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  1. #1
    Boisterously Confused
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    Default Conway: Cancel every existing superhero comic

    Interesting piece from Bleeding Cool about superhero comics. The author's key insight is that the post-60s comics creators and fans self-obsession forced the superhero story to be something that it wasn't, and its primary audience was and still should be readers between 9-13.

    I'll quibble with him on how to reach them, but he's right.

  2. #2
    Extraordinary Member
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    Kids 100% aren’t going to be reading comic books nowadays

  3. #3
    Extraordinary Member MRP's Avatar
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    Yeah, I'd tend to argue he got the future backwards in a sense-it is the old school collector/fans who want monthly periodical comics not OGN, it is the mass market where OGN would succeed and where periodical comics are a dinosaur format no one in the mass market wants to sell or buy, so if you launch a line aimed at younger readers in mass market venues, it should be the $10-$20 OGN similar in format to the Dog Boy, Raina Telgemeier, etc. OGN that comprise one of the fastest growing segments of the book trade, and continue to sell the material targetted to older existing collectors in monthly periodicals through the direct market, as that is the only audience that wants those.

    -M
    Comic fans get the comics their buying habits deserve.

    "Opinion is the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding." -Plato

  4. #4
    Invincible Member Kirby101's Avatar
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    Screw him for killing Gwen. What 9-13 year old wanted that?
    There came a time when the Old Gods died! The Brave died with the Cunning! The Noble perished locked in battle with unleashed Evil! It was the last day for them! An ancient era was passing in fiery holocaust!

  5. #5
    Old school comic book fan WestPhillyPunisher's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kirby101 View Post
    Screw him for killing Gwen. What 9-13 year old wanted that?
    He also co-created the Punisher, hardly the sort of character parents want their little kids reading about.
    Avatar: Here's to the late, great Steve Dillon. Best. Punisher. Artist. EVER!

  6. #6
    The Fastest Post Alive! Buried Alien's Avatar
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    It's not the 60s anymore.

    Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)
    Buried Alien - THE FASTEST POST ALIVE!

    First CBR Appearance (Historical): November, 1996

    First CBR Appearance (Modern): April, 2014

  7. #7
    Spectacular Member Kuro no Shinigami's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kirby101 View Post
    Screw him for killing Gwen. What 9-13 year old wanted that?
    He had Miss Marvel and Power Girl wear costumes baring their thighs. What 9-13 year old boy wouldn't want it?

    Quote Originally Posted by WestPhillyPunisher View Post
    He also co-created the Punisher, hardly the sort of character parents want their little kids reading about.
    Gerry Conway also co-created Power Girl and Miss Marvel (Carol Danvers). He had both women wear bare-legged, scantily-clad costumes. Hardly the sort of thing the parents want their kids reading about.


    Quote Originally Posted by Buried Alien View Post
    It's not the 60s anymore.

    Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)
    It's also not the 1970's anymore.

  8. #8
    Boisterously Confused
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kirby101 View Post
    Screw him for killing Gwen. What 9-13 year old wanted that?
    Quote Originally Posted by WestPhillyPunisher View Post
    He also co-created the Punisher, hardly the sort of character parents want their little kids reading about.
    He was critiquing his own generation for wanting to keep superheroes for themselves rather than continue to nurture the younger audience for which the concept was created. That includes characters and depictions like The Punisher and the Death of Gwen Stacy.

    Quote Originally Posted by KNIGHT OF THE LAKE View Post
    Kids 100% aren’t going to be reading comic books nowadays
    I agree. The distribution medium has to change to reach them. But simply writing them off as comics being a grownup thing is to continue their decline.

  9. #9
    Mighty Member icctrombone's Avatar
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    Well, the comic industry has to do something.

  10. #10
    Invincible Member Kirby101's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kuro no Shinigami View Post
    He had Miss Marvel and Power Girl wear costumes baring their thighs. What 9-13 year old boy wouldn't want it?
    .
    He wrote the stories, he did not design the costumes.
    There came a time when the Old Gods died! The Brave died with the Cunning! The Noble perished locked in battle with unleashed Evil! It was the last day for them! An ancient era was passing in fiery holocaust!

  11. #11
    Astonishing Member mathew101281's Avatar
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    You’re not going to get new kids by rehashing old characters. If you look back at the history of comics the major floods of new fans coming into the medium have always been preceded by a deluge of new characters.

    The creation of Superman in the late 30’s. The rise of Marvel in the 60’s even the Image boom in the 90’s. Characters like Spider-Man and Batman will always be there, but their story has so infiltrated media that one really doesn’t need to pick up a comic to get your Batman fix.

    We need new( and by new I mean really new, not reimagining), characters aimed at young fans in places they can actually see them.
    Last edited by mathew101281; 09-24-2020 at 03:39 PM.

  12. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by MRP View Post
    Yeah, I'd tend to argue he got the future backwards in a sense-it is the old school collector/fans who want monthly periodical comics not OGN, it is the mass market where OGN would succeed and where periodical comics are a dinosaur format no one in the mass market wants to sell or buy, so if you launch a line aimed at younger readers in mass market venues, it should be the $10-$20 OGN similar in format to the Dog Boy, Raina Telgemeier, etc. OGN that comprise one of the fastest growing segments of the book trade, and continue to sell the material targetted to older existing collectors in monthly periodicals through the direct market, as that is the only audience that wants those.

    -M
    This is my problem with people who post these things: Their solutions are always geared towards them when they were kids and not the kids of today. I'll admit I don't know what kids these days do but a few years ago it was all about the (usually shonen) manga, in which case the simplified stories and characters wouldn't really be marketing towards them.

  13. #13
    Ultimate Member Mister Mets's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by WestPhillyPunisher View Post
    He also co-created the Punisher, hardly the sort of character parents want their little kids reading about.
    Parents and children don't always have the same taste.
    Sincerely,
    Thomas Mets

  14. #14
    Just Member Attila Kiss's Avatar
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    Comic books in printed forms are dinosours. Their best days are behind us. Quite frankly, they lasted much longer than I expected, and it is in a prolonged stage of disapearance. Probably not forever, but it is going to be even more niche than it is now. I don't know how limiting the superhero comic books to 5-10 titles will help the situation. What the big two are doing right now is exactly the only thing they can still do... Milk the situation for as long as they can.

    One thing I feel some people refuse to accept is that, video games are a natural progresson of comic books. They replaced comic books. They aren't two different forms competing for the same prize. Comic books are hanging by a thread thanks to the nostalgia of an aging populace. (And few fanatics, of course). Video games offer all that comic books do plus more, because the players are involved in what they see. The next step in evolution is virtual entertainment, then who knows... Perhaps, a chip inplant in your brain?

    Nothing lasts forever, and the only things that come back with a vengeance are viruses and diseases... The rest is residue.
    links to my books:
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  15. #15
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    I agree with your point Attila that printed comics are dying. There is no viable way to create mass interest in buying either single issues for $4-7 each or collected graphic novels for $10-20, when there are plenty of free or cheap entertainment options. Including web comics (which aren't as bound by their format or overwhelmed by superheroes) or pirated versions of the physical comics. If comics have a future it's going to either be streaming services like Comixology or free to read comics put up by individual creators and paid for by web advertising.

    I disagree with video games replacing comics. Different forms of entertainment (though bad comics, especially superhero ones, usually have simple stories like most video games). I've always enjoyed both, and always had time for both. Like I make time for music, or TV, or the occasional movie. Love them all, each have their place. Do look forward to good virtual reality. I'm all for a Matrix-like chip implant, if it works.

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