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Spider-Man and the comics....
Jun. 15th, 2006 10:09 amWell, in comics, Spider-Man has unmasked before reporters around the world. This pretty much guarantees that at some point within the next 18 months Doctor Strange will cast a spell to erase people's memories or the Scarlet Witch will warp reality or something. (This will also present a chance for them to wipe out Spider-Man's nearly 20-year old marriage, one of the few times that comics have gone for more than the illusion of change.)
Daredevil and Iron Man's identities, I can believe those will remain public knowledge. Really, the knowledge of Iron Man's identity changes very little in his storytelling universe. But Spider-Man? It won't last, just as the spider-totem stuff won't.
Of course, newspapers are reacting like this will be a permanent change, but then they reacted the same way about Superman's death.
I can't say that I'm a huge fan of the Civil War comic book series. I like some of the ideas behind it, and some scenes are good. But it all feels too slight. I can say the same thing about most comics on the rack these days.
Sure, modern comics have a lot more characterization that those 8-page Silver Age tales. But there are plenty examples of comics that pack lots of sophisticated storytelling into a small page count. Take a comic like Alan Moore's Watchmen or Neil Gaiman's Sandman - there are more ideas, character, heart, theme in one page of those comics than whole issues of recent comic books. It's as if 5 pages of content have been stretched to fit 25 pages.
Imagine if a James Bond movie just ended after the pre-credits action sequence - and you had to pay a lot more money to see a full movie.
I've long wanted to do a Robin Hood graphic novel. And I see that there are two other projects on the go. I feel a bit nervous, but then I have do a lot more writing before I feel that I could do Robin's legend justice. By that time, these projects will probably be distant memories, just as many of the other Robin Hood comics are.
I just hope that the creators actually have something to say about Robin Hood, and aren't just doing comics to cash in on the new BBC TV series.
Daredevil and Iron Man's identities, I can believe those will remain public knowledge. Really, the knowledge of Iron Man's identity changes very little in his storytelling universe. But Spider-Man? It won't last, just as the spider-totem stuff won't.
Of course, newspapers are reacting like this will be a permanent change, but then they reacted the same way about Superman's death.
I can't say that I'm a huge fan of the Civil War comic book series. I like some of the ideas behind it, and some scenes are good. But it all feels too slight. I can say the same thing about most comics on the rack these days.
Sure, modern comics have a lot more characterization that those 8-page Silver Age tales. But there are plenty examples of comics that pack lots of sophisticated storytelling into a small page count. Take a comic like Alan Moore's Watchmen or Neil Gaiman's Sandman - there are more ideas, character, heart, theme in one page of those comics than whole issues of recent comic books. It's as if 5 pages of content have been stretched to fit 25 pages.
Imagine if a James Bond movie just ended after the pre-credits action sequence - and you had to pay a lot more money to see a full movie.
I've long wanted to do a Robin Hood graphic novel. And I see that there are two other projects on the go. I feel a bit nervous, but then I have do a lot more writing before I feel that I could do Robin's legend justice. By that time, these projects will probably be distant memories, just as many of the other Robin Hood comics are.
I just hope that the creators actually have something to say about Robin Hood, and aren't just doing comics to cash in on the new BBC TV series.
