Mark Waid gives good interview over at Paste Magazine:
The grimness [of superhero comics today] is just absurd. It’s “how do we out-grim each other, how do we out-violence each other”. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not offended because I want comics to be like they were when I was a kid. I don’t care. I don’t want comics to be like they were when I was a kid because I still have my comics. If I need that I’ll go look at those. What I need is for comics to not cheapen out and just do what they think a bunch of bloodthirsty 15 year old fans want. Stop trying to gross us out with blood and violence. It’s just cheap. It’s bad storytelling. I’m not offended on a moral or ethical level, I’m just offended on a creativity level. There are other ways to create tension and drama than to have somebody stabbed through the back with a sword.
He also talks about giving the Hulk a sense of hope in his new Indestructible Hulk series. Genuinely, I cannot wait for that.
August 24th, 2012 at 12:30 pm
I wonder what he thinks of Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force run. If he thinks that is bad story-telling he is simply wrong.
August 24th, 2012 at 12:41 pm
I agree completely about all the blood and gore, being a cheap way to tell a story. If we could stop killing off all of my favorite characters, that would also be a plus.
August 24th, 2012 at 1:20 pm
Kingdom Come, Empire, Irredeemable…
… all pretty “grim,” right?
Don’t get me wrong… I really love reading his work… but, I’ve been following Waid on twitter… and he seems to be rather opinionated to the point where his opinion is the only one that matters.
The Remember X-Force example is perfect… it is very “grim,” but noone could possible convice me that Remember is not flexing some creativity muscles…
August 25th, 2012 at 10:43 am
I LOVE me some violence in my comics, but it shouldn’t be in every book. However, Waid is beating this drum awfully hard.
August 25th, 2012 at 1:44 pm
Mark Waid, without a doubt, the best mainstream superhero comic book writer working right now!
August 26th, 2012 at 4:35 pm
Waid on Daredevil and Hulk and Rucka on Punisher are making me seriously reconsider my policy of not buying Marvel. They’re incredibly talented writers.
August 27th, 2012 at 8:32 am
The violence in X-Force isn’t over-the-top. I’d say it’s proportional to the characters and threats involved.