Overdrive and Gotham High: Taking Bruce Back To School

[kjn]

I think it's like comparing movies to ongoing TV shows.

Both have different lengths and different impacts that make for different viewing experiences, but that doesn't make one any less valid then the other. The ongoing serialized Catwoman is as valid and important as the young teenage Selina in Under the Moon.

Absolutely. But I think that to get out of the creative rut that many working for DC are in, doing a real and noticable shift in form is one possible way to do it.

[Vakanai]

Yeah, the reading experience is very much different for these graphic novels compared to normal floppies. It's not only the length, but the care that has been put into the narrative and its themes. Superman Smashes the Klan is a lot denser as a work than most in-continuity books, and Catwoman: Under the Moon is denser and thematically heavier still.

I think the DC Zoom and Ink lines is a huge indictment towards the DC mainline content. I think there is more consistently interesting stuff coming out from there than in Black Label (which obviously has had some great books, like Batman: Last Knight on Earth or Harleen, but to me seems to confuse sex and gore for maturity).

I wouldn't know - I don't read floppies, I buy the trade paperbacks. There definitely seems to be more higher quality stuff coming out of the non-continuity books right now for sure, but that's just currently. Sometimes the in continuity stuff knocks it out of the park, sometimes the out of continuity stuff does. I don't care which is better, just as long as something great is coming out.

[batnbreakfast]

Aging comic book reader, 38 years, here. If you want high school drama... why not read Archie, X-Men or Spidey? Why does Batman have to be in every damn thing? Maybe I'm stupid but I read Batman because I'm into crime, detectives, horror and superheroes. If I were more into SciFi... I'd read Superman or Fantastic Four. Also there's Harry Potter and you're surely not going to beat HP. Hey, what about original characters? They still exist DC

[Vakanai]

Aging comic book reader, 38 years, here. If you want high school drama... why not read Archie, X-Men or Spidey? Why does Batman have to be in every damn thing? Maybe I'm stupid but I read Batman because I'm into crime, detectives, horror and superheroes. If I were more into SciFi... I'd read Superman or Fantastic Four. Also there's Harry Potter and you're surely not going to beat HP. Hey, what about original characters? They still exist DC

Because not everyone wants to read those titles. Sometimes people just want to read their favorite characters in new genres and settings. Different things pique different people's interests. Sometimes you'd rather read an adult character when they're a kid instead of a traditional kid character.

[batnbreakfast]

Because not everyone wants to read those titles. Sometimes people just want to read their favorite characters in new genres and settings. Different things pique different people's interests. Sometimes you'd rather read an adult character when they're a kid instead of a traditional kid character.

And I don't get it. That's like saying here's Sherlock Holmes/Conan the Barbarian/Godzilla at a different age... buy it for your kids, folks. Its a trap, we want your money. I've read this thread and there's no excitement for this take on Batman

[Noodle]

I've read this thread and there's no excitement for this take on Batman

The bulk of the people in this thread aren't the target audience for these.

[Vakanai]

And I don't get it. That's like saying here's Sherlock Holmes/Conan the Barbarian/Godzilla at a different age... buy it for your kids, folks. Its a trap, we want your money. I've read this thread and there's no excitement for this take on Batman

Well yeah, obviously. That's what all these books are about. This isn't different or the exception to that. And there's a young audience, or just hell an audience, for Sherlock Holmes or Conan at a different age (maybe not Godzilla, young or old he's still a giant city stomping monster). I don't know why this is hard, we've had Young Indiana Jones, we've had Young Sherlock Holmes (1985 film), we've had kid and teen versions of characters before and will again. It isn't new. It's just as valid a scam to get our money as when they make characters are older stories such as Mr. Holmes (Sherlock's last mystery, kinda), Hook (Peter Pan as an adult), and The Dark Knight Returns.