tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33311991.post3530759678913181225..comments2024-01-02T07:48:42.623-05:00Comments on Comics And...Other Imaginary Tales: X-Factor, reminding me why I like superheroesJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352163584546054887noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33311991.post-24769930341330080662013-02-06T12:24:36.708-05:002013-02-06T12:24:36.708-05:00Lee - You are picking and choosing what one you wa...Lee - You are picking and choosing what one you want, but New Gods is owned by DC. <br /><br />I would say that it has progressively gotten worse, but even today we see the Court of Owls being added and Marvel is dropping in some New Mutants.<br /><br />What has become more prevalent are some big name talents not producing for DC/Marvel. Rucka, Brubaker and Vaughn, Ellis, Ennis, Millar and others have decided to produce work that is there own property. Now the career path is work for an indy, get a Marvel/DC gig , build up your now - go back to the indy work with a following. <br /><br />Tomato - Ta Mato Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00352163584546054887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33311991.post-69915213118344694982013-02-06T11:07:53.064-05:002013-02-06T11:07:53.064-05:00My forays into Marvel and DC since the early '...My forays into Marvel and DC since the early '90s have been sporadic. It's been more DC than Marvel, too, which I didn't read much as a kid, so I can't tell if the characters are new or old a lot of the time. The way things are, though, I figure they're old. Now, the two best books from Marvel and DC, to me, are Thor and Wonder Woman. The former might have a new villain, as I've never heard of Gorr, but that doesn't mean he's new. There seem to be a lot of new diety pantheons being created, though, even if he's not new. Granted, most of those pantheons are dead, but that's only a temporary condition in super hero books. Wonder Woman is using the ancient characters of the Greek gods, but there are a lot of new ones who are half siblings to Diana.<br /><br />That's my limited sampling. Animal Man and Swamp Thing are nothing but old characters, so if that's reflective of books more aligned with continuity, then probably there are not many new characters.Thommhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17179697516506456548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33311991.post-27460654617509385292013-02-06T10:54:54.590-05:002013-02-06T10:54:54.590-05:00Jim - I would disagree with your disagreement to a...Jim - I would disagree with your disagreement to an extent. I think creators have been holding back for a long, long time.<br /><br />Roy Thomas talks about holding back new characters in the late 60s. Kirby's New Gods series... they didn't appear overnight. They were made before he left Marvel. He held them back.<br /><br />Let's look at some of the most revered runs. Starlin's Warlock... modified Kirby character. Starlin's Cap'n Marvel... just adding to the history of a new character. <br /><br />The only *new* characters from the 70s that have amounted to anything would be the new X-men, Colossus, Nightcrawler, & Storm. From the 90's would be Gambit, Cable, and Deadpool. And you could argue that Gambit has since lost his luster.<br /><br />The amount of new character creation has been very slight for a very, very long time.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09941136992562060124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33311991.post-55411950200191451512013-02-06T08:59:50.228-05:002013-02-06T08:59:50.228-05:00Lee - I would disagree to an extent. I think wheth...Lee - I would disagree to an extent. I think whether the statement was said or not, once you are winning you are hesitant to change. Many creators were still adding villains and new characters, I don't think until the last 15 - 20 years the lack of change was due to creators holding back. It wasn't until the advent of Image that it become apparent that there was money in holding onto your characters. And now I would think as a creator you almost have to be nuts to make up a potential character and just give it to Marvel or DC.<br /><br />Of course the flip side of that is all the many, many Golden Age and Silver Age characters that have faded into obscurity. The guy's family who created The Black Terror is not screaming about all the money he lost. Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00352163584546054887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33311991.post-76480798805787572582013-02-06T08:42:40.508-05:002013-02-06T08:42:40.508-05:00It's interesting, I've been reading about ...It's interesting, I've been reading about the origin of the "illusion of change" comment back in the 70's, but I don't think many of the creators really adhered to it.<br /><br />I think the bigger root cause is the fact that the creators don't own the characters. <br /><br />Why would anyone give up an idea and see the company make millions yet you get nothing. It doesn't take much to figure out that Carl Burgos (original Human Torch), Siegal & Schuster (Superman), Kane & Fingerman (Batman), and even Kirby got screwed out of millions and millions of dollars.<br /><br />If no one is giving you ideas, then you are left with rehashing old story lines and plots.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09941136992562060124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33311991.post-56803139483562878382013-02-06T07:25:44.843-05:002013-02-06T07:25:44.843-05:00It's all about the illusion of change and when...It's all about the illusion of change and when the illusion has become too familiar the thrill is gone. I tried X-Factor again and had similar issues as you did.Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00352163584546054887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33311991.post-71855611256514999212013-02-06T06:54:22.017-05:002013-02-06T06:54:22.017-05:00Yeah, that sums up a lot of it. Then again, I don...Yeah, that sums up a lot of it. Then again, I don't think DC and Marvel care. They're working on the next crop of readers who haven't read The Phoenix Saga the first time, let alone the never ending reiterations and variations. If they can hold onto new readers for 20 years, that's probably all they want, then churn it over to the next bunch. They can get us old timers to check in every now and then, or in Jim's case, with an almost masochistic regularity, but really sell us on the movies that are far more profitable.Thommhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17179697516506456548noreply@blogger.com