Well I'm glad that 'blaming liberals' is diversifying it's market appeal. Hopefully it will find it's way into all facets of life.

You pick up a superhero comic book featuring a childhood favorite of yours, hoping to reignite some of that magic you felt way back when and you see that the opening sequence in the comic deals with an oil rig disaster. You immediately and disappointingly know what's going to be said, either by your childhood favorite or by some other character given credibility within the story. You turn the page, and sure enough, your childhood favorite grumbles about his/her country's dependency on oil or how inherently dangerous oil drilling is to the environment and how it's not worth it or simply mutters to him-or-herself briefly about the evils of corporate America.

One of Superman's earliest adventures (written by the men who created him) had him trapping a mine owner and a bunch of other rich people in a coal mine to show them how unsafe working conditions were.

Stan "The Man" Lee was hippy sympathizer and wannabe beatnik.

Captain America fought the evil forces of Richard Nixon.

The guy who wrote this is f*cking retarded.

thomps: am i missing a "that's the joke" moment, or does "lame, rehashed stories, pointless gimmicks, and lack of mainstream distribution" totally describe the current republican party?

I think you're reading too much into it.

/I'd also add in needless "ret-cons" to the list.

I thought Todd Mcfarlane killed comics.

thomps: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: thomps: am i missing a "that's the joke" moment, or does "lame, rehashed stories, pointless gimmicks, and lack of mainstream distribution" totally describe the current republican party?

I think you're reading too much into it.

/I'd also add in needless "ret-cons" to the list.

so you're saying that barack obama in't really batman?

Barack Obama is not Batman, he is Darth Presidentus a Sith Lord President in the fine tradition of Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln.

Wendy's Chili: You pick up a superhero comic book featuring a childhood favorite of yours, hoping to reignite some of that magic you felt way back when and you see that the opening sequence in the comic deals with an oil rig disaster. You immediately and disappointingly know what's going to be said, either by your childhood favorite or by some other character given credibility within the story. You turn the page, and sure enough, your childhood favorite grumbles about his/her country's dependency on oil or how inherently dangerous oil drilling is to the environment and how it's not worth it or simply mutters to him-or-herself briefly about the evils of corporate America.

One of Superman's earliest adventures (written by the men who created him) had him trapping a mine owner and a bunch of other rich people in a coal mine to show them how unsafe working conditions were.

Stan "The Man" Lee was hippy sympathizer and wannabe beatnik.

Captain America fought the evil forces of Richard Nixon.

The guy who wrote this is f*cking retarded.

And just look at the paragraph that proceeded it.

I can't say that I'm a huge comics fan. I had a few when I was a kid, mostly X-Men. I used to watch the X-Men cartoon, too

Hey idiot, X-Men fearlessly dealt with the civil rights movement and the racist undertones of post MLK American social and political organizations. If you didn't see that stop what you're doing now and go back to grade 9.

FirstNationalBastard: Wendy's Chili: You pick up a superhero comic book featuring a childhood favorite of yours, hoping to reignite some of that magic you felt way back when and you see that the opening sequence in the comic deals with an oil rig disaster. You immediately and disappointingly know what's going to be said, either by your childhood favorite or by some other character given credibility within the story. You turn the page, and sure enough, your childhood favorite grumbles about his/her country's dependency on oil or how inherently dangerous oil drilling is to the environment and how it's not worth it or simply mutters to him-or-herself briefly about the evils of corporate America.

One of Superman's earliest adventures (written by the men who created him) had him trapping a mine owner and a bunch of other rich people in a coal mine to show them how unsafe working conditions were.

Stan "The Man" Lee was hippy sympathizer and wannabe beatnik.

Captain America fought the evil forces of Richard Nixon.

The guy who wrote this is f*cking retarded.

Let's not forget, Green Arrow has been a tree hugging lefty liberal pinko hippie since 1969.

Yeah, but he's a 1%er just like Danny Rand, Bruce Wayne, and everyone else not lucky enough to be a mutant/alien.


SWEET CHRISTMAS!

kumanoki: I thought Todd Mcfarlane killed comics.

No he merely farked the stuffed and mounted corpse with out lube.

Slaves2Darkness: thomps: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: thomps: am i missing a "that's the joke" moment, or does "lame, rehashed stories, pointless gimmicks, and lack of mainstream distribution" totally describe the current republican party?

I think you're reading too much into it.

/I'd also add in needless "ret-cons" to the list.

so you're saying that barack obama in't really batman?

Barack Obama is not Batman, he is Darth Presidentus a Sith Lord President in the fine tradition of Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln.

No! He's Green Lantern John Stewart.

/He's the only black guy, right?
//Aside from John Henry Irons, I guess.

Wendy's Chili: The guy who wrote this is f*cking retarded.

Well, he's conservative, so his retardation is at least explainable and, perhaps, reversible.

J. Jonah Jamison steps up as president of Fox News

No, what's killing th comics industry is:

1) Endless event storylines that require you to buy every single title to keep up
2) Slavish catering to the whims of emotionally stunted fanboys
3) Fear of trying anything new
4) No longer writing main titles for kids

Once you've lost Kronkite AND Howard the Duck, you're done

Slaves2Darkness: kumanoki: I thought Todd Mcfarlane killed comics.

No he merely farked the stuffed and mounted corpse with out lube.

Then made a toy out of it and charged thirty bucks apiece.

...Hawk says he wrecked a restaurant's juke box because it was playing a Dixie Chicks song. Hawk was created to represent conservatism during the Vietnam War era, but today he's apparently a reckless caveman...

Sooo.... he's a pretty accurate depiction of the way conservatism has changed from a thoughtful philosophy with a few key values to a horde-like swarm of mindless drones that can easily be led against any target based on right-wing pundits' over-hyping of largely inconsequential statements and actions?

I hate to break it to you, Mr. Johnston, but the comic book industry is still just reflecting conservatism back to its readers. Comic books didn't change to make conservatism look stupid, conservatism did.

And your article is a pretty clear example of that process.

Wendy's Chili: One of Superman's earliest adventures (written by the men who created him) had him trapping a mine owner and a bunch of other rich people in a coal mine to show them how unsafe working conditions were.



And how about how dangerous working conditions at liberal media companies are?

I can't say that I'm a huge comics fan. I had a few when I was a kid, mostly X-Men.

Yeah, the X-Men comics were renowned for their staunch conservative values.

Flappyhead: I can't say that I'm a huge comics fan. I had a few when I was a kid, mostly X-Men. I used to watch the X-Men cartoon, too

Hey idiot, X-Men fearlessly dealt with the civil rights movement and the racist undertones of post MLK American social and political organizations. If you didn't see that stop what you're doing now and go back to grade 9.

Haven't you heard? The GOP have retconned history such that the civil rights movement was conservative and MLK would be out protesting Taxbongo if he were alive today.

My guess is TFA is about Frank Miller. Now I'm going to go see if I'm right!

I like how he complains about the caricature versions of conservatives in comics and then immediately proceeds to act like a caricature of conservatives.

Oh, dang. I read the headline too quickly and thought it was an article written by an actual comics writer.

Sorry. Carry on.

I'd spend more time reading comic books but the comic book store is a little inconveniently located and I like to purchase compendiums so I dont have to track down all the individual issues.

I suppose I should start relying on Marvel's online offerings but the guy at the comic book store seems like a likable fellow and knowledgable about whatever I am looking for.

Is "Liberalism" the Super Villain name of Joe Quesada?

FTFA: "Does everyone remember how last spring Superman declared he was going to renounce his US citizenship?"


Now, I may be wrong, since I'm not a huge Superman fan and I haven't kept up with the various retcons over the years. But the origin story is that he was born on Krypton and fired at Earth before the planet blew up, where he crashed and was raised by the Kents who found his ship in their farm field.

Yes?

How is this functionally different from a Cuban kid who was sent to the US on a boat because his parents were afraid of his welfare in Cuba? We'd deport that kid. He's not a US citizen, and a couple of US citizens secretly adopting him wouldn't be legal, either.

So when did Superman become a US citizen? DId he take the citizenship tests? Or did they just grant the non-human a free citizenship because he looks like a handsome white man?

Just like the author, I too like to seek out other people to blame for my failings. Rather than admit that maybe I need to look at things from a different point of view, it's better to double down and start lighting torches and grabbing pitchforks.

While TFH does cover most of the problems in comics today, I'm enjoying many of those "lame, rehashed stories" in DC's New 52 universe. Particularly Scoot Snyder's Court of Owls storyline in Batman and the sheer Kirby-esque insanity that is OMAC

Oh yes, very liberal. After all what other medium depicts women with so much respect...







/all very hot

Want to know why comics don't sell?

People my age have wayyyyyyyy more stimulating sources of entertainment than brightly-colored comic books.

Jazz it up. You have these tablets and smartphones which can display "pages", but add some optional animation and interaction.

Also, if you go back and read the original blog this blog links to, the complaint doesn't show examples of liberalism, it shows examples of cynicism. Which is a reflection of the times we live in, the economy, news media, etc. Frankly that's one of the things comics do best.

Marvel and DC comics have been too serious for their own good since about 1990.

And too goddamn expensive! Kids can't afford $2.50 for 12-pages of comic book (with 20 pages of advertising).

LucklessWonder: While TFH does cover most of the problems in comics today, I'm enjoying many of those "lame, rehashed stories" in DC's New 52 universe. Particularly Scoot Snyder's Court of Owls storyline in Batman and the sheer Kirby-esque insanity that is OMAC

O.M.A.C. is a great comic. I've enjoyed it a lot too. Anyone who hasn't checked it out yet really should.