Were comic book creators allowed to take more risks in the 90’s?

[mathew101281]

It feels like it to me sometimes. I feel radical changes to characters were better received back then.

[babyblob]

I dont know if it is true or nit but it feels that way. The Death of Superman and Knightfall both from DC. So they took risks for sure.

Then there was the formation of Image which took a lot of risks.

[LordMikel]

It feels like it to me sometimes. I feel radical changes to characters were better received back then.

No, they still complained about it, they simply didn't have the Internet to do that. Working at a comic book store, I got to listen to it instead.

[superduperman]

DC had a whole imprint dedicated to new ideas. So it was easier, I think, back then to "experiment" so to speak because they could push it off to it's own little corner. Sandman and Hellblazer took place in the DCU technically but weren't acknowledged as such by other books. Ironically, an imprint like Image was a little more wary about moving outside the super-hero genre until the late nineties (97-99). As far as the Big Two go, I think things were a lot more rigid back then. Remember, the Death storyline was the result of them needing a last minute replacement for the marriage when the L&C show was announced. Marvel's "experiments" nearly destroyed the company. Spider-clones and Onslaught. I think there's a lot more corporate control now than there was back then. WB owned DC but didn't seem to care what they did until the MCU took off and then they wanted more control. Now that Disney owns Marvel, I doubt they will be experimenting anytime soon.

[ed2962]

It depends, are you talking about in the Big 2 superhero universes? Or comics as a whole?

[mathew101281]

It depends, are you talking about in the Big 2 superhero universes? Or comics as a whole?

Big two, indie publishing is always about risk taking.

[worstblogever]

It feels like it to me sometimes. I feel radical changes to characters were better received back then.

Yes and no... while they seemed to be willing to take risks to establish legacy characters and kill off the originals or "retire" them temporarily...

They still were being kept in check by the adherence to the Comics Code Authority until after 2000. The Big Two were still shy about adult content, and LGBTQ themes were mostly untouched, with rare exceptions like Northstar coming out (but not getting a boyfriend for another 17 years.)

[numberthirty]

"Allowed" feels like we are talking DC/Marvel?

As for what was said about indies, seriously ask yourself if the "WILDCats" IP was actually taking greater risks as an indie.

[ed2962]

Big two, indie publishing is always about risk taking.

Then "maybe-ish"? The Big 2 were more willing to take a chance on introducing new characters than they are today, but even then a lot of what they did was chasing trends.

If we're sticking to the 90's, I'll give the edge to DC for publishing a wider variety of genres and being willing to push things a little within the cape genre. I can't imagine 90's Marvel publishing something like that era's Doom Patrol for instance.

[The Darknight Detective]

No, they still complained about it, they simply didn't have the Internet to do that. Working at a comic book store, I got to listen to it instead.

I have no doubt, if the WWW had been available, that there would have been more of a ruckus post-COIE until the mid-'90s than anything we have seen in this century. We old-time fans were unaccustomed to change back then, though we almost certainly handled the more recent changes far better than the younger fans due to that.

[MyriVerse]

I dont know if it is true or nit but it feels that way. The Death of Superman and Knightfall both from DC. So they took risks for sure.

Then there was the formation of Image which took a lot of risks.

Nothing risky about either of those. Just a huge helping of gimmick. And 20-odd years later, we're still doing these lame gimmicks.

[The Darknight Detective]

Nothing risky about either of those. Just a huge helping of gimmick. And 20-odd years later, we're still doing these lame gimmicks.

That's only because they work. When they stop working, the Big Two will do something different instead.

[MyriVerse]

That's only because they work. When they stop working, the Big Two will do something different instead.

Eh. They'll switch to other gimmicks.

[The Darknight Detective]

Eh. They'll switch to other gimmicks.

Heh. You're probably right.

[dancj]

The New 52 seems like a much bigger risk than temporarily killing a character.