The Curse of Shazam! Thread

[Kurosawa]

I read this earlier today, and had to get back to you on this. That is much better for kids, or even fully grown adults to read, that GL has the ability to control his fear, that is something they can aspire to.
When they read of someone being 'fearless', it means they give themselves far less credit when they do something brave, they think 'oh, well, even though I saved that person from a beating, I was scared all the way through the incident, so I must be a coward, I must not be cut out for this, I'm not 'fearless' like GL or DD, leave this type of job to someone else.'
Everyone gets scared, bravery is about controlling your fear, this is why crooks get drunk and high before doing robberies, they get scared too.
Good guys learn to control their fear, and get it done regardless.
anyway, that is a *good* change to the mythos.

I'll take John Broome's Hal, who was fearless, adult, and moral over Geoff Johns *****e any day of the week.

And any parent that would allow their children to read Geoff Johns' gore filled comics is a bad parent.

 

[Czar Colossus]

Wow....that's pretty harsh.

 

[Manic]

And any parent that would allow their children to read Geoff Johns' gore filled comics is a bad parent.

I'm a little apprehensive about agreeing with you because you hate every comic that's been written since I've been born, but I have to agree with you on that one.

 

[RoughNTumble]

eh, cartoon gore is fine, especially with how mild it is at dc

we aren't talking night of the living dead or anything

I'd let my kid read it, depending on the age and maturity.

 

[Lord]

 

[Manic]

eh, cartoon gore is fine, especially with how mild it is at dc

we aren't talking night of the living dead or anything

I'd let my kid read it, depending on the age and maturity.

Did you ever read 52? I remember getting pissed off (and a little bit flabbergasted) when [blackout]Sobek bit Osiris in half[/blackout].

And let's not forget what happened in Teen Titans with Marvin and Wonder Dog...

 

[Lencho01]

Blame Mortal Kombat, I guess...

http://www.ineffableaether.com/2011/08/24/light-in-the-dark/

When I was working on 52, I half-jokingly asked Geoff Johns what it was with him and decapitations. If you’ve read his work, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Black Adam, in particular, had a penchant for removing the top, so to speak. His response was that he’d grown up playing Mortal Kombat. Fatalities were common, as he put it; a decapitation was de rigueur. Me, I was in college when Narc came out. Late formative years, and I still remember being taken aback the first time I watched the animated pitbulls tearing me apart on the screen.

 

[Manic]

I think I was 8 when Mortal Kombat came out, and I didn't have the type of parents who'd stop me from playing it (in fact, between me and my step-brother, I think we owned every version of MK3). There's a time and a place for decapitations, and the pages of a non-Vertigo DC comic is neither.

 

[Kurosawa]

Wow....that's pretty harsh.

It's the truth. I'm sure he ripped his Hal from Top Gun when he should have looked to The Right Stuff for inspiration instead.

I'm a little apprehensive about agreeing with you because you hate every comic that's been written since I've been born, but I have to agree with you on that one.

Nah, there are good modern comics. New Frontier, All-Star Superman, Birthright had it's moments, several other things as well.

Blame Mortal Kombat, I guess...

http://www.ineffableaether.com/2011/08/24/light-in-the-dark/

Yeah, a good bit of why Johns sucks so bad is that he has bad taste in comics, movies and video games. If he had been a Street Fighter fan instead of a Mortal Kombat fan he might be able to write cool fight scenes instead of the idiotic gore he does write.

I always felt that the fact that they had fatalities in MK just said the characters didn't matter-and I get the same feeling from DC, especially with their "kill list" that they had.

 

[Czar Colossus]

it's the truth. I'm sure he ripped his hal from top gun when he should have looked to the right stuff for inspiration instead.

yes!

 

[Motown Marvel]

i feel geoff johns was a great writer up through blackest night. it was after that when he oddly went to crap for me. i dunno what happened, his ego was probably given too much power. his current work on aquaman is still pretty solid so far, though.

 

[PowerPacked]

Didn't Kuro also say that Superman's MOS costume was innapropriate for children and bordering on pedophilia because it didn't have trunks?

 

[Phatman]

I'll take John Broome's Hal, who was fearless, adult, and moral over Geoff Johns *****e any day of the week.

And any parent that would allow their children to read Geoff Johns' gore filled comics is a bad parent.

Agree with you on these comics. They're totally inappropriate for children.

Goeff Johns is today what Chris Claremont was in the late 1980s. A great writer at one time but is clearly out of gas.

Like Claremont before him Johns has been given too much power. Without a Jim Shooter or an editor with some Juevos to CHECK him, he's allowed to make a mess and call it good. He really needs some editorial oversight, someone who will maintain the integrity of the characters and make sure his work meets a standard for quality.

I see parallells between Johns current work and Claremont's later work circa 1987-1991. Jumbled storylines, plot devices, mishmashes of plot threads. And Death. Lots and lots of gory deaths. He's clearly burning out the same way Claremont burned out around 89-1990, but no one at DC sees that he's out of gas creatively.

Dude could use a vacation for about a year from comics. Write a novel or something, work all this horror **** out of his system and come back refreshed and ready to write superheroes.

 

[The Morningstar]

Johns' problem is that his ego has grown to ridiculous proportions. He thinks that everyone likes what he likes. He thinks he doesn't have to answer to anyone when he chops and changes things to suit his needs. Well, that's the problem, he doesn't have to answer to anyone. He needs a strong editor to reel him in and filter out the garbage that pours out of his brain. He's like Michael Bay in that way.

His Stars and STRIPE, JSA and original Flash run were great. He's just completely lost his mind from the amount of power he has.

And having Invincible levels of gore in mainstream superhero comics is just... wrong. The guys a ****ing man child. The type of guy who thinks rape and dismemberments and decapitations are mature.

 

[Llama_Shepherd]

I hate Billy in this and I want Tawky Tawny to eat his face.

 

[Kurosawa]

Johns' problem is that his ego has grown to ridiculous proportions. He thinks that everyone likes what he likes. He thinks he doesn't have to answer to anyone when he chops and changes things to suit his needs. Well, that's the problem, he doesn't have to answer to anyone. He needs a strong editor to reel him in and filter out the garbage that pours out of his brain. He's like Michael Bay in that way.

His Stars and STRIPE, JSA and original Flash run were great. He's just completely lost his mind from the amount of power he has.

And having Invincible levels of gore in mainstream superhero comics is just... wrong. The guys a ****ing man child. The type of guy who thinks rape and dismemberments and decapitations are mature.

Agree on all points. To me, he's been all downhill since Infinite Crisis, which was terrible.

 

[RoughNTumble]

Even though I still enjoy most of johns' stuff (well not necessarily the way he writes characters so much as the way he builds status quos) I do wish he wasn't one of the big decision makers at DC. I agree that he needs a strong editor.

 

[Hush]

I think Billy is a pretty big prick in this.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I hate Billy in this and I want Tawky Tawny to eat his face.

With Johns in charge, you may just get your wish.

 

[Czar Colossus]

Even though I still enjoy most of johns' stuff (well not necessarily the way he writes characters so much as the way he builds status quos) I do wish he wasn't one of the big decision makers at DC. I agree that he needs a strong editor.

Yes, both he and Lee do. They have talent, but with them as the dominant guiding force; the future looks bleak.

 

[Phatman]

Johns' problem is that his ego has grown to ridiculous proportions. He thinks that everyone likes what he likes. He thinks he doesn't have to answer to anyone when he chops and changes things to suit his needs. Well, that's the problem, he doesn't have to answer to anyone. He needs a strong editor to reel him in and filter out the garbage that pours out of his brain. He's like Michael Bay in that way.

His Stars and STRIPE, JSA and original Flash run were great. He's just completely lost his mind from the amount of power he has.

And having Invincible levels of gore in mainstream superhero comics is just... wrong. The guys a ****ing man child. The type of guy who thinks rape and dismemberments and decapitations are mature.

Agree. The gore is totally inappropriate. I played my fair share of Mortal Kombat in my 20s, but when I go to the keyboard to write I know to leave it at the game console. I know when writing commercial product that I have to maintain the integrity and reputation of the main character and the catalog of supporting characters.

Johns hasn't learned about that level of professionalism yet. He's gained great power without learning about his responsibility. He doesn't see how his decisions impact DC, Time Warner or even the next writer who has to pick up where he left off.

Rapes, dismemberments and decapitations aren't mature. They're just shock tactics bad writers use to deflect the reader from seeing their inability to tell an entertaining story.

Giving a writer going through a dry period more power doesn't make them better. It only enables and encourges them to continue on in the bad habits they've learned. And Johns has learned a lot of bad habits since he's been promoted.

Johns really needs someone editing him like Jim Shooter or the late Mark Gruenwald. A guy like Jim Shooter who will tell him NO that's NOT going to print, and a guru of comic book history like Gruenwald who will point out WHY his changes won't work long term.

After a couple of killed stories and small checks (Kill fees), he'd either get back in line or learn to work for smaller pay at Image or one of the indies.

DC really needs an editor with Juevos to check him and many of the out-of-control creators there.

 

[Llama_Shepherd]

With Johns in charge, you may just get your wish.

 

[Czar Colossus]

DC really needs an editor with Juevos to check him and many of the out-of-control creators there.

Yes; those trying to recreate the DCU in their IMAGE!

 

[Kurosawa]

DC and mainstream comics in general began to fail when they lost editors who had skill and power.

 

[Lone]

I didn't care for Billy Bratson at all. Honestly, Superior got it right with it's version of a more "realistic" Billy Batson.