tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620698560611640068.post4309039206699773274..comments2024-03-21T06:36:04.196-05:00Comments on The Idol-Head of Diabolu, a Martian Manhunter blog: A Few Final Words...Diabolu Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04685199809207954223noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620698560611640068.post-51394405845445062072008-10-22T16:33:00.000-05:002008-10-22T16:33:00.000-05:00I think it's as simple as publisher Dan Didio bein...I think it's as simple as publisher Dan Didio being an insular fan trying to sell to the same thinning fellow fans who've driven direct sales for decades. Marvel has many faults, but their outreach has really outpaced DC in recent years. Vertigo isn't the draw it used to be, and CMX is just another outlet for foreign reprints. God only knows what Wildstorm is supposed to be anymore.<BR/><BR/>My taste in manga is pretty limited (Rumiko Takahashi, Ryoichi Ikegami,) but I've been shifting my support to independent publishers. I'm buying more Image, Fantagraphics, and miscellaneous others as interesting items rear their head. I like the aesthetic of American comics, but the continuity incest and other debauchery has gotten too thick for me. If I want dark material, and I often do, I'll seek that out. I expect something different from my super-heroes. Kindness. Altruism. Humor. Wisdom. Like, y'know, heroes.Diabolu Frankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04685199809207954223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620698560611640068.post-25034506153875295362008-10-22T09:12:00.000-05:002008-10-22T09:12:00.000-05:00I agree completely. I still don’t understand why t...I agree completely. I still don’t understand why that is. I would think anything that would bring in non-traditional readers of comics would be considered an asset. I’ve long since stopped reading marvel, and I read very little DC these days (buying none, after this they will not get a penny of my money after loosing J’onn. Working for a library is a grand thing) Really, I’m down to some manga and Hellboy about now. <BR/><BR/>Not to say that manga doesn’t have its own stereotypes and problems, but the diversity of titles at least makes it sure I have SOMETHING I can enjoy, relate to, and that will make me think. <BR/><BR/>Sigh.Bookgalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03818125401769011993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620698560611640068.post-1190080496300266802008-10-21T16:45:00.000-05:002008-10-21T16:45:00.000-05:00Yeah, a lot of creators, including high profile la...Yeah, a lot of creators, including high profile ladies like Gail Simone and Devin Grayson, really love the Martian Manhunter. The problem is that he has to be written correctly, which means well, and that's too much to ask. If you can't summarize a character in one short, easily marktable summation, he's of no use to DC. Too deep. Too involved.<BR/><BR/>It's also that DC has become so hostile-- toward talent, characters, and female readers; there was no place for J'Onn J'Onzz there anymore. <BR/><BR/>Marvel isn't all that much better, and it goes to show with their treatment of manga (shoddy reprints and aping surface elements) that they just don't get it, either.<BR/><BR/>I LOVE that Dylan/Elvis comparison. I'd have posted it on its own if I had to.Diabolu Frankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04685199809207954223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620698560611640068.post-65739073690163066882008-10-21T11:51:00.000-05:002008-10-21T11:51:00.000-05:00I love the “Elvis/Dylan comparison. Its true. J’on...I love the “Elvis/Dylan comparison. Its true. J’onn is a thinkers superhero. I always said he was DC’s Shakespearian character. Its shameful they had so much trouble figuring out what to do with him, and ended up just throwing him away. I always wanted to see a Martian Manhunter story written by Neil Gaiman, there was something about J’onn that made me think he would have been treated, as he should be by Gaiman. <BR/><BR/>Comic book companies wonder why women gravitate toward the Japanese manga. Honestly, if they gave us more characters like J’onn: Soulful, thinking, mature, (and married, even if he was widowed) we might read more American books. J’onn had many qualities that I, as a woman, related to in a character and wanted to see more of. The depth of his love for his late wife and child was one of the most romantic things I have ever read, without being corny over the top type romance. It felt real. He felt real, never mind the shape shifting and the Martian DNA- he felt like a real person. Now we don’t have that anymore…and I think many of us female readers that loved him haven’t much reason to stay with DC anymore.Bookgalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03818125401769011993noreply@blogger.com