Jack Kirby once
said that Comics will break your heart. I have to wonder if I dodged a bullet
back in the 1990’s.
Ever since I was a
kid I always wanted to write comics. But looking at the state of the industry
these days I’m starting to think I dodged a bullet.
These days the
comic book business is in turmoil. Practically every year there’s a reboot at
the big two. Books barely last six or eight issues before they’re cancelled.
Creative teams change at the drop of a hat and there’s no real direction or
even continuity between titles. Everything is so unstable that heroes don’t
even keep the same secret identity or even the same gender anymore.
Comics are more
confusing today than when I was a kid. Back then you saw your favorite
characters in those brightly colored costumes and bought your favorite comics.
The stories were easy to follow. Anyone and everyone could figure things out.
But looking at the
mess the Big Two has become I wouldn’t want to write comics these days. Having
to deal with the jumble that is today’s continuity would be a NIGHTMARE. Thanks
to all the reboots, retcons and relaunches it’d be a headache just to plot a
story arc. Who’s dead? Who’s
alive? Who is even the main character supposed to be? And what universe are
they in again?
It’d be
heartbreaking for me to be in the middle of writing a story arc and be told by
an editor that the series was cancelled. And it’d be a real insult to injury to
find out that all that hard work I put in wound up being erased from continuity
in a reboot six months later.
I’m starting to
think I’m better off writing novels, screenplays fantasy and YA fiction. Yeah,
the road is pretty rough on this side of the street. But the publishing
business has always been a rough game. But when I look over at the comic side
of publishing and see how brutal it is to creators, I’m starting to realize
things are better over here than over there.
At least we authors
on the trade publishing side get to keep the rights to our characters. And we
have a say over how they’re adapted on those rare chances they’re brought to TV
and movies. And when we self-publish, we control what direction our characters
go in.
In the trade
publishing world there are no reboots, no retcons, and no restarts. Every story
is an entry point, and stories are still easy to follow. If someone even
proposed a reboot in the trade publishing world they’d be shot down not only by
editors but by readers as well. Readers of romance and genre fiction like
sci-fi just wouldn’t put up with that bullshit.
Yeah, I’d still
love to write comics. But looking at the business these days, I’m starting to
count my blessings. As stressful as the world of trade publishing is, it’s not
as soul crushing as working in the comic book business.
Yes, I hate the reboots/relaunches with a passion. Carol Danvers has been the Marvel character that has hardly grown at all, just been relaunched every year to 18 months. DC'S New 52 was essentially a reboot where they did about nothing to build it up. So glad I walked away from buying new comics years ago, hardly any of the big two seem to have much at all in terms of storytelling, they might as well just be some Elseworlds story followed by a relaunch. Indies seem to be an exception, but how long that will last I have no idea. Perhaps the only comic books I would ever want to write are those Elseworlds or out of continuity stories at DC/Marvel, because if you do otherwise, it seems that the chances of carrying on your contribution to the story and your creative liberties are incredibly low.
ReplyDeletecheers,
-John