Too Much Two-Face (and I compare theatre to comics, in a sense)

[thehefner]

I spent much of yesterday working on a super-duper MEGApost for scans_daily entitled It Sucks to Be Harvey Dent. I'm very proud of the results. I have now proved, without a doubt, that Harvey Dent is fate's tether ball in the DC Universe.

Upon reading it, marred82 pointed out that Harvey is a very Hefnerian character. I dunno, I think Hefnerian means that you have to find the humor in your ironic misfortune. But still, I can see where he's coming from.

There are certain immutable laws of the universe. Everyone loves pie. It's impossible to hate Ringo Starr. And it sucks to be Harvey Dent.

little_dinosaur, did you read the MEGApost yet? If not, DON'T. It'll spoil a little somethin'-somethin' I was working into the Harvey Dent novel. If so... well, whaddya think?



Speaking of comics, Devin Faraci on CHUD.com wrote a fascinating editorial wherein he pondered upon what would happen if "Final Crisis" really was that? Meaning, what if DC Comics, in a sense, ended?

(side-note tangent here: why the hell do I constantly find myself quoting this jackass? It's not like he's the only columnist I read. I guess he's just one of the more entertaining and opinionated, and even when I disagree with him, he provokes thought as to WHY I so violently disagree with him)

As for the article itself, I think he's onto something that I've been thinking about for some time. I honestly do believe the future of comics is in graphic novels, rather than floppy, ad-filled serialized installments. And even though I sincerely doubt DC is ready to make that jump just yet, would that even be a good idea? Are people ready for it? Would comic stories be affected if DC only made graphic novels from now on? And if they were adversely affected, would it matter? Going to all-collected format would make comics instantly more accessible for mainstream bookstores and libraries.

Because while I don't think comics are going to "die" any more than theatre is, the fact is that both comics and theatre are increasingly becoming niche arts. And in both comics and theatre, there are certain people who looooove being kings of their own little molehills, major and revered celebrities within the art but total nobodies to the world at large. People like this often fight their art getting wider exposure, often fearing average idiots coming in and ruining the art... and also fearing that they'll lose their status, once it's proven that they're just big fish in small ponds.

I dunno. I have no real point here. I'm just musin'. Any thoughts? I'm just seeing comic readers and theatre goers alike getting older and older, with less and less people of younger generations coming to take their place. Again, the art will never go away. But especially with comics, I just wonder what will be left of them in fifty years?

Comments

[holli.livejournal.com]

I definitely agree that with comics, a big part of the problem is how many fans are threatened as hell by the idea of change. Which often translates to them being threatened by *other fans*, when they arent't the kind of fans they're used to.

Which leads to me being very, very cranky. Sigh.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

that's part of the problem with comics increasingly becoming a niche, because the niche will struggle furiously to fight against change and expansion.

[lairdofdarkness.livejournal.com]

I posted a while ago (sorry cant remember exactly when!) that all comic companies shoudl drop floppies and move to trade only.
Several advantages (I havent read the article yet, so apologies if I repeat some things)
No delays
self contained stories that are not constrained by the continuity cops
no fill ins required
The end of the crossover (personal yay from me)
Cheaper comics for all

thats just off the top of my head. Of course it will never happen but I can dream.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

My only question is how will DC survive without ads? One creator said that ads were the only thing keeping DC alfoat. Because yeah, I'd love for this to happen.

[lairdofdarkness.livejournal.com]

Hopefully through better sales. They are consistently outperformed by Marvel and I dont think the quality of their stories is too different from each other.
Marvel probably market across their line better, where DC seem to only push the big 3 and hope that there will be splashover onto the other titles.
I love DC and only recently started reading Marvels stuff, so it breaks my heart to see yet another X book selling way more than Batman but thats the facts.
Maybe if DC did reset all continuity then they could build again but that would annoy purists (I have been reading Millarworlds thread on this topic)
http://forums.millarworld.tv/index.php?showtopic=72080

The seemingly constant cycle of events is harming DC. I personally have no problem but I am in a declining minority it seems. As a fanboy, I want all comic producers to be selling big numbers but quality story led big numbers. The industry needs Marvel and Dc especially to be big players.

One last thing before I dissapear into the Scotch Mist, how can smaller publishers make any money if DC is struggling? Lower payments to creators I assume but that cant be the only thing surely.

[disc-sophist.livejournal.com]

Ekhart -> Eckhart. Cool.

Things to say. I'll be at the show on Wednesday. <3

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Wayyyyy back in Harvey (Kent)'s first appearance, the miracle plastic surgeon that could have saved him was Dr. Ekhart, but the Nazis put him in a concentration camp. "Those Devils!" Batman cursed. Devils indeed.

Okay, now remember, the show is at 8:00, not 7:00. Some of my ads were mis printed. Huzzah!

[little-dinosaur.livejournal.com]

I prefer a damn good cup of coffee, but I won't turn down pie.

I haven't been very online in the last couple of days, so I must have missed it the first time around. Now that you mention it, I will avoid it like the plague. Though I'm curious. Will I know what it is that's getting spoiled?

As a non-American, I have a much easier time with trades than singles. My local guy pretty much sucks on singles. He says it's not worth it for him, and it's definitely not worth it for me to subscribe to anything monthly. Also, I tend to read things from 1995 and the trades are a lot easier to get ahold of. And they're definitely cheaper and more accessible and less filled with terrible ads. On the other hand, though, I do get a certain Zen-like joy from digging through back issues. That's pretty much the only advantage to singles at this point, though.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Well, you did comment on the post someone else did, responding to mine, "It Sucks Even WORSE to Be Elseworlds Harvey Dent," where we had spiked-bra Harvey/Darcy.

If you read mine, just avoid the VERY FIRST LINK where I say "If not, do yourself a huge favor and check out this, the greatest Two-Face story ever written." And then DON'T READ PAST the Frank Miller Bald Harvey Dent Dark Knight Returns Scene. I post the scene I borrow from in my story at the very bottom.

And if you do end up reading it... no worries anyway. I'm still going to take it in another direction anyway, but I'd still like the shock value intact.

OR... you can hold off for another month, by which time I'll surely have the story finished. I'm just stuck on one annoying little plot point right now, but soon I'll be back on it.


And yeah, see, I absolutely agree that trades are better! The first major complaint I hear from change-fearing fans (aside from the few who truly do appreciate that Zen-like joy) is "but... but... I grew up loving that feeling of waiting month to month, giddy with anticipation!"

Also, buying 2.99 issues gives people the precious illusion that they're not spending much on comics. It amounts to the same bloody thing!

The problem is, I think comics still need ads to survive. Could they make that jump? I'd love it if they could.

[little-dinosaur.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but I mean, I had to say something!

Cool, so I'll read the rest.

Haha, I can always rely on the totally uncollected "Shade the Cnanging Man" to supply me with my Zen-like joy. I didn't grow up with it, though. I read French comics as a kid, which are all released in hardback, longer-format than American comics. And they've got a huge market! Go figure.

They could even do a couple of ads in the trades, if that were the only format they did. I wouldn't mind a few pages of ads per hundred pages of comics. It's the fact that practically 1/3 of a single these days is ads for stupid movies or, for some reason, cars. That's like 1.25$ worth of ads! They need to either step up (trades) or down (college-newspaper style cheap, but with good art! And staples!) As a totally non-business-oriented person, that's my theory. They should do both. But a way-expensive glossy single is just not worth it at all anymore.

[adaptor.livejournal.com]

"I have now proved, without a doubt, that Harvey Dent is fate's tether ball in the DC Universe."

My all-time fav fictional character just got smack-a-fool'd pretty seriously too.

(I'm still thinking of your show and rooting for you - I've just been kidnapped by hundreds of pages of new canon this week.)

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Which favorite character would this be?

[adaptor.livejournal.com]

Severus Snape. Man, I love that greasy git!