So for Batwoman it’s this pulpy, radio adventure serial; for Wonder Woman it’s a war story; for Supergirl it’s a propaganda film; for Harley Quinn it’s Charlie Chaplin-esque farce; for Zatanna it’s a hammer film.
Holy shit, I cannot wait. This is going to be awesome.
edited 19th Jul '15 8:20:48 AM by alliterator
I know for a fact comics are not good for your mental health. Friend of mine read something back in 2007 that set him off on a psychotic breakdown which culminated in hospitalization and a near-suicide, and I have never forgiven a certain comics company for what they did to him.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I don't kid about personal stuff like that. And I'd rather keep the details private.
Just throwing it out there that people can flip out over certain things. It happens with a lot of things in the medium besides just comics too.
edited 19th Jul '15 10:45:50 AM by Zarius
So, what you are really saying is "nearly everything can not be good for your mental health." Or, rather, "there are people who can have breakdowns from reading things."
This, in no way, means that comics are not mentally healthy.
I can only go by my experiences with what they've done to people I care about. In part I may be a bit biased because it is a personal thing, and admittedly not ALL comics are bad for you, but certain ones are. We don't let my pal anywhere near heavier stuff, he'll read an all-ages book or a daily, but nothing that would set him off like that again.
I know it's hard to believe some comics are capable of creating great stress like that, but it happened, and I'd rather throw it out there that it can happen than sit in silence while only one side of the coin is shown
edited 19th Jul '15 11:22:15 AM by Zarius
But, seriously, that's like saying "Going to R-rated movies can be hazardous to your mental health if you cannot handle R-rated movies."
It has nothing to do whatsoever with comics, but rather with what a person is capable of reading or watching.
No offense and all due respect to your and your friend, but this is the kind of thinking that caused the Comics Code back in the 50's. Yes, comics can potentially be bad for your mental health. So can books. Or movies. Or video-games. Or...
The point is, nearly everything has the potential to be bad for your mental health, in which case, what are you supposed to do? Swear off all fiction? And I am NOT saying that's what you intended to say, but in most cases, comics or anything else won't give someone a break-down. All this experience should have taught you or anyone else is that your friend shouldn't read or watch certain things, not that there's a decent chance of comics driving someone to suicide.
edited 19th Jul '15 11:40:46 AM by kkhohoho
It has everything to do with the comic, from the way it's written and executed. It had nothing to do with violent imagery or anything, it was just very bad writing that turned his existing perspectives upside down and made him think in an uncomfortable way
I did not intend to say such things at all, and I would not dream of advocating the comeback of the code. Obviously I read this stuff too otherwise I would'nt be here, and I'm not affected..upset sometimes maybe, emotional about it definitely, but I'm not wired the way my friend is.
I probably should'nt have said anything...just reacted badly because I think of my friend a lot
edited 19th Jul '15 11:36:12 AM by Zarius
Like you said, it's probably just because your friend is just wired that way, not because comics as a rule could cause that. I can understand why you felt the way you did, but that was an isolated case, and shouldn't be considered the rule.
edited 19th Jul '15 11:40:15 AM by kkhohoho
it was just very bad writing that turned his existing perspectives upside down and made him think in an uncomfortable way
...unless your friend was severally mentally unwell, there is no way that "bad writing" could cause a mental breakdown. And if your friend is mentally unwell, it's not the fault of the comic.
Also, causing somebody to "think in an uncomfortable way"? Really? How so? Did it change his position on something? Did it make him see something in a different light? Because on its own, those aren't really bad things.
On a somewhat lighter note, I posted something on another forum, and figured I might as well put it up here. Basically, someone brought up DC trying to make their universe like Marvels' post Civil War with the destruction of Blud Haven in Infinite Crisis, though this was thankfully ignored. This is basically what I thought would happen it hadn't been.
edited 19th Jul '15 11:58:33 AM by kkhohoho
The only problem with that is Batman would never work for the government. Or support a law which gives up all secret identities, because Bruce Wayne carefully guards his own (Iron Man's secret identity was open for many years before Civil War).
Hm... How about Steel?
Steel doesn't really have the cache to be in the Iron Man role. Honestly, I don't really think Civil War would work in the DC universe - for the most part, secret identities are more protected in DC than they are in Marvel and in Marvel, there's a lot more cynicism and "realism" in terms of government and citizens response to superheroes.
In any case, I believe there was a kind of Civil War situation back in the '50s when the House on Un-American Activities Committee (led by McCarthy in real life) demanded that the JSA unmask and the JSA refused, deciding instead to simply retire and disappear from the public eye.
Ah well, though I can see your point. It was really more of a joke than anything else anyway.
I could see it if it was, say, Green Lantern rather than Batman. Green Lantern (whether Hal Jordan or John Stewart or Guy Gardner) is an agent of an alien authority, and he could do all that in an attempt to bring the Earth in line with whatever the Guardians' standard to peace and justice is. I expect he probably has (or could be given) the authority to negotiate treaties with Earth governments (imagine the incentives of alien tech he could offer in exchange). Of all the established DC heroes, I think he could most easily ditch his secret identity.
We have this tendency now to set Batman and Superman against each other because Superman is light and Batman is dark; this forgets that, pretty much until Frank Miller, the two were always portrayed as staunch allies and close friends.
edited 19th Jul '15 12:20:21 PM by Robbery
Hm...
edited 19th Jul '15 12:31:02 PM by kkhohoho
I think the closest we've gotten to this sort of thing is in Uncle Frank's work...albiet with a slightly mustache-twirling government hand forcing some heroes into officially sanctioned servitude and Bats having a side resistant to it. One aspect of DKR II I liked was that revelation and how they began to bounce back from it to counter Brainiac. Better big stake pay-off than the end of the Marvel SRA in the rather unremarkable Siege saga.
So...
Anybody reading the Star Trek/Green Lantern crossover?
Is it any good?
No, but it doesn't sound promising.
edited 21st Jul '15 6:34:50 PM by SpaceWolf
This is a signature.
Tony Isabella and DC begin reconciliation over Black Lightning
Thought I should crosspost this in both main threads. If you think some other thread should also listen to it you're free to link it to them.
From SDCC, Why Comics are Good for Mental Health and Mental Health is Good for Comics.