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Topic: When to Stop Reading Superhero Comics Post ReplyPost New Topic
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John Byrne
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Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132135
Posted: 29 March 2020 at 12:13pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

Here’s a whole thread accidentally devoted to this topic:

LINK

See, it starts strong (well, of coursed I’d think so!) but quickly sinks into ennui-engorged fanboy drivel.

Superhero comics are fantasy. Pretty wild fantasy, sometimes, but as fantasy they depend on one thing: you must buy the bit. You must accept that super powers are real. You must accept that wearing a costume is a perfectly rational thing to do when fighting crime or alien invaders. You must accept that the same people are going to be having these adventures month after month. You must accept that they don’t age like we do.

And if you look at Galactus and think “dorky helmet”, it’s time to move on.

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Greg McPhee
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Posted: 29 March 2020 at 2:43pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply



I come back to what Greg Rucka said in an interview:

Denny (O'Neil) was fond of saying "We don't ask why the Batmobile doesn't get caught in traffic." That is apparently the corollary to the Archie Goodwin saying about how the entire DC Universe is an inverted pyramid built on a secret identity that's a pair of glasses. If you want to tear it apart, you can do so with ease. You're not nearly as clever or smart as you think you are if you decide to go and nitpick it and tear it down, because there are loose threads everywhere. All that proves is that you're a killjoy. [Laughs] If you want to take it apart, it's very easy to do, but that's not the point. You either accept the world you're in or you don't. If you do, you're going to have a blast. If you don't, you better find something else to read, because you're going to be very unhappy.

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Adam Schulman
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Posted: 29 March 2020 at 3:21pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply

I don't see why anyone would care about Galactus's helmet. It just is. That's how Kirby designed him. Why even think about it? 
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Paul Wills
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Posted: 29 March 2020 at 3:30pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

I never caught the bit about each race sees him differently. That is awesome and adds another layer to Galactus' legend.
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John Byrne
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Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
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Posted: 29 March 2020 at 4:06pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply

Thank you!
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Mario Ribeiro
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Posted: 29 March 2020 at 5:04pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply

I came to the conclusion that uniforms are not just clothes, but the visual representation of those characters. Batman is not Bruce Wayne dressed as Batman, he simply is Batman, as presented on the page. You gotta accept how they're dressed because this is who (and how) they are! In comics, at least. Movies are different. And worse (for superheroes).

Edited by Mario Ribeiro on 29 March 2020 at 5:15pm
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Greg McPhee
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Posted: 29 March 2020 at 5:09pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply

A trap I notice a number of writers fall in to is making Galactus a "super villain".

Apart from Lee /Kirby, JB and Steve Englehart, too many writers fail to  portray him as being beyond good and evil, and being a necessary force of nature in the MU.
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Robert Bradley
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Posted: 29 March 2020 at 5:12pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply

Once you can't enjoy them for what they are and feel the need to explain everything and "deconstruct" them, it's time to move on.

When that's your M.O. as a writer, and you can't write stories that appeal to young fans, it's probably time for you to move on too.

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Shawn Kane
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Posted: 29 March 2020 at 6:44pm | IP Logged | 9 post reply

One of the aspects that I complain about current comics is that the civilian has lost the sense of awe that comes from having super powered beings in their universe. Instead they're viewed as celebrities where regular people know a characters backstory. It tends to be worse with Marvel and I think that's mainly a by-product of the "Rock Star" writers of the early 2000s. An otherwise good Marvels Snapshot Fantostic Four issue the other day had a line about Johnny Storm being "...a guy who helps stop a giant dude in a skirt from eating your planet...".


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Ben Herman
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Posted: 29 March 2020 at 7:22pm | IP Logged | 10 post reply

It took me a few years, but I came to realize that the point at which you should stop reading superhero comic books is when you stop enjoying them. It's just unhealthy to keep reading them if you don't like them any longer, and you're either waiting (and waiting and waiting) for them to get "good" again, or you're badgering creators on social media about how much you think their work sucks.
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Ted Pugliese
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Posted: 30 March 2020 at 5:38am | IP Logged | 11 post reply

Hey, Ben! Welcome to the forum!
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Michael Penn
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Posted: 30 March 2020 at 7:18am | IP Logged | 12 post reply

Many, many decades ago, I likely would have said you should
stop reading comicbooks around 13 years old. But that was
when the next generation of readers still mattered (and
existed in the millions) and comics were widely available
to pick up right off a rack or a stand.

But either yesterday or today, I agree with JB and others
here that you should drop the hobby when you can no longer
accept its "rules."
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