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Thomas Moudry
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 5060
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| Posted: 11 July 2007 at 9:27am | IP Logged | 1
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Based on the list in JB's post at the beginning of this thread, I test negative
for super-hero embarrassment, but my answer would've been in the
negative without the list. I've never been ashamed to profess my passion for
super-heroes or comic books in general. I'm certainly not ashamed to talk
about them. In fact, I show off my comic book room when folks visit the
house, and my classroom is covered in super-hero paraphernalia.
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Stephen Rockwood
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 1255
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| Posted: 11 July 2007 at 9:27am | IP Logged | 2
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Yeah, I don't understand people who work in the genre but seem to be embarassed of it. They should be writing stories in other genres if that is the case. Personally, I love superhero comics as much as I do any other genre.
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Kirk Melton III
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 June 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 501
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| Posted: 11 July 2007 at 9:35am | IP Logged | 3
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I remember fondly in 1977 or 1978 after I'd 'given up' superhero comics/comics in general because I just knew that no girl would ever get with a guy who digs comics.
Then my best friend brought with him, to homeroom 7th grade middle school class, X-Men 111.
The book overall was nothing short of mind blowing and last page of that book was the total earth scorcher. I was ashamed that I gave superhero comics up in hope of the 'holy grail' of an unknown, unmet, mystery girl rather than stay with comics....since then I certainly have not looked back.
JB, in other threads/forums the discussion of the total disregard of superhero genre continues. I know there is something the fans CAN do about it besides not buy the books. It'll take a concerted and sustained effort though...
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David Parker
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Joined: 13 January 2007
Posts: 375
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| Posted: 11 July 2007 at 9:37am | IP Logged | 4
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I used to be embarrassed by my love of superheroes, but now that everyone in the world is rushing out to see superhero movies (that are usually dumbed-down versions of what has appeared in comics), it's kind of hard to be embarrassed anymore.
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Charles Jensen
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Joined: 11 April 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 1127
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| Posted: 11 July 2007 at 9:48am | IP Logged | 5
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JB, is it a fairly new phenomenon where adult fans find wearing a superhero costume so implausible? Do you know if most adults always looked at this convention, superhero costumes, with such skepticism? Or is it more of a modern problem born of superheroes being mocked and parodied over and over through the years?
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John Mietus
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 9704
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| Posted: 11 July 2007 at 10:07am | IP Logged | 6
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A young lady friend of mine and I were taking a walk at about ten o'clock
one summer evening, and we happened to be walking along the back
alleys of our downtown square (JB, you've been to Macomb, Illinois -- you
remember our square, I'm sure), which is made up of a number of two-
and-three-story buildings surrounding an old courthouse.
As we walk past the place of employment of one of my friends, we heard
someone whistle the Superman fanfare from up above us. We looked up
and there, on the top of that building, was the aforementioned friend. He
was wearing a blue Superman shirt, red gym shorts, and a red cape,
his arms akimbo in the classic heroic Superman pose.
"Evening, citizens." he said to us, before disappearing in a swirl of his
cape over the side of the building.
We assumed he was on patrol and continued on our way.
Edited by John Mietus on 11 July 2007 at 10:08am
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joe glasgow
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Joined: 23 February 2007
Posts: 176
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| Posted: 11 July 2007 at 12:01pm | IP Logged | 7
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I for one am not ashamed nor embarrassed by my reading habits. Comics have been bringing joy to my life since I was 5 years old and now they bring the same amount of pleasure to my children, the youngest of which is only 2. It could be argued that I am poluting their minds but as far as I am concerned they are being exposed to a written medium that they greatly enjoy. My first comic? Avengers 165 - Thank you Mr. Byrne
I was at a party once where my wife and her girlfriends introduced partners to other partners (not the best night of my life) when one guy asked another guy what football team he supported. "I don't like football", he replied "but I do like Star Wars". Killed that conversation dead and left me with beer coming out of my nose. Needless to say I spoke to the Star Wars guy for the rest of the evening.
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Greg Kirkman
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Joined: 12 May 2006
Location: United States
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| Posted: 11 July 2007 at 12:11pm | IP Logged | 8
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Seems to me that this whole embarrassment thing boils down to some basic psychology. When people lay themselves out on the line and admit that they love superhero comics (which were created for young people, let's be honest) only to be mocked and attacked for it, those attacks on their vulnerability causes them to erect emotional walls. So they begin to mock and deconstruct and shoehorn in "cool" and "adult" material in order to keep the other kids (or professionals) from laughing at them.
My own personal response to such attacks is to withdraw, to stay "in the closet" regarding my love for the genre. I just can't conceive of mocking and tearing down something that I love in order to be accepted. I'd rather be alone and happy by going against the crowd when it comes to superhero comics.
Edited by Greg Kirkman on 11 July 2007 at 12:48pm
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Ronald Pegram
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Joined: 08 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 862
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| Posted: 11 July 2007 at 12:45pm | IP Logged | 9
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Here's my take on it.
The current crop of guys just aren't talented enough to mine what's
left in the traditional super-hero universe and come up with compelling
stories. As a consequence, you have to push the envelope in different
directions.
As an analogy, I read horror novels. In fact, I love them. I just read
one entitled 'Deadly Harvest' and it's just an old school, 'monsters
posing as people' romp. There's nothing shockingly innovative about it.
It's fun in parts but dumb in others.
A novel like that can succeed because not all horror readers read every
horror novel. Novels are dense enough that a story like that is new to
someone. Probably a lot of someones.
With comics, however, you have a different environment. Most readers
READ a lot of the current material and what they don't read is
cross-referenced in endless cross-overs or other interactions.
So my guess is that Writer X looks at the universe that is every
published Spider-man story and just can't whip up something from that
brew. It takes a very special talent to do that. So, rather than fail
at making the past remain interesting, they go the other route. Lets be
shockingly modern in the hopes that we'll catch some lightning in a
bottle.
Self-hatred? Who knows? Not as talented as mining the gold? Definitely.
And, in some cases, the baby is thrown away with the bathwater. I just
read an excerpt from Bites Back, which is a reintroduction of Dracula
and Lilith to the Marvel U. Gone is the pompous and arrogant Dracula
who considered no vampire his peer and in his place is some guy in a
cape who wants to unite various clans? What the hell? That aint the
Colan guy but you know...the Colan guy had a longggg run. I'm sure the
new guys can't get the same thrill from that. They can't summon Colan's
magic so they go in a different direction hoping for some spark.
Just a hunch.
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Andy Ihnatko
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Joined: 03 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 169
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| Posted: 11 July 2007 at 12:49pm | IP Logged | 10
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When I read a story in which the writer seems to be obsessing over the nuts and bolts of the genre -- where the hero got his costume made, why a minor character with forty years of published continuity seems to have five contradictory origins, what would Superman's MySpace page look like -- I think about all of the times when I spend hours fussing around my office.
I back up all of the articles and columns I wrote in the past couple of weeks, maybe write a script to automate some of the process. I try out a new spamfilter. Tidy up the area around my desk, order a new chair online, clean the gunk underneath the keys of my keyboard...at the end of the day I can say that I've done lots of work but nothing actually got done, ie, Written.
It's the difference between spending all day playing with the tools of the job instead of using them to actually _do_ the job. The question of where this character got his costume tailored couldn't be less interesting. The real question is "why did he put it on in the first place, when _not_ being a hero would have been so much easier?"
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Kurt Anderson
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Joined: 18 November 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 2035
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| Posted: 11 July 2007 at 12:52pm | IP Logged | 11
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At the end of the 60's, the Teen Titans temporarily switched from costumes to matching grey jumpsuits... and I died a little inside.
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Thomas Moudry
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 5060
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| Posted: 11 July 2007 at 1:10pm | IP Logged | 12
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I remember that Teen Titans jumpsuit era, and I was miserable reading the
title at that time. I was five years old, and I couldn't recognize the
characters any longer.
I liked Wonder Woman during her powerless/Mrs. Peel era, but I've always
wondered if the change was envisioned as permanent. It lasted an awful
long time.
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