Bad comic writing good for comics?

[MENTALLECT]

Writers are very inconsistent. One fight scene has Class 100 guys like Thor picking up the World Serpent, and another has Spiderman knock out the Hulk.

The fact no one can stay dead in the Marvel Universe makes death meaningless, right? Can the hulk really punch an object so hard it goes back in time? Can the writer's comic license be a sign many of them don't understand the powers of characters they write, or mean they lack enough creative imagination to stay within comic book canon while writing an interesting story.

Do you think retconning beings like the Beyonder hurts or help comics?

 

[The Question]

Being inconsistent about how strong Thor or The Hulk are from writer to writer isn't really that big a deal to me. There are lots of ways that comics are badly written that seem like a bigger deal.

 

[THANOSRULES]

Being inconsistent about how strong Thor or The Hulk are from writer to writer isn't really that big a deal to me. There are lots of ways that comics are badly written that seem like a bigger deal.

Which is why some of the best stories ever were either set in inventive continuity or out of continuity. (Mr. Miracle, Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns)

Adherence to continuity doesnt much have to do with good or bad writing, they are seperate..yet only sometimes related.

 

[roach]

to me bad writing is when a character acts out of character....like Captain America giving up or Spider-man killing people

 

[The Question]

Which is why some of the best stories ever were either set in inventive continuity or out of continuity. (Mr. Miracle, Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns)

Adherence to continuity doesnt much have to do with good or bad writing, they are seperate..yet only sometimes related.

Internal consistency is important because plot holes suck. But internal consistency is hard to maintain in a huge public sandbox universe like Marvel, so as long as individual writers maintain an internal consistency in their own work, little slip ups are okay.

to me bad writing is when a character acts out of character....like Captain America giving up or Spider-man killing people

Even then, though, you can have a story where Captain America gives up or Spider-Man kills and have it be really smart and compelling. It's all about context.

 

[THANOSRULES]

Internal consistency is important because plot holes suck. But internal consistency is hard to maintain in a huge public sandbox universe like Marvel, so as long as individual writers maintain an internal consistency in their own work, little slip ups are okay.



Even then, though, you can have a story where Captain America gives up or Spider-Man kills and have it be really smart and compelling. It's all about context.

Yeah I think it becomes and issue when the reader questions the conceivable actions/emotions/etc of characters he has an "emotional investment" (or emotional history) in...

certain readers are new so they don't always care or have the investment. Certain readers just have a lower threshold for continuity and dont care as much, some readers will nitpick and literally a minor mistake can ruin the quality of a story....so it is sometimes related to "good" and "bad" writing....when it overrides the quality.

For most general writing this is usually contained to whatever book/story, but not some if not most comic writing. In short, "comes with the territory" , so most comic writers should expect it.

 

[storyteller]

Oh please, this staying dead nonsense is 60% bs. You know they aint killing off the super popular characters. The last 40% is spot on. Captain Marvel has been teased but so far he has stayed dead and I doubt the one running around is the real deal.

Lets be honest, comic book writers are not going to read every god damn issue and appearance of a character. Getting through a decade of material for one series of the comic is a mindbender itself. They are also not going to adhere to limits if the story is about breaking it that one time. Also the 90's was a weird time. They have certainly gotten better at containing the bs.

 

[THANOSRULES]

Oh please, this staying dead nonsense is 60% bs. You know they aint killing off the super popular characters. The last 40% is spot on. Captain Marvel has been teased but so far he has stayed dead and I doubt the one running around is the real deal.

Lets be honest, comic book writers are not going to read every god damn issue and appearance of a character. Getting through a decade of material for one series of the comic is a mindbender itself. They are also not going to adhere to limits if the story is about breaking it that one time. Also the 90's was a weird time. They have certainly gotten better at containing the bs.

Agree that Captain Marvel is ridiculous. Marvel just sucks with this character and the name sake. Even, Genis was perfectly fine, but a couple lousy arcs and suddenly he's some unworkable character. The utter parade of lazy planning and weak commitment to Captain Marvel is legendary now. (the skrull marvel was actually a decent idea, and clearly marvel had no real plan)

I agree with most of what you say, but i think the 90s were awesome...just a good deal of garbage to sift through to realize you have a ton of quality in there as well.

 

[MENTALLECT]

I am not sure what was weird about the 90s comic book era, but I do disagree with anyone stating writers are not going to read every comic book a character they are writing about gives them an excuse to be hazardously inconsistent writing a new arc. First, they can easily review the character's history, powers, and abilities. Second, most writers are huge comic book fans as well, and have expert knowledge of the characters. Third, they also have editors who review the stories as well,so there is an additional check and balance available.

Even comic books need some writer discipline.

 

[THANOSRULES]

I am not sure what was weird about the 90s comic book era, but I do disagree with anyone stating writers are not going to read every comic book a character they are writing about gives them an excuse to be hazardously inconsistent writing a new arc. First, they can easily review the character's history, powers, and abilities. Second, most writers are huge comic book fans as well, and have expert knowledge of the characters. Third, they also have editors who review the stories as well,so there is an additional check and balance available.

Even comic books need some writer discipline.

Totally agree, and when you are doing serial fiction with a history dating to the 1940s , it needs to be done.