heroes. Entire storylines that are so convoluted that they really can't do very much at all anyway. How about retiring the whole darned universe at some date in the future, and then creating brand new property after property, planning out a storyline, and retiring those in good time. I might see a constant supply of heroes going in and out on the shelves in stores, instead of "oh, look who's being dramatically wreslted to the ground by Superman this time".
What I'm saying is this. There's a reason no one cares about comic books. Kill off your old characters and start doing something new!
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)
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