The Bendis Board comes out against nostalgia:
“Do youremember when comics were just all about the fun? Lots of people talk about that. This mysterious time when comics were all about having fun. Creators talk about getting back to that, bitter readers and retailers lament those bygone days. But who, reading comics today, can remember when comics were fun? Yes, comics have gotten progressively darker, but that is simply because earlier books paved the way. Was there drug abuse and teen suicide in the 60s? Yes! But would it have been cool to talk about that in Spidey #2? No. Does that mean that Spiderman was not dark? He’s a kid (a KID) dealing with guilt over the murder of his uncle. That’s dark! Do you remember when comics were just all about the fun? I don’t. I don’t think fun comics have existed since Marvel hit the scene. Since then, comics (in GENERAL. Obviously not every single title) have been as dark as cultural norms would allow. Am i wrong? Then name names. When were comics just fun? Name the time, and name the books.”
“Comics were so much lighter when Jean Grey was slaughtering whole planets and Matt Murdock’s ex-girlfriend was murdered! Or when Superman nearly did a porno!”
Well, that last one was pretty funny. Not intentionally, mind you, but still…
January 19th, 2008 at 7:02 am
No accusations of an anti-Bendis agenda on the part of McMillan in the comments? You’re slipping, Graeme.