I can't believe the Martian Manhunter will be in Stormwatch instead of
the new JLI. WTH?!?

***

What's a Stormwatch?

Martian Manhunter on it, does make sense if he is written in the role
we saw him on JLU animated series. My biggest question is Apollo
and Midnighter are just Superman and Batman clones. Is their a place
for a 2nd World's Finest team, when the originals are present?

Edited by Kip Lewis on 29 June 2011 at 8:34pm

QUOTE: Captain Marvel, for example, might be better handled if portrayed in a universe that didn't already have a Superman.

That's why I always thought that it would have been better all the way around if the old Marvel Comics Group had gotten the Fawcett Comics characters in the early 70's rather than DC.    

"[Very true points]...It's not at all as simple as kids have different tastes today as if there was some magical moment in this generation of children that eschews anything invented or written before 2000."

I agree with you that children will find enjoyment based on what they are exposed to, but I think an important point missing is the competition for that exposure. There is much, much more of it.

When we were kids, there were cartoons on TV. I loved them. My kids do today as well. I had four channels growing up, when cartoons ended, I found something else to do. Now there are multiple channels that will run 24 hours of cartoons.

When I was a kid, we had one TV in our house. When dad wanted to watch something, I was kicked out. Today, we have five in our home of four people. They can go elsewhere and watch something. I jump on and catch a streaming video off of one of the four computers in our house. Or one of the smart phones. Or the IPod.

When I was a kid, I struggled with pong as well as many of the other Atari 2600 hundred games. Plus I had to share!! Today, well a month ago, I watch my five year old take out a South American dictator with a bullet to the forehead before he took out the guy's wife who was hiding a shotgun.

When I was a kid, I devoured books sitting outside in a nice breeze. Today, reading is a requirement for the ten year old. He has to read for 30 minutes in the morning and 30 at night and write a paragraph on what he has read. He is a faster and more thorough reader than I have ever been but he just doesn't enjoy it.

When I was a kid, I had Bugs Bunny and Rocky & Bullwinkle. Today my kids have Bugs Bunny and I have shared it with them, but they would still rather watch Pokemon and Beyblade. I don't understand either one.

When I was a kid I had the original trilogy. Today my kids prefer the prequels.

When I was a kid I ran for pickup games of any sport my friends and I felt like playing. Today we run our kids to practice for football, baseball, swimming, and volleyball. All this spring/summer and some running at the same time.

I am an involved parent. We have family dinners every night. We play games together. We watch movies together. We play in the yard together. I am teaching my kids to cook. I help with homework every day. A great deal of my life is focused on my kids. But I think that is the bigger difference between today and when we were young. Today there are huge industries devoted to my kids. These industries are going after the same demographic group and increasing their exposure. I don't know if there was an industry dedicated to making golf clubs for five year olds when I was a kid, but I can tell you that there is today. And I can tell you that my boys have nicer clubs than I do (but I still outdrive them.)

Kids will pick what they like based on exposure. I totally agree with this point. I just believe that there is much more that they are exposed to and much more for them to choose from.

If I've heard this sentiment once, I've heard it a thousand times and I still don't agree.  When I was a kid in the 70s I had as many things to distract me as a kid today.  It wasn't as if I only had a rock and a stick and had to make due.  I had books, board games, card games, Tonka trucks, my bike, superhero dolls in all shapes and sizes, Star Trek playsets, television no matter if there were four or four hundred channels, building forts, comic books, video games.  You name it.  I couldn't fit all of it into one week let alone a day.  Sure, there may be different things to do, but I don't believe there are more things to do as if opportunities to be distracted went from three things in the 70s to a million in 2011. 

Again, parents expose kids to certain things or hold off exposing them until they feel they're ready.  I know you know that because you've got kids, but it would really frighten me if a parent simply allows everything that could possibly distract a kid to distract them.  My brother didn't let his kids play on the internet for a long time.  They restricted television so they didn't become couch potatoes.  They didn't buy the newest gadget or toy.  They didn't get a video game console until three years ago when their youngest was 9 and even then they didn't shower their kids with a hundred titles. They still only have three. That's what a parent does or should do anyway.  So the opportunities for distraction no matter the decade are manageable.

I'm just not gonna ever buy that kids have a million more ways to be distracted than I did 40 years ago when I didn't even have to look for ways to be distracted.  They found me!

Two of my favorite bits:

QUOTE: The gamble here is this: that hypothetical lost fan base is older, has credit cards and disposable income, and an internet connection that can bring the DC Comics section of a notional comics store right to their desks. That, in fact, digital comics services will do the work of those eight thousand stores that don’t exist anymore.

and

QUOTE: Also, Dan and Jim? I love you guys, and I’m greatly enjoying watching you start some shit. But you can’t keep talking about how the old comics were boring when you in fact were the old management too. Someone’s eventually going to call you on it, and you’re not going to have a good answer. That said: keep starting fires. It’s good.

Edited by Adam Hutchinson on 30 June 2011 at 11:45am

This is Jim Lee's Heroes Reborn.

***

Heroes Reborn already was Jim Lee's Heroes Reborn.  One should only get one of those per lifetime.  Something to do with meeting the Buddha on the road....

There are so many more things to do in 2011 that even niches like
comicbook reading have direct, specific competition. Today, you can read
comics. Or you can play video games that allow you (in a way) to BE
comicbook characters. Or you can watch one of the weekly-released
comicbook movies. Or you can watch one of, what, 40 comicbook-based
TV shows or cartoons? Or you can read one of the bazillion serialized
young adult genre novels, many of them dealing with kids with
superpowers (or Vampires. Always Vampires.) Please note that I have not
yet mentioned the Internet. Or 7,000 pages of Harry Potter.

We're roughly the same age, Matt. Do you remember that execrable
"Legends Of The Super Heroes" show? Or The Incredible Hulk or Wonder
Woman, which both totally sucked? Remember how those terrible shows
nonetheless seemed to scratch an itch? Imagine if almost every show on
TV suddenly satisfied the same need. Imagine a world of 24-7 Six Million
Dollar Man. Even if they have parents that are full-time gatekeepers (that
alone should tell you a lot), comicbook-inclined kids have a lot of options
within their narrow band of interest.