New Loveletter tonight!

[Marv-El]

They can't.  That's why they make such a big fuss about the latest signing of a Gossip Girl writer. 

Another sad consequence of the celebrity writers is that those writers 'finally get to tell the (icon) story they've always wanted to'--the Bat or WW or Supes story they started when they were 10 and cannot be wedged into the modern continuity. When it works (i.e., when Darwyn Cooke does it as a standalone/Elseworlds), it's terrific. Otherwise (i.e., every other time) it's Identity Crisis (why did all the villains forget the heroes' identities?), and loyal readers get years of nonsensical stories as the company tries to figure out a way to back out of the cesspool. Why did the villains forget? I dunno; why have I been reading the stories of these people for forty years and never once seen any of them eat a meal, take a shit, or sleep through the night? Maybe because it's fantasy fiction and doesn't have to make real-world sense. Fuck's sake, if you're in a police lab and get hit by lightning, you don't run really fast, you fucking fry. Just write a story where the bad guy goes to jail. Shit.

[B-Lister]

Blis, if you never read the original Booster series, you should go back and pick it up.  I'm sure you can get it pretty cheap.  I haven't re-read it in some time, so I'm hoping it stands the test of time.  But I remember when it came out thinking it was so novel, refreshing, and new; and a really well done series.  At least the first year or so.
Could Booster Gold be the last really original hero of any worth to appear at DC?  Perhaps!

it's on my 'to buy' list. If I find it in a dollar (or cheaper!) box at a con or some out of the way shop.

and by 'really original' I assume you mean 'not tied to the legacy of any other hero'. Correct?

DC and Marvel needs some new blood, and a new direction. I think DC needs to contractually obligate new talent to create at least one new character for the company. Doesn't need to be that creator's baby, just something new, and different. See what sticks. Make it part of the contract, give them a little fat bonus, with the promise of royalties if it takes off.

[Black Lantern Cliff Francis]

They can't.  That's why they make such a big fuss about the latest signing of a Gossip Girl writer.  It's almost all smoke and mirrors, hype over substance.  It's why they're both perpetually stuck in big event mode..... it's the only way to keep people from seeing that nothing of consequence is being done, that no actual stories are being told.  IF they'd give some of these good journeymen writers, some fat royalty payments for creating superstar characters, we'd all win.

I really feel that if something similar to that model doesn't emerge, Marvel/DC comics are going to wither a long, slow death.  They can only go on with this status quo for so long.  Look at those numbers that Gard always posts for DC.  They are losing large swaths of readers.  And even the new, young readers that they pick up, for whom these old, re-tread characters are new; those readers will leave eventually as well, unless they get something frakking new and interesting.

I mean I understand that they view the comics themselves now as a loss leader.  And that their main interest is in the licensing and movies, etc.  But if they want to continue to publish the comics at all....
Plus, they're eventually going to need *new* licensed characters.  Because SuperBats isn't going to mint money forever.  Superman Returns was a frakking failure, from the business end.

[measle]

I hate to say it, but Superman is already trending down.  He's not a license to print money like Batman is, or WOlverine or Spider-man.  IF that can happen to the first and greatest it can happy (and will) to the other characters.

[B-Lister]

Batman is big mojo, but Superman isn't down for the count. He's still one of the most iconic fictional characters of all time.

I got into a debate on He-Man.org once about someone who told me that Orko's "O" was just as iconic, and just as important as Superman's "S".

but then He-Man.org always was fucktard breeding ground zero.

still, there were a few people who gave me hope. Not many.

[Gardner Grayle]

Could Booster Gold be the last really original hero of any worth to appear at DC?  Perhaps!

My opinion is that he's not.  I like Booster just fine.  I'm not busting on him, but I see him as part of the first generation of post-Crisis cobbled together heroes.  The Space Museum is a throw away idea from one of DC's Sci-Fi titles of the 50's.  Rip Hunter's time machine and a LSH flight ring make Booster a sort of Frankenstein hero.  The last really original DC character cut from whole cloth is Blue Devil from a couple of years before Booster.  Again my opinion.  Your mileage may vary.

[B-Lister]

like I said, the big two need a shot in the arm.

Marvel has gotten a few new characters, the Runaways come to mind, but they're all derivatives of established tropes. Molly's a mutant after all.

but they're doing a little better than DC in that field, it would seem.

[Gardner Grayle]

Neither are doing a good job and perhaps never will again.  Mike Mignola and Mark Millar have shown the way.  Guys just are not creating great new characters and then turning them over to Marvel/DC.  That's why DC is bringing in the Archie/Red Circle heroes.  It's why they bought Wildstorm ten years ago.  It's why Marvel is going through their GA characters looking for characters they can "refurbish".  It's why DC rotates names and builds up all these legacy characters.  It's why Dynamite and Alex Ross have culled all of the public domain characters together.  That and the fact that Ross cannot create anything original.  He has to "refine" the creations of others.  We will not be seeing any new characters who can carry their own titles for Marvel/DC in the near future. 

Royalties probably won't happen either.  Marvel bought the Ultraverse from Malibu Comics years ago.  And because of payment disputes with the Ultraverse creators, Marvel has not used these characters in a long time.  Likely they won't anytime soon. 

As time goes on, I think we'll see more of DC and Marvel buying up other universes.  I'd love to see DC buy out Valiant.       

[B-Lister]

I feel you. but like I said, If DC and Marvel were smart, they'd contractually obligate their creators to give them something new.

otherwise, they're just gonna churn out garbage, and tread water into obscurity.

[Gardner Grayle]

That's not a bad idea.  I still think it more likely that the big two will license and buy other comic characters to freshen up their universes.

[measle]

Batman is big mojo, but Superman isn't down for the count. He's still one of the most iconic fictional characters of all time.

I got into a debate on He-Man.org once about someone who told me that Orko's "O" was just as iconic, and just as important as Superman's "S".

but then He-Man.org always was fucktard breeding ground zero.

still, there were a few people who gave me hope. Not many.

Yeah the 'S' is iconic but that doesn't mean the character itself sells.  I think SUperman is almost more recognizable as an archetype than he is a character.  To "The Boy" Batman is cool, Superman is geeky.

[Black Lantern Cliff Francis]

My opinion is that he's not.  I like Booster just fine.  I'm not busting on him, but I see him as part of the first generation of post-Crisis cobbled together heroes.  The Space Museum is a throw away idea from one of DC's Sci-Fi titles of the 50's.  Rip Hunter's time machine and a LSH flight ring make Booster a sort of Frankenstein hero.  The last really original DC character cut from whole cloth is Blue Devil from a couple of years before Booster.  Again my opinion.  Your mileage may vary.

I see what you're saying, but really none of those elements is essential to Booster.  That is to say, he could have just been a from the future and brought back this tech--it doesn't have to be a Legion flight ring, or Rip Hunter's time machine.  They did that to tie him into the U.  But he himself is an original character and an original meme.  He really doesn't (or at least didn't) have anything to do with those established things.  The idea of a character more interested in being some kind of star or mogul than a hero.

[B-Lister]

Yeah the 'S' is iconic but that doesn't mean the character itself sells.  I think SUperman is almost more recognizable as an archetype than he is a character.  To "The Boy" Batman is cool, Superman is geeky.

I get ya, but I think if you showed pictures of the characters to just about ANYBODY, they'd be able to identify them BOTH. They're just that Iconic. You can't say Batman is more iconic in the mind of the common man, because they're both instantly recognizable in the mind of the common man. The only difference is the level of exposure. At this point, the average person is likely to have seen many Batman Films. He's lucky to have seen a Superman Film. And he's definitely not seen a MEMORABLE one in recent memory.

So yeah, Instantly recognizable, but definitely not as marketable nowadays. I really think Superman needs a movie, where he just whoops ass, to earn back his street cred.

the problem with Superman is that a lot of the things that make up his mythos and his world are not relatable to the modern era. He works for a Newspaper, in an era when Newspapers are circling the drain. His best friend is a copy boy who wears a bowtie, which hasn't been in-fashion in fifty years. His rogues are a joke (Though he's gotten some better ones in the last thirty years or so). So yeah, I can understand his predicament.

ask someone to name Ten Batman Rogues, Five Spider Man Rogues, and Three Superman Rogues.

I bet they can do Batman and Spider Man, but get stuck on Superman.

[Marv-El]

ask someone to name Ten Batman Rogues, Five Spider Man Rogues, and Three Superman Rogues.

I bet they can do Batman and Spider Man, but get stuck on Superman.

That's a great point, and the whole post is a great summary of the situation. Captain Marvel has a more impressive rogue's gallery than \S/. Gard, I'd like to see Valiant under DC also. Who's publishing the Gold Key Archives?

Speaking of original characters: a friend of mine suggested the other night that Alex Ross should be contracted to do an Incredibles book in 'realistic' fashion. I agree; let those fat models be appropriate.

[measle]

the problem with Superman is that a lot of the things that make up his mythos and his world are not relatable to the modern era. He works for a Newspaper, in an era when Newspapers are circling the drain. His best friend is a copy boy who wears a bowtie, which hasn't been in-fashion in fifty years. His rogues are a joke (Though he's gotten some better ones in the last thirty years or so). So yeah, I can understand his predicament.

ask someone to name Ten Batman Rogues, Five Spider Man Rogues, and Three Superman Rogues.

I bet they can do Batman and Spider Man, but get stuck on Superman.

Would you all rather see SUperman fade away than be kewlified to be relevant to today's audiences?  Batman has been subtly shifting since the 70's and keeping up with the times... SUperman would require drastic changes.  Would he still be SUperman at that point?

It would also, I think require more changes than just making Clark work at a website or something.  SUperman is inherently unrelatable because he's SUperman.  He's better than everyone else.  To a mess of folks that always feel on the outside looking in, Superman is the ultimate insider.   Yeah he struggles with feelings of lonliness and yada yada yada, but who the fuck really buys that?  Would you miss your fellow humans, if you ended up on planet of people that looked just like you, but you were super powered to the point of near perfection?  Yeah, I'd mist up thinking of my family now and again, but then I would fly and save the day and get the keys to the world and that would be that.

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