tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33311991.post4186278890511484622..comments2024-01-02T07:48:42.623-05:00Comments on Comics And...Other Imaginary Tales: The Creator Problem in Comic BooksJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352163584546054887noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33311991.post-37241273430047017332015-08-22T14:31:15.287-04:002015-08-22T14:31:15.287-04:00Yeah I sort of insinuated Frank created Bullseye, ...Yeah I sort of insinuated Frank created Bullseye, but he did make him into something that was much cooler. And prior to Frank DD was not that good in my opinion. <br /><br />Of course the point of the post is who is the creator is not as easy as saying the guy who wrote the first story. I think it is easier to say ERB created Tarzan then to say Stan Lee created Daredevil. <br /> Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00352163584546054887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33311991.post-73853601094692185532015-08-22T14:17:29.629-04:002015-08-22T14:17:29.629-04:00Good thoughts, Jim. It definitely is a morphing p...Good thoughts, Jim. It definitely is a morphing process over time and I like the idea of a bonus check. I always wait to see who gets credited as creator and who gets the special credits for inital story ideas/development at the end of the movies. I'm amazed at who usually gets left out. If Kirby was the only one to do Captain America, then he'd still be speaking in 70's slang, instead of the excellent Roger Stern or Ed Brubaker versions.<br /><br />The fact that people were trying to meet deadlines and stay alive financially caused some of the "accidental" innovations and classic issues. We've lost that unknown factor in EIC top-down control these days. Even the code while restrictive forced writers to be more creative in getting around it and telling the same story.<br /><br />You're mistaken about Bullseye. He's a Marv Wolfman creation and Marv's run along with Roger McKeinze (might be misspelled) set the stage for Millers. Frank created Electra, Hand, and Stick -- sophisticated Bullseye, made Kingpin a DD villian, etc. -- no denying his brilliance. But DD was actually pretty good in the 130's-150's. Yeah, Bullseye had a giant crossbow, but he was still a killer. And Heather's problems existed before Frank had her commit suicide. Janson was inker during a lot of those issues as well. A good writer/artist takes what was before and uses it and infuses his own ideas. I love the Lee/Kirby FF stories, but the Perez and Byrne issues are better. They wouldn't have been anywhere without the foundation, but that's what you do -- build on the foundation. Everyone should get some acknowledgement, but can we really give restitution to all those involved (except for the really really bad runs)? Slavery restitution will never work either. I guess the partial workaround is that when a movie is hot the original creator can do a lot of comissions on the old character. At least that's something.<br /><br />I watched the DD show (all 13 episodes) in 5 days. It was phenomenal. I like Lee Weeks run on the character too. It's a bit like revisionist history to only focus on the classic runs -- it dilutes the truth. Plus the movies and (good) cartoons have the hindsight of picking and choosing from the best of the best of everyone to craft something seemingly new and fresh. I'm happy to watch the good ones!Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03894454259041852707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33311991.post-24393013524871100462015-08-14T12:16:03.060-04:002015-08-14T12:16:03.060-04:00I agree about Miller using the O'Neil/Adams Ba...I agree about Miller using the O'Neil/Adams Batman as a stepping stone. As for Snyder and Capullo's Batman, I always thank God that so few people are reading comics these days so that almost no one will have read the horror Snyder has wrought on Batman and Bruce Wayne. Jeff Sibleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13712579966417094910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33311991.post-75118700045848152252015-08-14T09:06:27.893-04:002015-08-14T09:06:27.893-04:00And I would argue that Miller never gets there wit...And I would argue that Miller never gets there without O'Neil and Adams revamping Batman in the 70's. <br /><br />Of course the flip side is the question "Is what Snyder and Capullo are doing on the character going to cause harm to the character?" While DC's only hit book, it does not mean what they are doing to the character is a plus. Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00352163584546054887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33311991.post-68047977822305982402015-08-14T08:53:23.599-04:002015-08-14T08:53:23.599-04:00This is a fascinating topic to think about. It re...This is a fascinating topic to think about. It really is. If you had asked me, back when I was a young teen comic reader in 1983, who the biggest badasses were in comics, I would have said Wolverine, Punisher, Ghost Rider, maybe even Luke Cage. Batman would not even have been an afterthought. At that time Bruce Wayne was like Hugh Hefner, smoking a pipe and sipping tea in a silk bathrobe and sporting an ascot. Batman was a good little boy scout like all the other DC heroes of the time. Most of the DC heroes felt like friends of your Dad's, bland and boring. But now, if you took a poll of The Biggest Badasses In Comics Ever, Batman would most likely top the list. What changed? Frank fricking Miller. With Dark Knight Returns, Miller totally redefined the character is such a strong way that it is still Frank Miller's vision of Batman we see today in all forms of media. Without Miller's Batman there would have been no first Burton Batman movie, no Batman The Animated Series, no Nolan Batman trilogy. So if everyone thinks of Miller's version of Batman now, who really created the character? Jeff Sibleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13712579966417094910noreply@blogger.com