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Things you're tired of telling non-comic fans.

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KingZeal Since: Oct, 2009
#101: Mar 22nd 2011 at 9:42:13 AM

No, Wolverine and Sabertooth are not half-brothers.

This one was left intentionally ambiguous as of "Origin", though.

C0mraid from Here and there Since: Aug, 2010
#102: Apr 12th 2011 at 7:57:09 AM

The idea that comics do actually invert, subvert, parody, lampshade, deconstruct and reconstruct the superhero genre, the thing you've just seen/read probably isn't doing anything that hasn't been thought of by comic writers already.

I don't actually get tired of providing specific information about them, even clarifying whoose Marvel and whoose DC.

Am I a good man or a bad man?
SpainSun Laugh it off, everybody from Somewhere Beyond Here Since: Jan, 2010
Laugh it off, everybody
#103: Apr 12th 2011 at 6:55:01 PM

Hi there, non-hardcore comic sometimes reading person here.

Does anyone else ever have to explain that no, comics are not just for children anymore, and indeed, given the marketing these days, mostly not for children anymore?

I spread my wings and I learn how to fly....
KingZeal Since: Oct, 2009
#104: Apr 12th 2011 at 7:16:06 PM

Just had that conversation with my mother this past weekend.

So yes.

AtomJames I need a drink Since: Apr, 2010
I need a drink
#105: Apr 12th 2011 at 8:32:47 PM

its not so much that "they're not just for children" that I find myself explaining/arguing with people about. Its the "there just as good as stuff like Moby Dick".

Theres sex and death and human grime in monochrome for one thin dime and at least the trains all run on time but they dont go anywhere.
Aondeug Oh My from Our Dreams Since: Jun, 2009
Oh My
#106: Apr 12th 2011 at 8:51:33 PM

But Moby Dick is a horrible book and this is coming from someone who loves overly wordy classics...

More seriously. That sentiment is an annoying one indeed.

If someone wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, then that's their business. We know what we're doing. - Achaan Chah
C0mraid from Here and there Since: Aug, 2010
#107: Apr 12th 2011 at 9:14:22 PM

An example I think illustrates a lot of these points quite well is from the film Unbreakable. It's a great movie but there's one line I hate. It's Jacksons narrating before a paticularly moving scene.

"Now for the part that isn't in the comic books"

But obviously this movie can.

It's the misconception that comics can't or at least haven't so far shown the level of depth that other media have. Maybe films have different strengths than comics but I have my opinion as to which is best suited to getting across a characters inner thoughts and emotions.

Back on topic I sort of hate explaining the concept that this is an industry. Some people have the idea that Marvel and DC aren't as conceded about making money than other creative industrys. So no they can't just swap Batman and Captain America. You have have to employ people to make these things. People who have even been into a comic book shop sem to think that "Stan Lee still writes all the Marvel ones". They seem to at least undersand that there are hundreds of different Marvel comics so either think they take 30 seconds tp make or we all just buy the same issues overand over again.

Am I a good man or a bad man?
TheConductor Since: Jan, 2011
#108: Apr 13th 2011 at 1:36:53 AM

When I was still at school, my English teacher told me comics were just for kids, the next day I brought in a copy of Dark Knight Returns, Kingdom Come, the Walking Dead and Watchmen. Told her to put up or shut up.

She apologised the following week.

AtomJames I need a drink Since: Apr, 2010
I need a drink
#109: Apr 13th 2011 at 1:41:59 AM

Not that I dont think what you did was awesome, but why only the superhero books? The thing I have to tell people is that comics arent exclusively for superheroes. You have stuff like Maus, A Contract with God, V for Vendetta.

Theres sex and death and human grime in monochrome for one thin dime and at least the trains all run on time but they dont go anywhere.
Gvzbgul from Middle Earth Since: Jul, 2010
#110: Apr 13th 2011 at 4:13:19 AM

Or WE 3!

Though I don't actually think comics are just as good as books. Kinda like how Alan Moore thinks a movie adaption could never be the same. They're very different things, it would be very hard for a comic book to do the same thing a good novel does (to the point where it probably wouldn't be a comic) and it would be impossible for a novel to do what a goood comic does. I mean, in what other medium can you have multiple narration at the same time and to the same level as comics? What medium captures instants in time like comics (photographic stories are closely related to comics so they don't count.) So they're not 'as good' you may as well say that a cheetah is as good as a lion.

edited 13th Apr '11 4:13:30 AM by Gvzbgul

TheConductor Since: Jan, 2011
#111: Apr 13th 2011 at 10:27:26 AM

Because, at the time, all I had was Superhero books (and the Walking Dead).

Gvzbgul from Middle Earth Since: Jul, 2010
#112: Apr 13th 2011 at 3:02:38 PM

Is the Walking Dead that good? Cos I haven't had a chance to read it yet and I'm wondering whether it's worth seeking out.

blueharp Since: Dec, 1969
#113: Apr 13th 2011 at 3:13:48 PM

Do you like Zombie movies??

If yes, sure. If no...then no.

TheConductor Since: Jan, 2011
#115: Apr 14th 2011 at 10:16:12 PM

Especially the..."dog" they get.

Gvzbgul from Middle Earth Since: Jul, 2010
#116: Apr 15th 2011 at 1:56:27 PM

I think I'm genre savvy enough to know that any dog in a zombie apocalypse is either gonna be left behind or killed or put down. Ooh, not a zombie comic but I Am Legend was a good comic. It felt much more like a zombie story rather than a vampire story.

edited 15th Apr '11 4:38:38 PM by Gvzbgul

TheConductor Since: Jan, 2011
#117: Apr 15th 2011 at 4:17:24 PM

It's not really a dog, it's a...a something else.

TheGloomer Since: Sep, 2010
#118: Apr 25th 2011 at 3:48:01 AM

I've actually found that the inverse of the usual attitude is more common with people I know, so I often find myself informing them that, no, comics aren't all gloom and doom because they got "hijacked by insecure fanboy wankers" (as one chap called them). They can still be appropriate for kids.

The Dark Age is effectively over. I'm rather peeved at having to reiterate this.

DragonQuestZ The Other Troper from Somewhere in California Since: Jan, 2001
The Other Troper
#119: Apr 25th 2011 at 2:00:00 PM

That I don't buy. As long as heroes are turning more jerks than heroes, and as long as the BS before is not admitted to be stupid and contrived, the dark age is still going on.

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.
TheGloomer Since: Sep, 2010
#120: Apr 25th 2011 at 3:32:52 PM

Maybe so. Perhaps referring the whole aesthetic of gratuitous sex and violence associated with the Dark Age would be more accurate? I don't know. Regardless, the most common attitude towards comic books among people I know seems to be that they're not worthwhile because there's no joy in them; it's nothing but unrelenting grimness. I don't think that's necessarily the case.

DragonQuestZ The Other Troper from Somewhere in California Since: Jan, 2001
The Other Troper
#121: Apr 25th 2011 at 3:36:07 PM

Well Marvel has said they are going to kill off a major character every year now, just for the shock value. Aside from how stupid it would be thinking something incremental would remain a shock, it shows they are using death and doom for drama, so this perception is the fault of the comics industry for maintaining the attitude that cause the dark age.

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.
TheGloomer Since: Sep, 2010
#122: Apr 25th 2011 at 3:41:52 PM

I see. Well, having been unaware of that fact, I suppose I stand corrected.

C0mraid from Here and there Since: Aug, 2010
#123: Apr 25th 2011 at 3:48:19 PM

[up][up]Please be joking about Marvel. Please.

It would combine my two biggest gripes with the company into one.

1. Having deaths that they know won't stick.

2. The mechanical insistence of forcing MAJOR EVENTS down our throats.

If writers were told to focus on telling good stories rather than ones that are superficially more intense, then left to their own devices things would probably be better. I mean there's no way these deaths are going to be genuinly shocking, especially to someone in my position, and I doubt that they'll be well written either.

edited 25th Apr '11 3:48:55 PM by C0mraid

Am I a good man or a bad man?
TheGloomer Since: Sep, 2010
#124: Apr 25th 2011 at 4:09:58 PM

[up][up][up][up][up][up]

I believe I've found the trope involved: Angst Aversion.

edited 25th Apr '11 4:10:25 PM by TheGloomer

DragonQuestZ The Other Troper from Somewhere in California Since: Jan, 2001
The Other Troper
#125: Apr 25th 2011 at 11:18:41 PM

It's not a joke. I wish it was. I was hoping Quesada stepping down as EIC would end the utter stupidity.

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.

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