Grading DC Comics Current Writers

[Captain Nostalgia]

In reply to your post and the post to which you replied, why is queerness "political?" That's a rhetorical question. The answer is the same one that might have caused people to consider Black superheroes to be political in, say, the 60s. And, back then, a whole lot of people would have been every bit up in arms about how we should all tolerate intolerance and if we don't, well, that's just the corrupting force of politics.

Not so long ago we were moving forward as a society regarding LGBTQ rights and representation. It's extremely rare for that sort of progress to start moving in reverse. To quote the person most responsible for the resurgence of politicizing sexuality (or gender identity), "Sad."

Representation is an extension of civil rights and Constitutional ones; if there is controversy over a bisexual character in 2023, that's an ethical problem, not a political one. I also don't want to hear again that the distinction between right and wrong doesn't belong in superhero comics. That's what superheroes are there for: to fight not just street criminals or cosmic ones, but for what's right. Just ask the original "social justice warrior." His name is Superman.

DId you read what I wrote? No politics please. (The poster you quoted is notorious for thriving on politics and wrecking threads as a result)

I'm sure the vast majority of Tim Drake fans are not upset about his sexuality change because they are homophobic, but rather because it is a major continuity change to one of thier favourite characters....I have no vested interest in the character, so personally I don't care either way.

When I read Meagan Fitzmartin's work, I'm basing my judgment solely on the ability of her to write, nothing else, as I do with all writers.

Some writers on the DC creative team are extremely talented, others are not, and probably shouldn't be there. I'm curious to see peoples opinions, and because art, unlike atheletics, is much more subjective, I'm also interested in seeing peoples diveregences, and how they differ from mine.

[phonogram12]

John Ridley: A+

Mark Russell: A+

Tom Taylor: A+

Tom King: A

Mark Waid: A

Geoff Johns: C+

James Tynion: C

[Captain Nostalgia]

D-Letter Grade

Tom Taylor - Only thing I enjoy is his Nightwing and that’s 90% because of the art. Terrible writer who needs to stop trying to “leave his mark” on Superman, he can take his garbage OCs and get lost. I dread the day he manages to take over one of the Superman ongoings, hopefully he just sticks to his Elseworlds and the Batman corner of the DCU where I can ignore him. He makes books that only exist to get memed on social media.

C
Taylor - Feels very pop corn - surface level entertainment - fun and cute but lacks intensity - I like cute interactions but I kinda want more since it's the main series
Tynion - Seems to follow Snyder's school of getting bigger and bigger each time and like Snyder means it gets tiring - I stand by my first impression that he's way better at shorter horror story than epic

GRADE B+-Tom Taylor. He had done great with Nightwing and I can't wait to see what he has in plans for the Titans. His AU work is not that great in my opinion.

Tom Taylor: A+

I should start by saying I have no opinion of Tom Taylor because I've never read anything by him, so I'm not in a position to evaluate his work, but....

I wanted to say I love comics because art is so subjective. For Tom Taylor so far we have an A+, B+, C & D


Comic are not like baseball, whereby if you have a pitcher who stinks we could all say, not good enough, off to the farm league.

Sure there has been one writer so far, that we can definitely say "ship them off to the indies" but otherwise there has been some good divergences.

Is it fair to say Tom Taylor is like Tom King. An either love or hate him affair???

[Vordan]

Is it fair to say Tom Taylor is like Tom King. An either love or hate him affair???

That’s about the only thing they have in common but yeah. Taylor is like King in that he’s very commercially successful and he has a fanbase that loves him and reads everything he does, and a hatebase (I’m in this group for Taylor) that dislike his writing style intensely and want him far away from their faves.

But as writers they’re total opposites. King has a very unique style and writes stories that are primarily about appealing to himself. They tend to incorporate lots of noir tropes and references to very old comics because King likes that stuff. King stylistically heavily borrows from Alan Moore and loves using the 9 panel grid. Taylor meanwhile writes his comics for maximum meme potential. His comics are more concerned with being a collection of moments which can be shared on social media for clout than telling a story, and he heavily panders to Twitter/Tumblr with “wholesome” moments. I begrudgingly have to give Taylor credit in that he’s probably the creator who best understands the power of social media in terms of advertising your work as a creator.

[Captain Nostalgia]

ThatÂ’s about the only thing they have in common but yeah. Taylor is like King in that heÂ’s very commercially successful and he has a fanbase that loves him and reads everything he does, and a hatebase (IÂ’m in this group for Taylor) that dislike his writing style intensely and want him far away from their faves.

But as writers they’re total opposites. King has a very unique style and writes stories that are primarily about appealing to himself. They tend to incorporate lots of noir tropes and references to very old comics because King likes that stuff. King stylistically heavily borrows from Alan Moore and loves using the 9 panel grid. Taylor meanwhile writes his comics for maximum meme potential. His comics are more concerned with being a collection of moments which can be shared on social media for clout than telling a story, and he heavily panders to Twitter/Tumblr with “wholesome” moments. I begrudgingly have to give Taylor credit in that he’s probably the creator who best understands the power of social media in terms of advertising your work as a creator.

I think I hear what your saying, though I could be totally of base, so correct me if I'm wrong....

Tom King is a more talented writer who relies on his skills and techniques, while Tom Taylor acquires his fanbase by pandering to a more political orientated crowd via virtue signaling? I assume that is what you mean by "wholesome moments?"

I personally don't have a problem with that provided they are good writers. My knock on Meagan Fitzmartin is not that she's engaging in political commentary, but rather from what I've read....I just don't think she is a very good writer.....I think sales on her title reflect that.
Relying on politics by appealing to peoples sentiments in writing is sort of cheating in my opinion. It's akin to a mediocre punk band who attracts an audience through their political commentary instead of mastering their instruments, or in this case, writing skills like Tom King has.

I suppose I will eventually read something by Tom Taylor, and I may love it, but to be honest, a lot of the commentary about him has me nervous about him writing one of my favourite characters.


I view writers at DC comics like I would a baseball or hockey player, they've either got the talent or they don't, and if they don't they shouldn't be there, because it's a dream job that all comic book geeks wish they could do.

[Vordan]

No by wholesome moments I mean he has a collection of cliches he uses all designed to make you go “awww”. One of his favorite go to’s is introducing a cute animal for everyone to squeal over. Nightwing has a three legged dog, Harley gets a puppy or a kitten in Injustice 2 (can’t remember which), he gave Laura/Wolverine and her sister a pet wolverine if I remember right, and so on and so forth.

[Aahz]

But as writers they’re total opposites. King has a very unique style and writes stories that are primarily about appealing to himself. They tend to incorporate lots of noir tropes and references to very old comics because King likes that stuff. King stylistically heavily borrows from Alan Moore and loves using the 9 panel grid. Taylor meanwhile writes his comics for maximum meme potential. His comics are more concerned with being a collection of moments which can be shared on social media for clout than telling a story, and he heavily panders to Twitter/Tumblr with “wholesome” moments. I begrudgingly have to give Taylor credit in that he’s probably the creator who best understands the power of social media in terms of advertising your work as a creator.

While King doesn't do “wholesome” as much at least when I look at his runs with Grayson and Batman he seems also pretty good in using social media.

[Captain Nostalgia]

No by wholesome moments I mean he has a collection of cliches he uses all designed to make you go “awww”. One of his favorite go to’s is introducing a cute animal for everyone to squeal over. Nightwing has a three legged dog, Harley gets a puppy or a kitten in Injustice 2 (can’t remember which), he gave Laura/Wolverine and her sister a pet wolverine if I remember right, and so on and so forth.

Oh I see thanks.

Apologies for the misinterpretation, I was looking at opinions about Tom Taylor online to understand why he's not liked, and was getting a totally different critique....

probably disgruntled Superman fans, his Nightwing seems well liked.

Well that doesn't sound that bad, it does sound a little clique, but if it works it works.

I'm curious now though....maybe I'll pick up a few issues of Nightwing.

[Stanlos]

Politics are a part of literally ANY story written by a human. Our stories tell of our culture at a particular moment in time. I still do not understand how people say 'I don't want politics in my comics'. It literally is ALWAYS present. I invite those who feel that is theif position to have a look at older fare across multiple media and observe.

[Captain Nostalgia]

Politics are a part of literally ANY story written by a human. Our stories tell of our culture at a particular moment in time. I still do not understand how people say 'I don't want politics in my comics'. It literally is ALWAYS present. I invite those who feel that is theif position to have a look at older fare across multiple media and observe.

I'm aware that art can be a snapshot of cultural attitudes of the time. That being said most comic writers aren't political activists, and I don't mind if they are....provided they are good writers.

When, or if you decide to evaluate the writers in this post.I want you to solely judge them on their creative talent, nothing else.

Give them a grade on their writing skills as one would evaluate a football quarterbacks skills. Are they absolutely amazing, pretty good, average, or simply not good enough.