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From: moriarty@fluke.UUCP (The Napoleon of Crime)
Newsgroups: net.comics,net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Leeper's views on comics...
Message-ID: <2580@vax4.fluke.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 25-Aug-85 03:20:28 EDT
Article-I.D.: vax4.2580
Posted: Sun Aug 25 03:20:28 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 26-Aug-85 01:41:55 EDT
References: <1075@mtgzz.UUCP>
Followup-To: net.comics
Organization: The Institute for Criminal Masterminds
Lines: 43
Xref: watmath net.comics:1986 net.sf-lovers:9769

I'm here to put out a smoldering ember before it becomes an inner-newsgroup
flaming (literally) inferno:

In article <1075@mtgzz.UUCP> leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) writes:
>[...] Then I did not read more than a comic book a year
>until relatively recently.  What I did read convinced me that comics were
>maturing a little but were still silly and banal.  Recently a friend who is
>a big comic fan got me reading a few.  My conclusion is that my distaste for
>super-heroes rules out the vast majority of comics sold.  At some point, I
>will probably write a general article about my conclusions about comic
>books.

Well, Mark, I read a fair number of comics, although a small amount of the
total output of the varied publishing companies, and my general conclusion
about the maturity of comics is this:  Sturgeon's Law, i.e. 90% of
everything is crap.  Goes for comics.  Goes for films.  Goes for (gasp!)
science fiction and mysteries and novels.  Goes for net news articles (and
as this one seems to be headed for the larger of the two percentages, let me
sum up).  I don't know about comics becoming more mature -- mature, to me,
means being polite and reasonable, and, By George, you couldn't ask for a
quieter and more well-behaved tenant in that basement or attic or guest room
than a box of comics.  I think comics have *improved* a good deal over the
last 10 years, due mostly to an older group of people reading them, who have
gotten tired of cliches and have developed the demand for more refined (more
complex, more realistic characterizations, more IMAGINATION and ORIGINALITY
-- the latter two are the most important, and the most frequent of pleasant
surprises in the latest wave of comics).  The increase in the number of
independent publishers and the introduction of the direct-sales (to comic
shops) market have made this market viable, and thus we have gems like
CEREBUS and ZOT! and AMERICAN FLAGG! and AMBUSH BUG and JOURNEY and etc,
etc, etc.  We unfortunately also have G.I. JOE, A REAL AMERICAN HERO and
MARVEL SECRET WARS, but hey, we call it T.S.'s law because it is a LAW, like
gravity, light speed, and death & taxes.

Well, anyway, I bet all you sf-lovers are sick of this discussion, so from
now on, how about any follow-ups going to net.comics?  Alright...

       "Living without hallucinations is like breathing with only one nostril"

                                        Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
ARPA: fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPA
UUCP: {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb1, lbl-csam}!fluke!moriarty
<*> DISCLAIMER: Do what you want to me, but leave my employers alone! <*>