A Sense of Doubt blog post #1439 - "Comics Are Going Downhill" - NOT!

A Sense of Doubt blog post #1439 - "Comics Are Going Downhill" - NOT!

So this post is going up one or another today as I have been working on it for a month, but not working on it as much as I wanted. I am always too ambitious when it comes to posts on comics. And I know this is always a subject to which I can return for extra parts and more commentary. In fact, some comics that I want to write about in depth will have to wait and be written about another time so as to get this published (finally) since this about the fifth resolution to publish "today or else."

Also, this is somewhat timely as I am teaching comic books in my LCC classes right now, starting with Alan Moore and David Gibbons' Watchmen and then later a newer series from Image Comics called Alex + Ada by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn.

Okay, all the caveats are spread out before us. And, so, here we go...

I got this bee in my bonnet before starting my vacation back at the beginning of the month (December 2018). I tried to bang out this entry during my days off following Christmas, but it was too much to do to get a week's worth of blog entries completed plus packing and planning activities for my trip, so I back-burned this one to work on later, like when I am on the plane, which is where I am now, but then I don't finish it on the plane, so read on.

The bee in the bonnet goes like this: so, I went to this game store on Christmas Eve in Longview. The store is GREAT, and I plan to go back. The owner was reading a hardcover collection of recent  Aquaman comics by Geoff Johns, before DC's Rebirth. Good stuff. Some of my favorite stuff lately. But then he says, that "comics are going downhill" and that so many creators these days do not know "how to tell a good superhero story." I objected. I mentioned Image Comics, who is producing some truly great stuff and it's all creator owned. But then he says the thing about superhero stories, so I mention Dan Slott who takes a great deal of guff from fans as well as Bendis. There's more to unpack with that guy, but I have the bee there, stinging. Seems to me that there is more great material being published in the comic book world in the last few years than EVER BEFORE IN THE HISTORY OF COMICS! Anyone who thinks the best days of comics are gone is not really paying attention to comic books these days.

I always find that when people make sweeping generalizations like "comics are going downhill" or "no one knows how to write a superhero story anymore" that the opinion is based on assumptions that are rarely shared among the people in the discussion (or in my case between as it was just me and the proprietor). If I had been possessed of more time, I would have asked him to name a great superhero comic and to choose time periods in comics that he thought were the best.

I have had many "arguments" with comic book readers about what comics are great, and when they were great. Many times these folks are really hardcore fans, but we can surely use the term fan loosely to define these people who like to debate comics. Mostly no one but a major comic nerd can hold weight in such a discussion but some casual readers try before realizing that they have not read as many comic books as I have. And even I fail to hold up my end with people who have read more, remember more, and have studied more about comics than I have, such as my new PDX friend Nicholas Prom, who does this great podcast here: COMIC REFLECTIONS.

But for people in the industry or majorly invested fans, we can have the conversation. Early in my years in fandom, I became involved with fanzines. It's easier to tell you, reader, that I did fanzines because it's a common word that people know (or just 'zines). But to really explain the difference between an APA (Amateur Press Association), which is what I did, and fanzines is more involved than I want to get in this paragraph. Also, I am sure that the Internet has the answer. Okay, yeah, pretty much: see links above.

So, early on in fandom, I met some folks who did not read current comics, AT ALL, though they were making their own comics and self-publishing. This alone is a dicey proposition, but I know that some current professionals do not read much of anything or nothing at all of the current work being published in the industry. Warren Ellis is a good example, though he does read things despite much of his grumbling about not knowing what's what in the industry. And then he recommends things. What I can say for certain is that he's very selective, like a lot of creators, because who can create like he does AND read the majority of comics currently published in the industry?

Anyway, these fans argued with me that the best comics were published in the 1950s and 1960s. They allowed that some good comics came out in the 1970s and even the early 1980s (after all we were in an APA devoted to the Teen Titans with The New Teen Titans comic coming out in 1980 as DC's answer to Marvel's The Uncanny X-Men). But they insisted that the best era of comic books publishing died with Gardner Fox and the excellent DC comics, most of which came out in the 1960s.

I argue against this position vehemently. I am very fond of the comics of my youth. I started reading comics in 1966, and so most of my beloved comics came out in the late 1960s and through the 1970s. And though I stopped in the late 1970s reading very much but a few select titles -- Fantastic Four, X-Men, Avengers -- I was re-invigorated by meeting other comic nerds while in college. I tentatively dipped my toes back in comic waters in the early 1980s and then went all in about 1985 when I graduated and had some steady pay checks.


Since then, comics have consistently improved and the creators, who grew up in the same era as I did, started making comics with the adult readership in mind. Plus, creator owned material started to be prevalent. The 1980s delivers things like Cerebus and Love and Rockets;  I worked for time as a college internship at Marvel's Epic Comics that produced Dreadstar, Black Dragon, and Swords of the Swashbucklers, all creator owned and prestige-format (or at least of higher quality than the mainstream comics). This time period also features Watchmen, Maus, The Dark Knight Returns, and the Dark Phoenix saga in the X-Men. Manga finds its way to America and the aforementioned Epic starts publishing Akira as well as other companies who bring out Lone Wolf and Cub and Mai: The Psychic Girl (one of my all-time favorites). There's too much to name, though I should just type here the following: Crisis on Infinite Earths, which is FAR SUPERIOR to Marvel's Secret Wars.

Even though the 1990s had some bad stuff and lackluster comic books, it also features Busiek and Alex Ross' Marvels and Alex Ross' and Mark Waid's Kingdom Come. And then some disgruntled creators at Marvel, who want to own their work, create a new company: Image Comics. The first set of publications are not all that amazing. I know some people will argue about the popularity of Spawn and the longevity of  Savage Dragon (still going strong), but, um, Youngblood? Really?


And there's still so much that I haven't mentioned like Sandman and Hellblazer, like Hellboy, Concrete, Sin City, and Hard Boiled. There's UNDERSTANDING COMICS by Scott McCloud. There's Bone, Strangers in Paradise, and work by Charles Burns, Adrian Tomine, and Chester Brown. And there's still so much I have not named.

Image finally starts to come into its own when The Walking Dead launches. The company re-invents itself and then there's an explosion of GREAT, creator-owned work, and more stuff all the time. Arguably, Image is producing the best comic books right now, certainly the best of non-superhero stuff.

And yet, the big two are still doing their thing, and it gets better all the time. With creators like Bendis, Remender, Hickman, Lemire, Jason Aaron, and many more Marvel starts to really weave a rich tapestry of story, character, and its own history. Marvel re-instates the importance of movies about comic books, and suddenly superheroes are the hot topics, like Iron Man and Avengers.

And the popularity has kept growing. DC killed with Dark Knight films, but then it didn't have a hit again until Wonder Woman but Marvel kept hitting home runs: Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor, Captain America, and even Ant Man.

And so that brings us to a discussion of the current comic book fare. I already mentioned Image Comics killing it, but there's great stuff out there by Dark Horse, Oni Press, Vault Comics, and many others. To get this bee out of my head dress, I am going to just focus on the big two.

Without a doubt, my favorite Marvel comic right now is the relaunch of Hulk as The Immortal Hulk.

This comic is smart, complex, well-written, and beautifully illustrated.

It's brilliant.

But according to that guy, there's no good comics right now, and no one knows how to write a superhero story.

Rubbish.

What is a superhero anyway? The Hulk is a monster, and the team of Ewing and Bennett have taken him back to his monster roots.

According to Jeff Lemire on the cover of The Immortal Hulk #009 (#726), "The Immortal Hulk distills one of Marvel's greatest characters back down to its pulpy DNA and what he was always meant to be ... a MONSTER. I LOVE this book."

and

"The best horror comic of the year." -- Kieron Gillen

Critics agree. Comic Book Roundup for The Immortal Hulk gives the book a 8.9/10 critic rating and an 8.7 user rating.

I love COMIC BOOK ROUNDUP.

You can't see this but I can - MY BOOKS - MARVEL. I just wanted to stash this link somewhere that I will see it. You could make your own Marvel account and fill it with comics. It's a good idea, that is, if you like Marvel Comics.

Great comics REDEFINE the genre, redefine a character, shift a comic on its axis.

                                                      If my new friend in the game store means that no one knows how to tell a superhero story anymore because he wants the "same old same old" then he will be bitterly disappointed by a comic book like the Immortal Hulk, that once again gives the green goliath of gamma irradiated power another paradigm shift. The Hulk's history is one long paradigm shift, tracing from the original conception of the character -- who was more grey than green -- to the more mindless brute of the 1970s TV show.

It was Bill Mantlo who gave the Hulk his first major paradigm shift. FYI: Bill Mantlo has a support fund. Mantlo was struck by a car while roller-blading in 1992 and suffered a severe head trauma and spent two weeks in a coma. He has been institutionalized ever since and is not expected to ever make a full recovery. I met Bill and talked with him many times during my internship at Marvel. He was good friends with Jo Duffy and bounced ideas off her after his favorite brainstorming method, which was to walk the streets of New York planning out his Hulk (or Rom or Micronauts or Swashbucklers) scripts. Bill was affable, warm, generous, ebullient, funny, and amazingly creative, even though he did not have the wide-spread notoriety outside the true comic geek fan circles or a Chris Claremont, Marv Wolfman, or Frank Miller. He was still WILDLY imaginative, innovative, and prolific. He met his deadlines and produced stories of high-quality, smartness, and depth.

Mantlo posited that Bruce Banner had suffered child abuse, which had created the "monster of anger and rage" inside his psyche that the gamma radiation unleashed on the world as the Hulk. Peter David and Greg Pak both carried on this legacy in exploring the Hulk comic book as a psychological journey or a man's self, his inner demons, and his very soul. It's the story Al Ewing is continuing and re-imagining in the current comic: The Immortal Hulk.

There is a fairly thorough history of the Hulk with other resources at THE COMIC BOOK DATA BASE, which is a site I just found in writing this post.

HULK at THE COMIC BOOK DATA BASE.

Even though it's run by Gamespot, I have always used COMIC VINE, just because I like the high-end web set up visually.

HULK AT COMIC VINE.

Comic Vine organizes its titles per character in a screwy way, though it is a good attempt to sort out the different "series" as Marvel has relaunched the comic multiple times with number one issues, which it is now rolling together into a "legacy" numbering system along with whatever reboot, relaunch numbering it is currently using.

Just taking a peek at snips from three reviews for issue #8 (see cover above) reveals the impact and high quality of this book.

http://blacknerdproblems.com/the-immortal-hulk-8-review/

The Immortal Hulk does it again. Just when thought the jade green giant couldn’t get any more terrifying, Al Ewing is able to prove you wrong. Ewing is really making this version of the Hulk his own. This entire series, the writer has been meticulously crafting the Immortal Hulk personality and powers to create a horror monster of his design and I’ll be damn if it doesn’t work so well.

It’s terrifying to see what the Hulk is now capable of now. It used to be just his strength that people had to fear. I mean, who wouldn’t be afraid of a 10-foot tall green behemoth who can smash cars like paper mache and lift mountains over his head? But now Ewing has created a Hulk that can come back from anything, even being cut into a couple dozen pieces.

While The Immortal Hulk deserves all the praise, it’s not without faults. It can be hard to see where the plot is going from time to time. Ewing creates these great moments that keep you fixed on the title character but certain plot threads are often left lingering – like whatever the hell is up with Bruce’s father and whatever Mcgee is trying to accomplish.

https://comicsverse.com/immortal-hulk-8-review/


SUMMARY
THE IMMORTAL HULK #8 is the scariest issue of an already terrifying series. Al Ewing crafts a terrifically chilling story which works just as well on its own as it does as the part of an ongoing story. Joe Bennett gives his all this issue, and it shows. It’s a perfect jumping-on point for this incredible new series.

Tales to Astonish (and Haunt) in THE IMMORTAL HULK #8
Not only does Ewing craft an incredible Hulk tale with THE IMMORTAL HULK #8, but he also writes a finely tuned horror story as well. What I love most about this issue is how, if you took out the subplot about Gamma Flight and changed to Hulk to a generic monster, the story would still work 100%. It feels like something out of an old TALES FROM THE CRYPT issue. It begins with upfront horror, with a gigantic, green heart being cut open. The heart begins beating again as it gets closer to its body. That, in itself, is scary. Then, we add in the cocky mad scientist who believes that he’s outwitted some dumb brute. Eventually, the story takes an ironic turn and the same monster he was once gloating to then literally swallows the scientist whole. It really could stand on its own as a fantastic horror story.

http://www.adventuresinpoortaste.com/2018/11/07/the-immortal-hulk-8-review/

The approach taken with The Immortal Hulk has been an exciting one. Al Ewing, paired with the body horror genius of Joe Bennett, have been delivering one of the most twisted and freakish takes on the character in some time. It has also been a tale that plays with identity in what feels like new and exciting ways. Long story short, this is the most fun I’ve had with a Hulk comic since reading my first story with the character.

So what’s it about?

The official summary reads:

Bruce Banner is dead. His corpse has been dissected, his organs catalogued, and his inner workings are being studied by the scientists of Shadow Base. Bruce Banner is no longer a threat. That just leaves the IMMORTAL HULK…

Bennett has been putting on a show with every issue he’s drawn and this issue may be his best yet. There is a double page spread that may actually make you hurl, which is followed by a near double page spread (a double page layout to be more precise) that makes things even grosser. The Hulk is always considered to be a hard muscle machine, but here we see him transform from goopy entrails into massive amounts of muscle. Even when Hulk transforms into Bruce Banner it’s a sight to be seen.

and so......................................
switching back to me...........


But trying to find the comic series before the current one, to reference Doc Green, and one of the two best examples (one by Peter David and the other by Mark Waid... I think?) of smart Bruce Banner in charge of the Hulk's body is worth mentioning as we discuss paradigm shifts of  the character.

So since the days of my T-shirt blog, I have been entering my comic books purchased in blog entries by month. I sort the list of comics into the order I plan to read them, which reflects a combination of publication schedules; my favorites; reads that are quick, which often rise to the top of the stack simply because they are fun to read as they read quickly.

Also, the list shows something of what comics are good because some of the best will rise to the top. But some very excellent comics, like Monstress and Stray Bullets, fall by the wayside in these cases because they are not quick reads or they are comics that I want to save to read once I have a lot. So the system has some flaws.

BUT it does show me some of the best comics of the last six months. Clearly, Batman is one of these comics, appearing ten times near the top of my reading stack. Also, Immortal Hulk is clearly one of these comics as well. Though I have an affection for Doctor Strange and Avengers, Runaways beats both of those books hands down.

THE TOP OF THE COMIC STACK MOST READ LIST OF 2018

Batman - 10
Immortal Hulk - 7
Avengers - 7
Doctor Strange - 6
Runaways - 6
Hawkman -5
Justice League - 5
Kick-Ass - 5
Man of Steel - 5
Fantastic Four - 4

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I have more to say on comics in future posts, but this lists and the data that follows, plus the long diatribe to get here, show what I am valuing currently in comics and what I would recommend to new and old readers alike.

Comics are better than ever right now.

Are you reading them?

LISTS BY MONTH

Comics November 2018
Fantastic Four #003
Fantastic Four #004
X-Men Black Emma Frost #001 (Bachalo)
Infinity Wars #005 (of 6)
Green Lantern #1
Kick-Ass #9 Cvr A Frusin (Mr)
Runaways #015
Mage Hero Denied #13 (of 15)
Hawkman #6
Immortal Hulk #008
Immortal Hulk #009

Weekly Comics October 2018 - SORTED
Heroes in Crisis #2 of 9
Action Comics #1004 Foil
Batman #56 Foil
Batman #57
Kick-Ass #8 Cvr A Frusin (Mr)
Superman #4 Foil
Runaways #14
Immortal Hulk #7
Hawkman #5 Foil
Doctor Strange #6
Avengers #9
Tony Stark Iron Man #4
Infinity Wars #4 (of 6)
Aquaman #41 (Drowned Earth)
Thor #6
Walking Dead #184 Cvr A Adlard & Stewart (Mr)

September 2018 - Comics - SORTED READING ORDER
Fantastic Four #2
Kick-Ass #7 Cvr A Frusin (Mr)
Doomsday Clock #7 (of 12)
Doctor Strange #5
Mage Hero Denied #12 (of 15)
Infinity Wars #3 (of 6)
Justice League #7
Justice League #8
Runaways #13
Avengers #7
Avengers #8
Action Comics #1003
Superman #3
Immortal Hulk #5
Immortal Hulk #6
Hawkman #4
Aquaman #40 Sink Atlantis
Batman #54
Batman #55

August-September 2018 Comics - SORTED

Infinity Wars #002
Runaways #012
Action Comics #1002
Avengers #006
Batman #53
Extermination #002
Doctor Strange #004 / #394
Wildstorm #016
Iron Man #003 / #603
Thor #004 / #710
Amazing Spider-Man #004 / #805
Daredevil #607
Aquaman #39
Ms Marvel #33 / #52

Comics from July-August - SORTED READING ORDER

Fantastic Four #1
Kick-Ass #6 Cvr A Romita Jr (Mr)
Doomsday Clock #6 (of 12)
Superman #1
Superman #2
Superman: Action Comics #1001
Runaways #11
Avengers #5
Tony Stark Iron Man #2
Hawkman #2
Hawkman #3
Batman #51
Batman #52

Comics from June 2018 - Reading order...........
Batman #48
Batman #49
Batman #50
Man of Steel #2 (of 6)
Man of Steel #3 (of 6)
Man of Steel #4 (of 6)
Man of Steel #5 (of 6)
Man of Steel #6 (of 6)
Kick-Ass #5 Cvr A Romita Jr (Mr)

Hawkman #1

Runaways #10
Immortal Hulk #1
Immortal Hulk #2

Tony Stark Iron Man #1

Avengers #3
Avengers #4
Thor #1
Thor #2

Doctor Strange #1

Doctor Strange #2

Doctor Strange #3

Justice League #1

Justice League #2

Justice League #3

Counts of appearances of comics in the top ten of the reading order lists.

SORTED COUNTS

Batman - 10
Immortal Hulk - 7
Avengers - 7
Doctor Strange - 6
Runaways - 6
Hawkman -5
Justice League - 5
Kick-Ass - 5
Man of Steel - 5
Fantastic Four - 4
Action Comics - 4
Infinity Wars - 4
Superman - 4
Thor - 4
Tony Stark Iron Man - 3
Aquaman - 3
Doomsday Clock - 2
Heroes in Crisis -2
Mage Hero Denied - 2
Amazing Spider-Man - 1
Daredevil - 1
Extermination - 1
Green Lantern - 1
Iron Man - 1
Ms Marvel - 1
Walking Dead - 1
Wildstorm -1
X-Men Black Emma Frost - 1 (Bachalo)

UNSORTED COUNTS

Action Comics - 4
Amazing Spider-Man - 1
Aquaman - 3
Avengers - 7
Batman - 10
Daredevil - 1
Doctor Strange - 6
Doomsday Clock - 2
Extermination - 1
Fantastic Four - 4
Green Lantern - 1
Hawkman -5
Heroes in Crisis -2
Immortal Hulk - 7
Infinity Wars - 4
Iron Man - 1
Justice League - 5
Kick-Ass - 5
Mage Hero Denied - 2
Man of Steel - 5
Ms Marvel - 1
Runaways - 6
Superman - 4
Thor - 4
Tony Stark Iron Man - 3
Walking Dead - 1
Wildstorm -1
X-Men Black Emma Frost - 1 (Bachalo)

INDIVIDUAL ISSUES LISTED

Action Comics #1003
Action Comics #1004 Foil
Action Comics #1002
Amazing Spider-Man #004 / #805
Aquaman #39
Aquaman #40 Sink Atlantis
Aquaman #41 (Drowned Earth)
August-September 2018 Comics - SORTED
Avengers #7
Avengers #8
Avengers #5
Avengers #3
Avengers #006
Avengers #4
Avengers #9
Batman #51
Batman #53
Batman #57
Batman #56 Foil
Batman #48
Batman #49
Batman #50
Batman #55
Batman #54
Batman #52
Comics from July-August - SORTED READING ORDER
Comics from June 2018 - Reading order...........
Comics November 2018
Daredevil #607
Doctor Strange #004 / #394
Doctor Strange #2
Doctor Strange #6
Doctor Strange #1
Doctor Strange #5
Doctor Strange #3
Doomsday Clock #7 (of 12)
Doomsday Clock #6 (of 12)
Extermination #002
Fantastic Four #004
Fantastic Four #2
Fantastic Four #1
Fantastic Four #003
Green Lantern #1
Hawkman #2
Hawkman #1
Hawkman #3
Hawkman #6
Hawkman #4
Hawkman #5 Foil
Heroes in Crisis #2 of 9
Immortal Hulk #5
Immortal Hulk #6
Immortal Hulk #009
Immortal Hulk #1
Immortal Hulk #008
Immortal Hulk #7
Immortal Hulk #2
Infinity Wars #3 (of 6)
Infinity Wars #002
Infinity Wars #4 (of 6)
Infinity Wars #005 (of 6)
Iron Man #003 / #603
Justice League #7
Justice League #3
Justice League #8
Justice League #2
Justice League #1
Kick-Ass #9 Cvr A Frusin (Mr)
Kick-Ass #7 Cvr A Frusin (Mr)
Kick-Ass #6 Cvr A Romita Jr (Mr)
Kick-Ass #8 Cvr A Frusin (Mr)
Kick-Ass #5 Cvr A Romita Jr (Mr)
Mage Hero Denied #13 (of 15)
Mage Hero Denied #12 (of 15)
Man of Steel #3 (of 6)
Man of Steel #5 (of 6)
Man of Steel #4 (of 6)
Man of Steel #6 (of 6)
Man of Steel #2 (of 6)
Ms Marvel #33 / #52
Runaways #14
Runaways #012
Runaways #11
Runaways #015
Runaways #13
Runaways #10
September 2018 - Comics - SORTED READING ORDER
Superman: Action Comics #1001
Superman #2
Superman #3
Superman #4 Foil
Superman #1
Thor #6
Thor #004 / #710
Thor #1
Thor #2
Tony Stark Iron Man #4
Tony Stark Iron Man #1
Tony Stark Iron Man #2
Walking Dead #184 Cvr A Adlard & Stewart (Mr)
Weekly Comics October 2018 - SORTED
Wildstorm #016
X-Men Black Emma Frost #001 (Bachalo)

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/comic-reglections/comic-reflections

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1902.03 - 10:10

- Days ago = 1310 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.