Comics/Graphic Novels

DwnWthVwls · 05-29-2020, 06:57 PM

Ive come to realize that super hero comics are just fan fiction that people dont think is lame.. It'd be a lot cooler if there was just one story, and if people wanted to make their own story they made their own characters.

The Batlord · 05-29-2020, 07:05 PM

Well duh it's fanfiction. The sort of idea that it's one continuous story is a misnomer. Any series of any character of any length is going to basically be broken down into runs by specific creative teams where you'd be better off reading each run as a self-contained piece of work featuring that character rather than as an actual chronology of that character. The point is in the suspension of disbelief where you accept this but still accept the greater continuity of the character and the universe as a whole. You just have to choose how you perceive that universe. It's by far and away not a perfect system but without it Superman would have ended decades ago and Superman: Birthright wouldn't exist and the world would be sadder for it.

DwnWthVwls · 05-29-2020, 07:17 PM

I never really thought about it before, but thats what I dont like. I think this is why I prefer things like Saga/Fables.

Do they still make conituations of the original storylines or is it all fanfic style?

The Batlord · 05-29-2020, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DwnWthVwls

I never really thought about it before, but thats what I dont like. I think this is why I prefer things like Saga/Fables.

That's a perfectly valid approach. If all we had was soap opera style long running series I'm sure I'd be begging for more self-contained stories. But not every writer necessarily has a great original concept in them, or not every idea they might have that could be applied to a long running series needs to be an original concept. And some writers might just have stories for long running series that they just really want to make. I mean there's nothing wrong with fanfiction. It's just that it has a bad reputation because it's generally associated with amateurs.

Quote:

Do they still make conituations of the original storylines or is it all fanfic style?

Sure. It might not be exactly what you're looking for or expecting and most writers probably aren't walking encyclopedias of continuity but some writers absolutely do expand on old stories.

I mean Grant Morrison's Batman heavily features Damian Wayne as a new Robin who is the child of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, daughter of R'as al Ghul. Damian is a character who featured in like one panel in exactly one story from 1987 almost 20 years earlier where Batman and Talia got married for like a week before the whole thing fell through and Talia gave birth to a child who was given up for adoption at the end of the comic and never mentioned again until Grant Morrison started writing for Batman and ran with the ****ing idea.

Or Under the Red Hood where in the 80s there was a second Robin after Dick Grayson gave up being Robin to become Nightwing but the second Robin was murdered by the Joker but twenty years later they brought back that Robin as a Punisher style vigilante trying to prove that he was a better Batman than Batman

Or just look at how Jean Grey's death in the Dark Pheonix Saga has been upended countless times in the comics in a cycle that continues to this day.

Superhero comics are always recycling old story lines in new ways. It's part of the medium.

The Batlord · 05-29-2020, 07:44 PM

And please look up the massive cluster**** that is Crisis on Infinite Earths. If DC ever manages to get a movie universe off the ground that people actually watch I'm sure it will end up being their Infinity War/Endgame. Probably the single most famous comic storyline in history at least for nerds and it's all about decades of continuity coming to a head.

The Batlord · 05-30-2020, 03:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elphenor

going through everything Alan Moore

read Killing Joke, which I think is just the perfect Batman and Joker story

then his Superman "Whatever happened to the Man of Tomorrow"

I've noticed some of the best Superman stories start by letting you know Superman is going to die, that's the case with this one, and it was probably at least as good as All Star Superman

it's generally Moore's schtick to write stories where the hero doesn't really "win" in the end, that's what makes them compelling

1. Read Miracleman.

2. Read Miracleman.

3. Recently got the TPB of "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow" which includes his other Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything".

4. Read Miracleman.

The Batlord · 05-30-2020, 03:41 AM

Miracleman is way nuttier than Watchmen is. After he left the book and Neil ****ing Gaiman took over it almost got even crazier.

The Batlord · 05-30-2020, 05:22 PM

Holy ****, Superman: American Alien is my new favorite thing. Another look at Superman's origins but with each issue being a snippet of one time period that was important to Clark Kent's life. And just read this **** cause it kills me. Clark winds up on Bruce Wayne's yacht who is currently still training to be Batman and no one has seen him for 12 years but somehow he still throws birthday parties that he does not attend.

Spoiler for bigass pics:

My favorite part is that that girl he's with is a pre-furry Cheetah of Wonder Woman villain fame. So Superman ****ed Cheetah. Did a durn good job too apparently.

DwnWthVwls · 05-30-2020, 11:58 PM

What the heck did I just read? lol

The Batlord · 05-31-2020, 05:59 PM

TFW you see the 77 gig torrent for all ten seasons of Smallville that's been going for two days is now at 99%

Quote:

Originally Posted by elphenor

this was gud

Yeah at first seeing that Clark and Lex knew each other as kids like the Smallville TV show that was going on at the time I rolled my eyes but how it was used hit me real good in the feels. I've been Clark and I've been Lex and I'm still Clark and Lex but mostly Lex.