Down with comics...

POSTED BY: jewelstaitefan
UPDATED: Wednesday, July 2, 2008 09:09
VIEWED: 5672
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WYTCHCROFT

Friday, June 27, 2008 6:14 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by thatweirdgirl:
I gotta disagree....The Killing Joke is not for everyone and shouldn't be recommended for those just getting familiar with the medium. It's still debated on message boards and even the writer admits he may have made some heat-of-the-moment choices that he regrets.

yeah - fair point... but i think it's amazing, manic and vicious and cinematic (which is why it's been ripped off so much since) warts and all. and it's shorter than the dark knight returns!:)

my favourite period for Batman is actually Neil Addams and Denny O'Neil but things like Batman Year One, Arkhum Asylum, Killing Joke, Dark Knight - wonderful stuff.

is there a normal realm for the batman???

PEPPERG

Friday, June 27, 2008 9:26 PM

well, seems like a good place to post my opinion on the serenity comics:

as a fan of firefly/serenity, i expected i'd enjoy the 2 series of comics what have been released, but i found that i didn't really enjoy either, and instead felt that they cheapened the franchise. while the storyline in the 2nd one (better days) was better than the first (those left behind, i think, and boy was that story a special kind of bad. embarrassing that joss made some of the choices that he did), the inconsistent and sometimes downright shoddy artwork (why can;t anyone draw inara properly?), and a fair number of generically cheesy "comic book" moments (like book decapitating a goofy looking combat droid) make the series pretty generic and forgettable to me. basically, i'm now longer going to follow the comic series, since to me they cheapen the special quality of firefly and serenity by reducing it to a mediocre comic book that doesn't possess the spark of the film or series. better not to continue stories of the 'verse if they are substandard. heck, i'd much rather read fanfic of the quality of that recent story written by that best-selling ny times author (stephen brust or something?), since that captured imo some of what made the film and series so special.

anyone else find the comics disappointing and better skipped?

i should point out that i am not opposed to comics per se, since i enjoyed fray, and have enjoyed other comics/graphic novels when done well (such as v for vendetta)
the fact that the firefly comics are spin offs from the series and movie, where much of the appeal lay in seeing the actors onscreen, might have something to do with it, since it's impossible for a comic to recreate that.

WYTCHCROFT

Friday, June 27, 2008 9:36 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by pepperg:

anyone else find the comics disappointing and better skipped?

a lot of folks.

but not me.

and i thought Inara was drawn very well in Better Days. Those Left Behind has proved more rewarding with each re-read, though it definitely has flaws.

i don't see a cheapening of any sort. It's a shame the comics are so short - and that Brett obviously can't write River - but TLB showed us a whole dimension to Book - and BD has done that for Zoe. As well as the Simon/Kaylee thing.

JOLLY

Saturday, June 28, 2008 3:37 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by pepperg:

anyone else find the comics disappointing and better skipped?

Yes. I still read comics, albeit in limited numbers (currently working on Mike Carey's Lucifer series). I agree with what many have already written---Firefly just doesn't seem to translate into a decent comic. Prolly cuz the primary appeal of the show is how the actors played their characters and how those characters interacted to form a very special ensemble...

PEPPERG

Saturday, June 28, 2008 4:21 AM

yeah, i think you're right
"the magic" just isn't there on the page
though i thought stephen brust's fanfic did a fantastic job of getting into the psychology of several of the characters

THATWEIRDGIRL

Saturday, June 28, 2008 10:56 PM

I'm enjoying the Serenity comic books. But I will agree that the special spark between characters is missing since we're not experiencing the actors chemistry.

The inner artwork is hit and miss. I wasn't pleased with Zoe or Kaylee's appearance in Better Days. Even Simon was little off. I think Buffy Season 8 has been handled reasonably well. So it's odd that the Serenity books would feel out of place. Perhaps if there was a story that lasted longer than 3 issues.

Dunno.

---
Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?" Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."
-- Charlie Brown
www.thatcostumegirl.com
www.thatweirdgirl.com

TRAVELER

Sunday, June 29, 2008 9:31 AM

Comics are a different medium and you have to accept that. I have not read the Firefly comics. They came out before I discovered Firefly and I just wanted to know the TV and later the film version of the Good Ship Serenity.

I am sure there are those who appreciate good comics. I have read my share and know what I like.
Marvel started Generation X in 1994 and I found it an excellent piece of work. The writing, artwork, the whole style was the best series I had ever come across. Then the names in the credits started to change and so did Generation X. It lost something that appealed to me and I finally quit reading it. Just like TV, if you start replacing the creators, the show changes.

So Firefly may not be suffering because it is in comic form, but from the people who are producing it. In different hands may it come alive. But a comic will never be live action. That does not mean it is bad. It is just different.

I am sure there are a lot of people who have seen the Spiderman films and never read a Spiderman comic. If they did they would probably feel the same as the people who don't like the Firefly comics. But Spiderman started as a comic and would never have been made into live action films if were not an excellent piece of work that has existed many years to delight several generations of comic book readers.

So I stayed away because it would be different and Joss does not work in the comic book industry, so how could he be expected to know what will work.

Now you have made me dig through my closet to pull my out my Generation X and put on my reading glasses to see Jubilation Lee with her smart mouth and yellow overcoat. Now I'm debating if I should read through them again.

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=28764731
Traveler

THATWEIRDGIRL

Sunday, June 29, 2008 5:44 PM

Joss does work in the comic book industry. He knows what works. He knows how it works. He doesn't play the industry game that well, but I'd argue he's always had a bit of a problem with any industry game.

---
Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?" Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."
-- Charlie Brown
www.thatcostumegirl.com
www.thatweirdgirl.com

WYTCHCROFT

Sunday, June 29, 2008 5:59 PM

Quote:
thatweirdgirl wrote:
Sunday, June 29, 2008 07:44
Joss does work in the comic book industry.

Absolutely! The man's got quite a CV these days.

TRAVELER

Sunday, June 29, 2008 6:29 PM

Thank you thatwierdgirl. I did not know that about Joss. I plead ignorance. Please forgive me for that. Joss certainly has a wide background.

I wonder why some people are not enjoying the comics of Firefly. As I said, I have read my share and enjoyed them. With the right people they certainly come alive for me.

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=28764731
Traveler

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