Originally Posted by
Vampire Savior
From people I've talked to, Marvel and DC superhero comics don't seem to appeal much to kids and teens. I can make educated conjecture on why this is, but the truth is I don't entirely know why. They don't entirely know why. It's probably not something they sit around thinking about. They often just don't have any interest in them. I guess it's the same reason why I don't watch cooking shows. I'm just...not terribly interested. Not that I have anything against them. They're just not on my radar.
Well, damn, I'm not really that into DC and Marvel superhero comics these days, and I can tell you why.
a) If the stories aren't centered around some usually absurd event that involved the ENTIRE universe just about, and that is WAY too demanding and difficult to follow, and is usually not even good, they don't seem to matter at all, almost to the point where the stories are throw away filer. Strong relationships aren't formed in the characters own book and stories. Big events, like deaths, don't happen in the characters' own books. They are often reserved for dumb events. Like Heroes in Crisis, or whatever. I don't like those events. The stories in them are ALWAYS bad and I don't want to read all the content associated with them.
b) Mmm...You know, the art is often not all that good. It's not bad, it's done by people who CAN draw, but I find it often rushed and uninspired. I can sympathize with the artists, however. They're working under ridiculous conditions to put out good work. I can tell you the ins and outs of what goes into a comic book page from personal experience, and...even just doing the pencils for one page every single day is pretty stupid. You have two choices in this scenario. You will either meet your deadlines and put out rushed, uninspired work, or you will be late.
c) Bad editing makes it so nothing you read really matters. The next run...which will probably happen in a year, or maybe 2 years tops, will completely sweep aside whatever you're reading. Supporting cast will disappear, developments will be like they never even happened, the character you're reading now might be replaced by some totally different character, and so on. It just gives me a whole "why do I even bother?" feeling.
I could go on and on, but I'll stop here.
I adore the comics medium, but I honestly find these DC and Marvel comics and the way they operate to be dumb as ef.