What do you dislike about modern comics?

[Sundancer]

I stopped collecting back when the Spider-man clone saga was taking off simply because I couldn't afford to buy four titles to follow one storyline (heard I didn't miss much). Since then I've read mostly old issues from 60's-90's, graphic novels and the bog story lines (civil War, Infinite Crisis, Blackest Night).

• 
  I miss no text on the covers

• 
  I hate waiting 6 months or so for a storyline to wrap-up. In the 80's or so you'd generally get a story an issue but a subplot setting up a bigger storyline.

• 
  Sometimes I miss thought bubbles

And the number 1 reason--

• 
  Death. So many people have died and came back that death is a cheapened idea. If I don't care about someone's death, why should I care about their lives?

 

[James]

I'm with you on Death. When they killed *spoiler spoiler* Bucky recently, I could care less. He'll be back, until he gets killed again, and bought back...again. It wasn't shocking or scary or upsetting, it was "Oh well."

 

[WalkingDeadMike]

Comic deaths in the big 2 are meaningless. But what I hate even more than that is that there's an event every 6 months that takes over 99% of all of that company's titles. It takes away from the momentum and story telling that THAT BOOK'S WRITER has been working hard to establish. Let the events have one main mini and maybe a few tie in minis, but keep them out of the normal monthly ongoings.

 

[SuperFerret]

Events are tiresome, the constant death and resurrection cycle has become a joke, and most importantly, there's this unspoken ban on lighthearted fun.

 

[twylight]

This is going to pretty much be word vomit...not articulating well right now.

I hate events. The reason I dropped comics a few years back was because I came to realize... once every year both companies would have a 'WORLD CHANGING EVENT' that would muck with the other titles and things going on.

Following that up: I miss the stupid stuff in comics. Everything is so ultra emo/angsty/realistic.

I also dislike the lack of commitment I see in books: Well, these people can date but.. can't get more serious than two dates! These two can marry, but... they can't -stay- married. Follow through, and if you do end a marriage/relationship show the repercussions.

Killing characters for shock value. Seriously... it's not *shocking* anymore, just annoying and in some cases a hinderance to the actual character it's supposed to effect.

The emphasis on action, action, action. I like being able to see day to day events in the heroes lives. I like seeing them grow as a character I don't always have to have them fighting bad guys.

I don't like the inconsistencies between writers. I enjoy the different takes they have on the characters, but I don't like it when there are inconsistencies with what's been previously established. The overall lack of thought as to 'how will this effect the character in the future'. When one writer starts something and another one comes in, goes *PFFFT* and ends whatever development was happening to that character.

Along those lines; when a company/writer decides to kill a main character... I wish they'd THINK about it and place a 'hold' on that character for x years. Because let's be honest.. we know people jump back form the grave but.. geez... give us a few more than 2-3 years.

Editors who don't seem to give a **** about what goes on. Seriously, do these people do research, or lobby for characters when the higher-ups want x, y, z to happen that doesn't fit the character?

 

[Anubis]

I hate the lack of accountability for writers and artists being late. I shouldn't have to wait six months between each issue. Quit playing Battlefield and do your f**king job A-holes.

 

[SuperFerret]

Seriously. The books aren't that long, and there's not usually that much going on in each individual issue.

 

[Sundancer]

I've noticed a trend on less story and bigger panels. It seems artists are getting more to do per issue than writers.


twylight: what do you mean by silly stuff? Do you mean like crazy sci-fi goofiness from the Silver age?

I love big events and serious stories, but right now I'm going through old issues of Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen for light-hearted stuff. I think most of us have seen the covers and know how silly those stories can be.

 

[twylight]

I've noticed a trend on less story and bigger panels. It seems artists are getting more to do per issue than writers.

twylight: what do you mean by silly stuff? Do you mean like crazy sci-fi goofiness from the Silver age?

I love collecting the older comics; Infinity, Inc., All-Star Squadron and LoSH, and I've noticed this too. There's a lack of story telling and more of a lean towards splashpages and action. Which is fine, but I love dialogue, and those little 'thought boxes' so I can get inside characters heads.

Yes. t: I admit, it's not appropriate for every comic. But I feel like a lot of them over explain things, or really delve into eveyr detail without letting loose with serious stupid-fun stuff. For instance, Nextwave was a lot of fun because crazy stuff happened, but they didn't come up with a 'rational' explanation as to all of it.
Nextwave is probably a bad example, but the first one to pop into my head.

 

[J. Custer]

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

 

[J. Custer]

Oh boy... here goes:


*The de-uniquing of characters. Case in point: Back in the very early 80's when I started reading, Wolverine was essentially in one book, the X-men. Now he's appeared as countless cartoons, and as mostly bad toys, shirts and bed linen, movies, and 25 different titles, limited series, graphic novels, and other books he has no business making appearances (much less being a member of a team other than X-men in (um, Avengers(?!)).


I liked that comics was a pretty underground hobby. Almost frowned upon by most people- but we kids buying comics knew better and THAT was cool!...now your grandma and snot-nose 4 year old brother/nephew knows who Wolverine and Ghost Rider are....whoop-dee-doo! Moreover, there are six-teen different versions of Spider Man, Storm, and countless others. Yah.



It was an indescribable thrill to get my hands on UNCANNY X-MEN each month! The first Wolverine LS was unexpected and equally thrilling. Wolverine/Logan was an enigma; occasionally there would be some small detail about his past, and those little hints were enough to get my imagination going. I don't want to know who Wolverines mom was! "Sickly Richie Rich" James "HOWLETT"? Corny!!!!Logan was cool and dangerous because of what you DIDN'T know. He was a man who's past was "shrouded in mystery. "



* Redundant books. The Avengers was really special when there was one ongoing Avengers title; same with the X-men! That kind of anticipation is unknown to younger/newer readers today who are being bombarded with 13, 17, 25 x-books, Avengers related books etc.


*The crappy CGI/ Photoshopped, FX ladden coloring.



*No More Newsprint.....or beautiful hand coloring!



*Covers that don't really tell a story or pull a reader in. Lack of text and dialog. It's just characters in sexy poses, Storm kissing Cyclops and that kind of dull "sexy" BS.



*The whimsy, the fun, and the fact that anyone could pick up comic and fall right in. You could pick up random issue x of Spidey and go from there! How does a potential new reader understand where to start these days? And with books being late and off schedule or canceled must add to the confusion.. That almost NEVER happened back in the days!



*In your face soft porn sexuality from characters, just unnessesary and out of place!



*Luke cages a##l sex life with what's-her-name. The rapes of (insert female character name)...rape, really?


*The fact that many of my favorite heros are being written as over-the-top sarcastic smarmy jerks, and /or habitual killers.


*Bone claws and that stupid James Howlett non-sense....sorry, can't get over that one!!


*"Hot Shot", "Hollywood" comics writers and artist.


*Gaudy-looking corporatized advertisements for Extreme Doritos, "Don't smoke w33d", Ax body spray, Extreme this-and-that..ETC.



*The new style of comic art. there are only a handful of guys that really stand out...even though there is more output. Doug braithwaite is one! But let's talk: Dave cockrum(LEGION AND X-MEN), John Byrne/Terry Austin(X-MEN, Byrne on FF), Bill Sienkevicz(NEW MUTANTS), Frank Miller (DAREDEVIL), Bill Willingham(ELEMENTALS, his art!), Dave Stevens(ROCKETEER), Dave Gibbons, Robert Crumb, Matt Wagner, Steve Rude(DC currently will have nothing to do with the man!), Rick Vietch(SWAMPTHING, BRATPACK),Will Eisner(SPIRIT), Wally Wood, Jack Davis and the gang at EC, Jack "king"Kirby(FF, MISTER MIRACLE, HULK, X-MEN, NEW GODS), Chic Stone, Joe Sinnott, George Perez, JR. JR(still around)., Ross Andru, Neal Adams, John Busema, Mike Maclan and many others who gave comics fun and grandeur. Dark and gritty was the exception not the rule.


*$3.99, $4.99, etc. etc. and mostly just full of distracting ads...


* A Marvel team up/ or a dc team-up of characters no longer holds any real wonder or signifigance.


*Annihalation and Violence vs. Kirby style action and destruction!


*The internet know it all fanboy who can't suspend disbelief and has no clue comics were once about having fun, and explains why so-and-so character wouldn't do that in "real life", "Think about it! why would so-and so do this and that! It's not even realistic?"


*The lack of respect for characters among many creators, the UN-professionalism, the irresponsibility, and the need to make a character theirs, and not in a good way, hence we get: Spider Island, black/puerto rican Spidey, bone claws,completely sexualzed characters,"realistic", umpteen Captain America etc. books, and charactes in updated armour and butt-ugly new costumes!





*Remember Marvel Comics *Group*? Not liking Corporatized Disney Marvel, and that Avi Arad Marvel(...if he's still around.)



*Over-use of page bleeds.



*Characters looking like the actors who played them in hot-at-the-moment movies.


*American (don't care what kind of American...) artist that think it's "hot" to draw like some Japanese manga guy or learning the style from some how-to-draw-manga tutorial, arrgh! On purpose, that style really sucks-no matter where else the artist is from! Let the Japanese do the manga!!


*Outline style inks.


*Dark writing and art when it's innapropriate... seems like most Marvel and DC books.


*Being able to buy a regular comic featuring: Popeye, or Cherry by Larry welz.


* some new-school writer killing Captain America?!! Please, that's Jack Kirby.


* "Rip 50 DC COMICS covers and get a free Daredevil 1/2!" That's low and ungentlemanly. Makes Marvel look bad....as men and women, even! Who even approved that, thought it was a good idea??




*The fact that few kids today will get the feeling of wonder and imagination derived from opening up a new comic. The feeling i got from reading comics. I was at a local comic shop and a comic collecting dad w/ son asked the counter guy,"do you have any comics kids can read?" The new "Marvel tykes" type comics and cartoons suck!




*The overly slick look of the books themselves. It's a comic not Entertainment magazine!


*Death of the Month. Death of yet another major character.



a few repeat topics but you get the picture!

 

[Max J Power]

-Event exhaustion.
-Gratuitous deaths.
-Lateness and companies' unwillingness to deal with it.
-Prices on issues and trades--frequently a bad value.
-Premiere Edition Hardcovers/taking too long to put out paperback trades. They're not going to attract readers by putting out four issues in a $20 hardcover.
-Excessive reboots and renumbering. It's way too confusing, especially for new readers.
-Flooding the market with books. Too many really good ones sell terribly because they get lost in the shuffle of having 5 different series for all the most popular characters.
-Lack of diversity in art style. There are many good artists working for Marvel and DC, but the companies have too much of a uniform look to their books. For every great, unique artist, there are 10 solid but not distinct ones. I don't think that problem is unique to modern comics, but it's worth noting.

 

[Lord]

I will talk about latest comics in the point of view of old ones, like the ones from the 60s.
The new comics for example are much faster to be read and some times even make it seem like you didn't spend the money as you should have

 

[ThDWgeek]

A couple of things:

-Deaths that mean nothing. It seems like Gwen Stacy is the only character whose death wasn't part of an origin story who's actually stayed dead.

-Events, but particularly those with lots of tie-in issues. It's awkward enough to get new comics over here, and it's even more difficult if I have to get 20 issues or more to see the whole story.

 

[BillPardy]

Oh boy... here goes:


*The de-uniquing of characters. Case in point: Back in the very early 80's when I started reading, Wolverine was essentially in one book, the X-men. Now he's appeared as countless cartoons, and as mostly bad toys, shirts and bed linen, movies, and 25 different titles, limited series, graphic novels, and other books he has no business making appearances (much less being a member of a team other than X-men in (um, Avengers(?!)).


I liked that comics was a pretty underground hobby. Almost frowned upon by most people- but we kids buying comics knew better and THAT was cool!...now your grandma and snot-nose 4 year old brother/nephew knows who Wolverine and Ghost Rider are....whoop-dee-doo! Moreover, there are six-teen different versions of Spider Man, Storm, and countless others. Yah.



It was an indescribable thrill to get my hands on UNCANNY X-MEN each month! The first Wolverine LS was unexpected and equally thrilling. Wolverine/Logan was an enigma; occasionally there would be some small detail about his past, and those little hints were enough to get my imagination going. I don't want to know who Wolverines mom was! "Sickly Richie Rich" James "HOWLETT"? Corny!!!!Logan was cool and dangerous because of what you DIDN'T know. He was a man who's past was "shrouded in mystery. "

Mysteries like that get stale after 30 years.

 

[PaleRider]

There is a ton I could name but the one I have been complaining about lately is how 9 out 10 arcs, or issues even, have to be HUGE character changing revelations. I think it starts getting old and you start losing character when it happens. IMO it has to do with writers not wanting or caring to read the arcs before them they just come on and say "I'm going to change things up, I'm going to something that no one has ever done with this character!" then the next writer comes along and changes and does their own changes.

 

[Max J Power]

I will talk about latest comics in the point of view of old ones, like the ones from the 60s.
The new comics for example are much faster to be read and some times even make it seem like you didn't spend the money as you should have

I can see where you're coming from, since comics have become more decompressed in the last 15 years or so, but most pre-80s comics I've read only took longer to read because they had an excessive amount of narration and expository dialogue.

 

[Anubis]

Exactly.

A happy medium needs to be reached. So that you know you aren't over paying for less of a story, but that story isn't mostly the character telling you what he's doing. (Even though you can clearly see wtf he's doing)

 

[Marcdachamp]

Honestly? I've been reading for about 20 years now, and this is my favorite point reading. Are comics perfect right now? Of course not. But the quality right now is higher than it's ever been, and there's more great titles being put out by more publishers than ever before.

 

[Lord]

Yeah, in most old comics there was too much exposition but each issue had a complete story, in the older when they were Anthology comics there were even 2 or more stories in some pages, nowadays while much of the story telling has progressed the stories normally take 3-4 issues to tell and most pages have less panels, with some pages being over exposition of the artwork

 

[J. Custer]

Mysteries like that get stale after 30 years.

Not really because it's Wolverines adventures as an X-man that are the main focus at hand. If a great writer is writing compeling stories Wolverine could've persisted to this day as a "man of with no name" type. With hints of a bloody past being revealed. Many of the X-men for years were not entirely fleshed out. Nightcrawler? Storm? Xavier? even Cyclops who was also around since day one didn't have much of an established past yet the characters were damn interesting.

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

Not really because it's Wolverines adventures as an X-man that are the main focus at hand. If a great writer is writing compeling stories Wolverine could've persisted to this day as a "man of with no name" type. With hints of a bloody past being revealed. Many of the X-men for years were not entirely fleshed out. Nightcrawler? Storm? Xavier? even Cyclops who was also around since day one didn't have much of an established past yet the characters were damn interesting.

Aye, I have to agree on this one, getting some hints every now and again to his past was much better. They could have kept that up with more scope for stories.

You could have imagined he had lived for much longer, and they could have even went even further back in time with his backstories(like in Highlander, a few centuries), I didn't like that they put a cap on his birthdate, and it wasn't *that* far back in time.

When I started buying comics again, I bought a few issues of Wolverine that led into the new origins comic being kickstarted, didn't really like the vibe of where they were going with it, felt it was best to keep it a mystery for myself, so didn't buy the origins book.
I ended up looking up what they established with his birth on wikipedia out of curiousity though.

See, i didn't mind all the Weapon X and Shiva stuff we got back in the early 90s, it just all the early pre-adamantium/government agents years I felt they should have kept a mystery, no-one knowing how long he had been alive.
Could've made it he was one of the twelve apostles, haha.

edit: Actually, you know what, in regards to what you were saying about the other X-Men characters whose origins have not yet been as firmly established...they probably wanted to establish Logan's origins in the books because they knew they'd be making Wolverine solo movies in the near future.

Eh, f**k wolverine.

Eh, how about just letting another person get on with talking about the comics and characters they like without trolling it up.

 

[Anubis]

Well that would be boring.

 

[Lord]

Those arguments would all be valid had The Origin not been so good

 

[Marcdachamp]

Those arguments would all be valid had The Origin not been so good

You're referring to the Jenkins/Kubert mini? Absolutley loved it. I had Kubert sign the first two issues for me this Summer at Fan Expo.

Totally wish I'd remembered to bring my 1602 trade, though.