[comics] Kevin Church v. superheroes

[trochee]

Wow. An absolutely amazing rant by Kevin Church, comics blogger. Probably not that fun if you don't read comics already, but summarizes why I don't read most superhero comics.

The tagline, and the summary:
If you love superhero comics, stop supporting shitty superhero comics. If you love comics in general, start supporting better comics.

Full disclosure: I'll pick up Warren Ellis' take on superheroes, or (just maybe) Joss Whedon or Brian K. Vaughn, or Invincible or Powers.

But I'm waiting for the trade on all of them. And I'll note there that not one of these is a "main line" superhero comic -- and I would buy the main line, if any of them inspired the kind of wonder that I get from Finder, the play and fun I get from Girl Genius, the gritty Law and Order life of Kane, or even the goofy send-up of PS 238.

Kevin C. said it right: A real gateway comic is something like Persepolis or Fun Home - not a limited, continuity-heavy, crossover-packed series featuring people in spandex crying because that's what "adults" do.

ALSO, speaking of comics that are good: Fantagraphics announces their release of the Complete Pogo (and parody: the complete Cathy). Jeff Smith is editing the Pogo collection. Neat!

Comments

[esk.livejournal.com]

i pretty much agree with him, but i gave up on that battle when i was 14. i remember some stupid robin miniseries with 4 variant foil covers was the catalyst for my great disillusionment! mindless superhero fandom hasn't gotten any better since then, and i don't expect it will...i just think it's a dying genre.

i'll happily pick up totally dorky, mainstream stuff if a particular story or artist catches my eye (e.g. this power girl story with amanda conner art, which makes me grin whenever i see it). but i never buy ongoing titles just out of habit or loyalty. bleah.

[boobirdsfly.livejournal.com]

Aaaaaah ! The boobs are so wrong on that drawing ! It's not the size , it's just... well, look again. They are WRONG !

[trochee.livejournal.com]

yeah, well, it's Power Girl, who has been a fanboy fetish character for decades. Kinda the worst of a bad lot, really. :(

embarrassing to those of us male fans who consider ourselves somewhat enlightened.

[esk.livejournal.com]

oh, i know. i've honestly always loved her character...but everything that is ridiculous about her (incomprehensible and frequently-retconned origin story, giant boobs, boob-window) just makes me like her more. everything good and bad about mainstream female superheroes, magnified 100x.

plus, who can argue against asymmetrical capes?

[trochee.livejournal.com]

it does say something that I have a better idea of the origin of Dr. Mid-nite or the three different Atoms than I do of Power Girl.

Yes, asymmetrical capes: cool. One of the awesomenesses of the Marvels too.

[trochee.livejournal.com]

amen, sister.

and even when it catches my eye, I tend to wait for the trade. I'm looking forward to the softcover collection of NextWave, for example.

[trochee.livejournal.com]

... which came out today (yay!). Looking forward to reading it!