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From: leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper)
Newsgroups: net.comics
Subject: Re: Leeper's views on comics...
Message-ID: <1094@mtgzz.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 4-Sep-85 02:19:51 EDT
Article-I.D.: mtgzz.1094
Posted: Wed Sep  4 02:19:51 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 30-Aug-85 09:09:46 EDT
References: <1075@mtgzz.UUCP> <2580@vax4.fluke.UUCP>
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Lines: 81


 >I'm here to put out a smoldering ember before it becomes an
 >inner-newsgroup flaming (literally) inferno:

Such emotion.  Jeez!

 >
 >In article <1075@mtgzz.UUCP> leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper)
 >writes:
 > >[...]  Then I did not read more than a comic book a year
 > >until relatively recently.  What I did read convinced me
 > >that comics were
 > >maturing a little but were still silly and banal.
 > >Recently a friend who is
 > >a big comic fan got me reading a few.  My conclusion is
 > >that my distaste for
 > >super-heroes rules out the vast majority of comics sold.
 > >At some point, I
 > >will probably write a general article about my conclusions
 > >about comic
 > >books.
 >
 >Well, Mark, I read a fair number of comics, although a small
 >amount of the total output of the varied publishing
 >companies, and my general conclusion about the maturity of
 >comics is this:  Sturgeon's Law, i.e.  90% of everything is
 >crap.  Goes for comics.  
 
Slight correction.  It seems to go for the comics that people
recommend, not just comics in general.  The ones I read were the ones
that comic readers told me were the best of the lot.  Of course there
may be a multiplicity of opinions.  As I remember, the one that was
recommended was a "relevant" Green Arrow that presented some pretty pat
views of race relations.
 
 >Goes for films.  Goes for (gasp!) science fiction 
 
In spades!
 
 >and mysteries and novels.  Goes for net news  
 >articles (and as this one seems to be headed for the larger
 >of the two percentages, let me sum up).  I don't know about
 >comics becoming more mature -- mature, to me, means being
 >polite and reasonable, and, By George, you couldn't ask for
 >a quieter and more well-behaved tenant in that basement or
 >attic or guest room than a box of comics.  
 
If that is how you measure if a comic is mature, I can agree with you.
 
 >I think comics have *improved* a good deal over the last 10
 >years, due  mostly to an older group of people reading them, 
 
Elric is certainly a step in the right direction.  I would be VERY
impressed to see something like Robert Forward's DRAGON'S EGG done as a
comic.  Now that has images I would like to see an artist do credit
to.
 
 >who have gotten tired of cliches and have developed the demand
 >for  more refined (more complex, more realistic
 >characterizations, 
 
I was loaned a copy of X-MEN that had a two of the super-characters
having a deep soul-searching discussion in a whirlwind half a mile
above the ground.  I can stand outside of my fandom of science fiction
and laugh at the tacky look of certain Star Trek episodes.  Surely you
can be big enough to admit there is something pretty weird about this
sort of juxtaposition if serious discussion and silly image.
 
 >more IMAGINATION and ORIGINALITY -- the
 >latter two are the most important, and the most frequent of
 >pleasant surprises in the latest wave of comics).  The
 >increase in the number of independent publishers and the
 >introduction of the direct-sales (to comic shops) market
 >have made this market viable, and thus we have gems like
 >CEREBUS and ZOT!  and AMERICAN FLAGG!  and AMBUSH BUG and
 >JOURNEY and etc, etc, etc.  
 
I will watch for those.

				Mark Leeper
				...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper