Should The Comic Book Industry Explore New Genres?

this actually reminds me that there's a captain marvel story written and illustrated by Jeff Smith of Bone fame. i actually really want to read that just to see what he did with Captain Marvel, given that Bone is so good.

kind of wish we had more things like that.

It's Jeff Smith's Captain Marvel: The Monster Society of Evil. It's good, but, in my opinion, not great. Smith's an awesome cartoonist, and his ideas are sound, but I came away from this one unsatisfied. It's much more whimsical than pretty much any super hero comic has been in, like, forever, but it just wasn't entirely to my taste. By all means, check it out though. It's definitely worth looking at.

It'd be wonderful, but not likely... I mean, heck, these people might take inspiration from something that's not superhero related!

My quiestion to anyone reading this. How many of you started reading comics before you saw said characters in movie or cartoon format? And how many discovered a non super title (like preacher or walking dead) as their first comics?

With comics, outside of the stuff you find in the kids' section, my first encounter with the form would have been MAD, and one of those anthologies that reprinted the Kurtzman-Elder-Wood era of MAD. Or maybe it was just some of the comic-formatted stuff from the then-current MAD.

Then I got into the great artists of comic strips - George Herriman, Winsor Mc Cay, E.C. Segar and the like... then even foreign guys like Uderzo and Trondheim, and then I eventually gained an appreciation for the Golden and Silver Ages of superhero comics.

If any of the non-superhero related names I mentioned means anything to you, congratulations, you get it.

edited 18th Aug '15 8:45:10 AM by Aldo930

My first comic books were collections of Peanuts and Garfield comic strips; to this day, the graphic novel Garfield: His 9 Lives is one of my favorite comic books.

edited 18th Aug '15 10:09:43 AM by RavenWilder

To your first question, I would have to say no since my first introduction to comics was through reruns of the Superfriends and episodes of X-Men during the 90s. But my first comic would have to be a Flash comic I found in my uncles collection.

And first non-superhero comic would have to be Duck Tales . . . then again, now that I think the first time I actually read would have to be the comic section of the Disney Adventures magazines. If those count, then I guess I am one of the few people who's first introduction to comics isn't super hero related.

I only know about MAD and even that was long after I was regularly reading comics & decided to search a bit of history.

My first comics was a Batman comics which I picked out of curiousity just because I liked Batman animated series. The experience however wasn't a pleasant one. It was a mid arc issue & I had no idea what the hell was exactly going on there.

As noted, asking for the comic industry to expand and explore is silly because it is and has been expanding and exploring. Unfortunately, when people say "American comics industry" they really mean "Marvel and DC", and superheroes is just kinda their thing. Even starting as high-up as Image (who can basically be called #3) you'll find a lot more variety.

Unfortunately, those guys command such a share of the market that it pretty much dwarfs everything else.

Oh definitely. Just a note that the conversation is more about Marvel and DC than about the industry as a whole.

Since they'll never give up the superhero angle (the universes are way too rich), their best bet would probably be taking the MCU route of mixing different genres with the superhero stuff. Still try to be as varied as can be while still being what they're known for.

Speaking of markets, this link is a nice concise look at how the market shares are currently split. To sum up, Marvel and DC together hold 60-65% of the retail and unit market shares, Image holds 10%, IDW has about 5%, and everyone else has to scramble for the rest.

well they already kinda do that depending on the comic you're reading.

I kinda think if the comic book industry is going to explore new genres, mixing them with superheroes shouldn't cut it.

They should do these genres without having to fall back on superheroes. But, of course, that probably won't happen.

For me the main problem with american comics is it's misinformed reputation as one note medium rather than lack of diversity (which anyone reading comics can say it's not true).

Exactly. It's all very well to say "Well, this Captain America story is an espionage thriller!", but it's still a superhero story making use of tropes from espionage thrillers. Someone who's a fan of espionage thrillers but doesn't care for superheroes won't be interested.

theres not enough subgenres for fantasy supernatural and science fiction comics. superhero comics overshadow everything else, which is kinda bad because people never get to see none superhero tropes from outside the two biggest companies unless you are really into comics. if you want something new then just write it. stop trying to please everyone else.

edited 22nd Aug '15 7:07:21 PM by xbimpy

Let's be fair, DC and Marvel do try to publish non-super hero stuff, or super hero comics that deviate a bit from the usual tone. DC has Vertigo, and Marvel has MAX. Of course, their comics are not as noteworthy as the Justice League, the Avengers or the crisis crossover of the month, but then we go back to square one.

The fact that they have to put all their non-superhero stuff under another name says something, doesn't it?

It says people expect superheroes from Marvel and DC; using imprints means that people looking for non-superhero comics won't immediately overlook those labels as being not what they're looking for.

I often feel like Marvel and DC stories are called superhero stories simply because they're Marvel and DC, and any hero in those universes is considered a superhero. Robin Hood, James Bond and Zorro aren't considered superheroes (and their stories often aren't billed as such), but Green Arrow, Black Widow and Batman are, despite sharing more similarities to them than to Superman.

In other words, I feel like the lack of genres isn't the problem, the insistence in using the same setting for every story is the issue. I mean, nothing wrong with having a spy thriller, a space opera, and various types of comedy set in a Shared Universe, but when the companies advertise all of that under the umbrella of "Heroes who could join the Avengers/Justice League", it's all going to sound like the same type of story.

#79:

The first comics I read were the Beano and to a lesser extent the Dandy. After that, my first introduction to American comics was Sandman followed by Preacher, 1oo Bullets and a selection of short-run and one-shot titles from Vertigo. To this day, the only "proper" superhero comic I've sought out and read is Superman: Red Son, although I've since also read Watchmen (before the film) and The Dark Knight Returns. I found them both good, although I didn't have any real emotional attachment to them due to missing out on all the influences and things they were reacting to.

Batman, to me, is still the 60s TV show, although I do like the films - the first two 90s outings and the recent trilogy. I came to the Marvel films and TV series with only minimal knowledge of the comic characters, so All the fan-rage about changing this or that, or ignoring whatever character, is a total irrelevance. The films get judged on their own merits, not how well they stand up to the source material. To be fair, I try to apply that standard to anything, be it a comic book film, or Jaws or The Godfather. It's easier with ignorance, though. :)

I agree with on the subject of shared universes. Just because one company publishes two different stories, doesn't mean they need to be somehow linked in a Watsonian fashion (that was by far the weakest part of Sandman, I felt, although the obvious crossovers happened right at the beginning, so perhaps they were still finding their feet).

edited 16th Dec '15 6:46:10 AM by AndrewGPaul

i found it extremely weird that early Sandman was in the DCU yes, like it was this surreal, otherwordly and ambitious story that was completely different from anything in there and happening on the very edges of it.