TOP 10 Worst Things To Happen In The History Of Comics

[skybolt]

 

Can you believe this. Certain schools in the Chicago area, next school season, will no longer be using books in class. Thats right, no books will be used. You won't be buying school books. Every kid will be required to have a laptop.

 

 

That is just plain sad. It should be the other way around, every kid will probably already have a laptop,or easy access to one. But it should be required for the school, as well as the parents to make sure they have real books to read.

 

Do you know if the Chicago schools are part of a small local experiment, or is this just becoming the norm nationwide? I cannot believe the school actually is endorsing a program like this, even if it does save them money.

 

Nothing like curling up in front of the fire with a good laptop....ehh?

 

 

Ze-

 

I can tell you right now that the laptop "experiment" will be an unmitigated disaster. In law school 99% of students brought their laptop to class in order to take notes. 98% used it to email, IM, and play online poker instead of taking those notes. I was one of a handful of people who wrote by hand and it ended up saving me an enormous amount of out-of-class work. If 23 year old grad students are incapable of paying attention and resisting the temptation of goofing off with a computer in front of them, what chance do junior high kids have?

 

What's next............a microchip implanted in a kid's brain to help him access information during an exam instead of memorizing?!

 

It's amazing how many recent engineering grads can't calculate anything unless it's done via a spreadsheet format, or be able to draft by hand utilizing a basic scale and compass, instead of a computer software. Are they even practicing long hand in grade school these days or is all homework done via computer with a spell and grammer check?

[The Black Hand ®]

When the price went from 10 cents to 12 cents. It was all downhill from there.

[Timulty]

I will say again, Marvel. Yep, worst thing.

[otherworldcomics]

Looking at everyone's posts I can say I agree with most. The whole 1950's Comic Code fiasco is probably the darkest day in comics. However, no one has mentioned one of the latest terrible things to happen:

 

The Aging Elitist Comic Collector/Fanboy

 

This is the 30-50 year old guy who quit collecting/buying/reading comics 15-25 years ago but continues to trash all modern comics because they just don't meet his high standards like older comics. Three words: Howard the Duck. . To me this is a big problem because it does nothing to get new/young readers into the hobby. Yes, some modern comics suck. Same as some CA, BA, SA, GA books sucked. To me the thing is is to find something new (since it would be more relevant to new/young readers) you like and share that with those who don't collect/read comics.

 

My nephew gave me a manga comic to check out. It seems somewhat surreal to me, but I can see the appeal for a kid. The art is eye-catching and fun, it wouldn't be too hard to copy and learn to draw these characters. It's something new that kids can call their own.

 

It's small, digest size, like a secret that older people wouldn't understand....have superhero comics, on the other hand, become too respectable? As you say, the 40 year old guy, who blathers on about 40 years of continuity, how the older stuff was so good, blah blah... not too appealing for a kid. More like a lecture than something fun!

 

Exactly. What kid wants to hear about the whole 40 year history of the X-men? But if you can get them liking the newer x-men stories (where age appropriate of course) then they'll want to learn the history on their own.

[RDK]

The introduction of Superman back in 1938. Forever marginalized American comic books as superhero fantasy fiction aimed at kids.

[bigfiver69]

Without a doubt, it's the double edged sword of high prices and low availability that keep comics out of the hands of young kids. That's the worst thing that has happened to comics.

 

My son (who is 7) has all kinds of cool stuff in his life - Xbox, TV, role playing games, super-person_without_enough_empathyin' toys that we never had as kids... but he will never know the joy of jumping off his bike, running into the corner store, and dropping a small handful of change on the counter in exchange for the pick of all the wonderful characters, stories and worlds spinning in the spinner rack. He won't swap comics with his buddies, or read them under the covers with a flashlight.

 

That is just a shame, and while I try and populate his life with reading copies of books from my childhood, it seems a little false and unnatural. He shows them to his friends and they go 'what the hell are those'.

 

A cultural tragedy.

 

Shep

[skybolt]

Are kids embarassed to read comic books in public these days? For instance, for the first time in a long time, I saw this one 14/15 year old kid reading a TPB of a superhero book on the train. I couldn't tell which title it was because the kid had it covered up so no one could see what he was reading. It was almost like he was ashamed or something.

[sckao]

 

This whole discussion brings up a larger topic... Are kids these days less creative than the kids of previous generations?

 

They certainly seem less literate...

[DKB]

 

 

They certainly seem less literate...

 

omg r u kidding? kidz 2day r teh win.

[kenglo]

Todd McFarlane

The 90s

Superhero stories which seem to be over blown soap operas

[skybolt]

This whole discussion brings up a larger topic... Are kids these days less creative than the kids of previous generations?

 

They certainly seem less literate...

 

Let's put it this way. I didn't own a calculator until Sophomore year in high school (Chemistry and Geometry courses). Any way, since I was a huge Milwaukee Brewers fan, I always tried to keep track of what Robin Yount or Paul Molitor's batting averages would be after listening to the game on the radio. While I was walking to my friend's house or maybe taking a shower, I would literaly spend 15 minutes trying to figure out what Yount's new average was if he went 2 for 3 in the game, and now has 123 hits in 387 at bats. I would make tons of mistakes while calculating this number in my head, but quickly got better at it with more practice.

 

Doing this exercise has really helped me during meetings with clients. If someone is trying to figure out how many borrow pits will be required to store all the excavated material for a 10-mile long major highway project, I can run these numbers in my head and come up with an answer during the meeting (or out in the field where no one has a calculator)

[otherworldcomics]

This whole discussion brings up a larger topic... Are kids these days less creative than the kids of previous generations?

 

They certainly seem less literate...

 

No, I don't think they are less creative, rather I don't think many are given the opportunity to tap into that creativity. I remember being a kid and running around creating all kinds of cool stories and scenarios in my imagination. Yeah, our toys didn't have all the bells and whistles, but with your imagination your toys could do anything. Now we have 24/7 tv and computers, dvds, PS2, Xbox, and everything else. Kids don't need to use their imaginations anymore since all the "bells and whistles" are right at their fingertips. Two of my favorite toys as a kid was a Spider-Man web shooter, a wrist-worn dart gun with string attached to the dart, and my Spider-man utility belt (yeah, didn't know he had one either). Instead of pretending to be Spider-Man now the kids can just pop in the DVD or game disc and there you go.

[sterlingcomics]

No, I don't think they are less creative, rather I don't think many are given the opportunity to tap into that creativity.

 

And that's why I limit the number of technology toys that my 3 year old plays with. He gets to use his imagination with simple wooden toys and playsets that allows him to play out scenarios. I've also noticed how much more quickly he becomes bored with these "tech" toys.

 

I also read him some of the Disney comics I have around the house.

[skybolt]

No, I don't think they are less creative, rather I don't think many are given the opportunity to tap into that creativity.

 

And that's why I limit the number of technology toys that my 3 year old plays with. He gets to use his imagination with simple wooden toys and playsets that allows him to play out scenarios. I've also noticed how much more quickly he becomes bored with these "tech" toys.

 

I also read him some of the Disney comics I have around the house.

 

[nearmint]

The conclusion of WW2.

 

Great for humanity. Lousy for comics.

[skybolt]

The conclusion of WW2.

 

Great for humanity. Lousy for comics.

 

Jeff, are there any comic book related WWI titles out there? I'm not talking about cool covers and superhero stories (which I know came much later), but any piece of information from a non-history book format would be interesting to read.

[Deathlok]

In respect to the comic code for every action there is a reaction. I think if the code never came into effect then there never would have been a "marvel age" of comics which is my all time favorite! So I can't agree that it is the worst thing to ever happen to comics! It's a shame that the horror books and crime books couldn't just have been labeled for sale to ages 16 and older but in the heat of the moment I guess there was a big push to get rid of all "offensive" material because parents were outraged to find out what was going on right under their noses!

 

I agree with this. I haven't read enough about the Comics Code, but I just don't see how it is this great big evil thing that hurt comics. If anything it forced publishers to explore new areas which eventually lead to the supehero explosion. Who knows if the code hadn't been implemented, we might not have had the superheroes we have today.

[musicmeta]

for me it would be the shift towards selling comics in "comics shops" exclusively through the direct market, they have all but stopped selling comics in your local store and places other than LCS.

 

I'm sure many of us here bought most of our books (when we were kids that is), either at a convenient store or pharmacy,

 

I think this is a big reason that new comics sales are dwindling, kids 7-15 can't drive X amount of miles to get to their LCS for books, and they can't buy them at their local quick mart either, like I use to do..

 

when I was 8 (I think), and I used to stay at my grandmother's house, there was a little store right across the street from her house that I would buy my comics from, that's were I started my comics buying in fact.. if that store hadn't sold comics at the time, I might not be typing in this forum right now..

 

I couldn't agree more. The first comics I ever bought were at a drug store when I was kid. I was just a short bicycle ride away.

Some other bad things that happened to comics is killing off Gwen Stacy,

Re-numbering, foil/variant covers for the same book, TV and video games.

[joe_collector]

Could someone please tell me what these two sentences have to do with one another? If they're supposed to be related, it's the greatest leap of logic in the history of mankind.

 

This is the 30-50 year old guy who quit collecting/buying/reading comics 15-25 years ago but continues to trash all modern comics because they just don't meet his high standards like older comics.

 

To me this is a big problem because it does nothing to get new/young readers into the hobby.

 

I get pissed at Modern drek BECAUSE it's priced, marketed and written specifically for aging fanboys, and NOT at young readers. That is my MAIN ISSUE with Marvel and DC, and I think anyone here can attest to that.

 

Or to paraphrase that other guy, comics used to be read by smart kids, but now they're written for dumb adults.

[nearmint]

The conclusion of WW2.

 

Great for humanity. Lousy for comics.

 

Jeff, are there any comic book related WWI titles out there? I'm not talking about cool covers and superhero stories (which I know came much later), but any piece of information from a non-history book format would be interesting to read.

 

Not that I'm aware of. Comics, as we know them, didn't exist during the WW1 years, and I don't recall titles from a later period that explored those years from a historical perspective.