Comics Biggest Blight

[HHComics]

Taking a note from the Silver Eyes threads, who is causing the most destruction to the comics industry today? I will begin the short list here and in a day or so, start a poll.
And remember, nominations must have supporting arguements. I'll begin;

Joe Quesada. The Spider-Man debacle aside, his hypocracy about smoking (which has seemed to slip away) and reducing the X titles, his inability to answer retailer questions and his overall opinion of comic fans (paraphrasing, "They're just characters in comics. Relax people!") makes me question why he's even involved in the industry in the first place. He makes Marvel money by preaching to the choir and setting the flagship titles (Amazing Spider-Man) and characters (oh, just about everyone in Secret Invasion) back 30 years to appease the aging populace in stead of trying to attract new readers. He is poison.

Short List
1) Joe Q
2) Jeph Loeb
3) Robert Kirkman
4) Dan Didio

[Temperance]

I've been mad a Joe Q. Since he promised Colossus was never going to come back to life (after fans inquired if his death was going to be another x-men ressurection where they die at breakfast and are alive again for afternoon tea).
Then Joss Weadon brought him backto life in Astonishing and Good ole Joe Q. said "Oh I never said that, I said I would only bring him back to life if it was a really really good story"

Thanks for clearing that up joe... "Never" means "Sometimes.. maybe... well... if I can make a few bucks out of it".

[PaulLavallee]

I've always been a big fan of Joe Q. I like what he's done for Marvel, and I consider him one of the most talented artists in the biz.
I've never been a huge fan of Robert Kirkman. I don't really get his books. He's written some real stinkers for Image back in the day. And I don't think Invicible is as great as everyone says.

[Cory Prime]

Jeph Loeb has lost his mind and yet Joe Q lets him write comics still.
Loeb is ruining the ultimate universe and the Hulk .

Why didnt he make the list?

[HHComics]

He shall be added, as will Kirkman for his single-handed attempted to start a coup in the comics world and for wanting it to collaspe upon itself.

[rgrzela]

Your right!
they do it for $$, so much for integrity.
Nice to see life/people will never change.

[Cory Prime]

He shall be added, as will Kirkman for his single-handed attempted to start a coup in the comics world and for wanting it to collaspe upon itself.

I'm not familiar with this.

Did I miss something important?


Also, can we add Greg Land to the mix? His "art" is atrocious. An exercise in tracing and yet he is still somehow able to keep getting work. (at marvel)

[HHComics]

He shall be added, as will Kirkman for his single-handed attempted to start a coup in the comics world and for wanting it to collaspe upon itself.

I'm not familiar with this.

Did I miss something important?

Also, can we add Greg Land to the mix? His "art" is atrocious. An exercise in tracing and yet he is still somehow able to keep getting work. (at marvel)

Here's the Kirkman thread. It's a bit of a read at this point but in the end, Kirkman's flawed logic and foolishness just shine through - viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2337&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=kirkman

I'm not sure we should add Land. Yes, he's not doing anyone any favours with his art but his influence on the medium as a whole is pretty small. There's not a lot of people going around saying, "I want to draw just like Greg Land!" whereas Joe Q has poisoned good minds, like Paul's, into thinking he's done good things at Marvel.

[PaulLavallee]

Yes, I am a Skrull Jay.

[no1crush]

I'm not sure we should add Land. Yes, he's not doing anyone any favours with his art but his influence on the medium as a whole is pretty small.

The saddest thing about this guy is, he's good when he actually draws (early Nightwing and Birds of Prey issues) instead of tracing with his lightbox.

[Nessa]

I've always been a big fan of Joe Q. I like what he's done for Marvel, and I consider him one of the most talented artists in the biz.
I've never been a huge fan of Robert Kirkman. I don't really get his books. He's written some real stinkers for Image back in the day. And I don't think Invicible is as great as everyone says.

I'm just the opposite. I like Kirkman's work and think Joe Q is a terrible artist who hasn't done anything good for Marvel.

[Chris]

I know it's like a given ... but seriously, why did no one add Liefeld? Maybe that's too cliche?

Or is he no longer a blight?

[Froggy Bear]

Dan DiDio

-Why does DC have only 6 books in the top 30 Bestsellers for September? How can they have a HUGE stable of fantastic characters, but produce only mediocre books.
-One word, Titans.
-What happened to Chuck Dixon?
-They frakking killed Martian Manhunter!
-Another word. Flash.
-Why did James Robinson quit Superman?
-Why was Blue Beetle Cancelled?
-Final Crisis was just botched, with the last issue NOT being drawn by JG Jones. Plus, all the rumors of re-writes isn't looking good.
-Following up Batman R.I.P. which should be an imortant event for a Flagship book is Tony Daniel. Who? Oh, the artist?
-What the hell happened with Coundown to Final Crisis, and why didn't the ending make sense, and wasn't it supposed to lead INTO Final Crisis.. but the continuity was all botched up...
-Frank Miller's All Star Batman #10 fiasco - worse excuses ever. Pretty much like Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfuntion".
-Cancelation of the MInx line. Ok, so as an editor he probably had nothing to do with that. But i just wanted to add it to the list of why i'm not happy with DC right now.

I hope that Geoff Johns gets a big fat Christmas bonus, cause he deserves it. Pretty much the only reason i read DCU books not including Wildstorm/Vertigo.

[Andrew Foley]

I had a post all written in support of my second least favourite element of the current North American comics industry (I realized as I typed this post that there's actually something worse), but I'm trying not to be as negative as I'm naturally inclined to be lately, so I'm not posting it.

Instead, I choose to rebut the original nomination, at least to a degree. While JQ is far from perfect, he is also far from the industry's biggest blight. So, to respond to the Shepherd:

"his hypocracy about smoking (which has seemed to slip away)"

While I believe his logic is faulty on that one, I don't think he was out of line in using his position of authority to try and effect positive change in a (theoretical) readership that could (theoretically) perceive Marvel heroes as role models.

While it's easy to come up with a glib counter-argument ("So smoking is worse than beating the living crap out of someone you disagree with?"), the fact is that the guy's father died of lung cancer and he doesn't want to contribute to lung cancer in others. And I suspect, though I haven't checked the numbers, that the number of real people who die from smoking-related illness in the real world is higher than the number who die from violence perpetrated by people in tights.

As for it slipping away: I don't doubt that some instances have managed to squeeze through the cracks, but as far as I can tell, there's dramatically less of that sort of thing being portrayed in Marvel Comics than was previously the case (taking cigars out of the mouths of Wolverine, Nick Fury, and JJJ probably cut out more than half the appearances on their own.) Also, if there were any way to confirm it, I would bet you money there are creators working for Marvel who are actively trying to slide instances of smoking into comics under editorial's noses. As a general rule, creative folks don't like being told they can't do things.

However misguided/egomaniacal/hypocritical it may appear, the guy was trying to do something good for the reader--and he got a lot of negativity for the effort.

"and reducing the X titles,"

Can't speak to this one. How many X-titles are being produced now, compared to five, ten, and fifteen years ago?

"his inability to answer retailer questions"

His inability to answer retailer questions, or his inability to answer them to your satisfaction, or his unwillingness to try and answer questions from a group of people, at least some of whom are going to find fault with his answer no matter what it is?

" and his overall opinion of comic fans (paraphrasing, "They're just characters in comics. Relax people!")"

A more accurate paraphrasing would seem to be: "If you don't like the comics we're producing, don't buy them."

I think Joe Q knows better than most that the properties he shepherds are far more than characters in comics; they're valuable intellectual properties that can be exploited across all sorts of media.

As for the stories that appear in the comics and the characters that appear in them: those are just characters in comics.

"makes me question why he's even involved in the industry in the first place. He makes Marvel money by preaching to the choir and setting the flagship titles (Amazing Spider-Man) and characters (oh, just about everyone in Secret Invasion) back 30 years to appease the aging populace in stead of trying to attract new readers."

Kevin Smith on Daredevil attracted new readers. Stephen King's Dark Tower attracted new readers. The Ultimate line attracted new readers. The Death of Captain America attracted new readers.

Perhaps you mean young new readers? Like the ones the Tsunami line, the M2 Universe, Gus Beezer, Franklin Richards, Power Pack, and affordable reprints of material suitable to younger readers like the Essential line, were intended to attract (however ineffectively)?

When it comes to superheroes, of course JQ's going to try and make the aging reader happy (though not to the extent that he'll allow it to damage the properties, which is why he took the hit for One More Day). So will Dan Didio--goodbye Bart, hell Wally, goodbye Wally, hello Barry. When it comes to superheroes, aging readers are pretty much all that's left. And doing the things that it'll take to bring new readers into the fold--like, say, presenting a version of their flagship character that'll be recognizable/accessible for viewers of said character's hit films--only gets him grief from the existing fanbase.

"He is poison."

He isn't. He's a guy trying to do his job to the best of his ability, and judging by the sales, he's doing it well, even if he's not doing it to your (or my) satisfaction. When he took over, Marvel was bankrupt or just coming out of bankruptcy. Now it's the #1 North American direct market comic publisher. Love him or hate him, that's largely down to Joe Quesada.

[Andrew Foley]

-Why did James Robinson quit Superman?

That's a rumour Superman's editor stated was false earlier this week.