This month, I have a letter (edited for length) from reader Matt LaRock, who seems to feel that passion -- real passion -- might indeed be enough.
I am constantly amazed that the medium with the most potential for creativity continues to wallow in, at best, mediocre ideas and, at worst, unforgivable clichés, and then has the unmitigated gall to complain about the state of itself.If comics suck (and that seems to be the consensus of the public at large)... What other medium can boast (?) detractors whose most common complaint is, "Comics? Oh, I outgrew those." How the hell do you outgrow a medium? "Books? No, they're for kids. Movies? I'm too old..."
If comics suck... Superheroes who can be summed up in one sentence might need to go, yes? If comics suck, then maybe every artist whose only influence is other comic-book artists needs to leave, possibly? If comics suck, then maybe the mirror's a good place to start, yes? Yes.
Anyone in the industry has absolutely no right to complain. No right. We, the reading public, are being constantly bombarded by crossover after crossover, "collector's issues," "bad girls" who differ from each other only in the color of their g-string, etc. Quit trying to trick us into buying comics. You won't get my money for old ideas.
Start actually trying to earn my trust. Every time I open a Frank Miller book, I feel he's screaming at me to give him a chance, or a break, or cigarette, or anything -- just don't you dare look up from his work to go to the bathroom, grab a beer, scratch your nose, answer the phone ... breathe.
He doesn't ask, he demands.
Same with Garth Ennis. And Neil Gaiman. You're unconscious before you see a fist.
But don't think that kind of attention can only be gained from buckets of blood or foul language, kids; Jeff Smith can blow you away just as easily. Passion translates to a whisper as well as a shout.
Passion of the I-ran-out-of-ink-so-I-opened-a-vein kind attracts readers.
I'm tired of "creative" people who don't know what expressionism, realism, abstraction, etc., are ... who don't know thematically why the destruction of the Death Star One meant everything and why the destruction of Death Star Two was a simple military objective ... that heroes and villains are tied to each other inexorably, and that without one there can't possibly be the other ... that all fantasy armor is based on real armor from medieval Europe or feudal Japan... This all comes from reading, folks, from paying attention to the outside world instead of just hoping it will notice us because wouldn't our character make a kick-ass movie?
Cartoons of cartoons don't add up to crap. Influences should be broad and far-reaching. Is not our medium a combination of words and images?
Why does an industry that begs for respect constantly cater to short attention spans and sex-starved juveniles?
The industry ... the industry. Maybe there shouldn't be one. Erik Larsen and Todd McFarlane have both said that they may off their characters one day. Frank Miller already has. I respect that. Too bad the Star Trek writers weren't listening in. Can you imagine Kirk, Spock, Bones, and the gang in one glorious, final shoot-out in the Neutral Zone, killed in a blaze of glory? Didn't happen -- not with an "industry" in place. We need crutches, after all, if our spin-offs are to survive.
I love this industry, I really do, but the tears have to stop. Complaining about business then, like a bad restaurant owner, serving up the same old meatloaf is weak. I'm tired of it.
Sincerely,
Matt LaRock
Littleton, CO
If you'd like to submit comments on this column, or any other aspect of the comics industry, send them to:
Finish Line
c/o Dark Horse Comics
10956 SE Main St.
Milwaukie, OR 97222
Or, email to: finishline@dhorse.com