Downer Thought#1:
You know, as much as I am for Spider-Man's marriage to Mary Jane, and as absolutely stupid as I think the retcon and all it has yeilded is, I don't think there's much point anymore. My guess is that whatever Spider-fans left with the marriage are either out of comics entirely (the most likely case) or like myself, have gravitated increasingly towards comics that don't insult their intelligence and sensibilities (i.e. Love and Capes). So, if there were to bring back the marriage now, most likely the other half of the fans would drop away and no one would replace them.
Well, at least in the short term - this was the logic that kept Hal Jordan from coming back for almost a decade, and we know how that turned out.
OK, are there really any good corporate super-comics with strong female protagonists that don't have any creepy subtexts or really cheesecake art out there? I'm thinking there's Spider-Girl, and.....I've heard pretty good things about the new Batgirl series (sorta).
Anything?
5 comments:
Hey Michael- You make an interesting point. My story- I started reading comics at age 6(1980), mostly Marvel. I continued until Civil War #4 came out. That ended most of my comics purchasing. I did keep buying all three Spider-Man books. After OMD, that ended me buying any books. 2 1/2 years, and I still havent bought a single book, even from any of the competitors. I do follow several comic webpages, so I keep up with what is going on. Now, back to your point. Even if they brought back the marriage, I don't think I would be back. It is not about the stories quality. Hell I read all thru the '90s, so you know that's not the problem. It is the attitude that ALL of the editors and writers seem to have with their fans. "My vision of the character is what is right, yours is wrong" is my take on it. Well I won't pay to read your take on the character, so there is that.The funny thing to me is they didn't just lose me as a customer, they lost my son as well. He was 8 when I quit going to the comic shop. I had really just started getting him into it when I quit. None of his friends read. They were many times when he would be the only kid in the store. So what happens when ALL of the current readers stop reading?
Yeah...I stopped following the whole Spider Man thing after that marriage stuff ended and it got weird on me.
:P
Hey...its always nice to see Wonder Woman in bondage. Mmm...HMM!!!
You're absolutely right about the lack of strong female protagonists in comics. Marjorie Liu's been doing okay with her Black Widow series (with a commendable lack of obvious cheesecake), but I can't think of anybody else in mainstream comics who is. Spider-Girl, yes, but she comes and goes and never gets the billing she deserves.
For the record, the YA superhero novel I wrote and am now promoting to publishers (see my blog) has a strong female protagonist AND a strong male protagonist ... and has gotten nothing but positive response from advance readers. Interestingly, the comics fans are all surprised that I have a strong female lead, and the book fans are all surprised that I have a strong male lead. Guess that says something about the two forms' respective audiences ...
Oh, and I quit Spidey after "One More Day," too, but that was because the writing generally sucked--I considered retconning MJ just one more symptom of the larger problem.
Rebel Dragon: Well, I'd direct you to some great competitor comics that you can get without going to a comics shop like Love and Capes and Atomic Robo, but you're right that it is sad. What happens when the current readers stop reading? Something new - someone is going to find a model that works, that probably won't involve Diamond or the direct market - probably something that works both digitally and for bookstores. But feel sad for the comic shop retailers when that happens.
I also put a few posts on what would happen on my blog way back when. Might be worth a look.
To be fair, Wonder Woman was created with the bondage subtext in mind.
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