A Sliver of Silver - June 1963 - Interrogation

"If we're talking about mainstream comics, I think there have been a lot of real tactical errors made in this century. I can't really read superhero comics anymore because they're not about superheroes. They've become so dark and violent and sexualized. I think it's a real wrong turn. I don't know how a company like Warner Bros. or Disney is able to rationalize characters raping and murdering and taking drugs and swearing and carrying on the way they do, and those same characters are on sheet sets for 5-year-olds, and pajamas and cartoons. I think there's a really odd and schizophrenic thing that's happened within the industry. Everybody's writing books for themselves. The median age of a creator is probably between 35 and 50 right now. Once they abandoned the notion that these characters were all-ages characters, they really limited the market.

"I think the bravest and smartest thing one of these companies could do would be to scrap everything they're doing and bring in creative people who would have the talent and were willing to put in the effort it takes to write an all-ages universe that an adult or a child could enjoy. If either one of these companies were smart enough to do that, I think they could take huge strides for the industry."

- Darwyn Cooke (November 16, 1962 – May 14, 2016)

Okay, DC Comics. You listen too, Marvel. The rest of you publishers, this message isn’t for you, but if you want to heed these words, go for it.

It’s been over two years since Darwyn Cooke passed, but I think about this dialogue more and more these days. What he says here is true. Comics have lost a lot of their innocence trying to be all dark, depressing, and “real” with their characters when comics are supposed to be escapes from the real world. And considering the original market for these characters are kids, the big two publishers have largely forgotten about that, and yet, every time some big film, almost always PG-13 and never lower in rating, comes out, the merchandise comes out like clockwork and then quickly reduced in price.

Then the question always pops up: Why won’t kids buy comics?

Mostly because you guys are making books and films for folks old enough to be their parents. Ben Affleck, the most recent actor to play Batman on the big screen, refused to let his kids see Batman v. Superman because it was too dark and violent. Marvel spent much of a year setting up a world where a Nazi pastiche led by an evil Captain America (who was presented as a hero in theatrical productions) is the real world. This would have been obscene in the glory days of the comics when kids spent pocket change to buy them.

There’s a generation of comic readers who have never spent $5 for 10 new comic books in a week’s span. Think about that for a minute. Comics were originally supposed to be disposable media. My generation was lied to saying prices had to go up because paper was getting more expensive. How do they explain charging $4 for both a print and digital copy of the same book, especially when there’s no physical product for the latter? 

That’s one of the major problems with comics these days. Instead of aiming towards the younger audiences, they’re pacifying the older, aging demographic by bringing in mature versions of older franchises. And this group is often the ones more fearful of progress in the industry.

Kids are the future of the comics industry, and they want to see characters that look like them or at least heroes with the same complexion being presented in a positive, heroic light. That’s not too much to ask, is it? Older, aging comic fans would rather bully and harass newer fans who first experiences with older characters are movies and TV shows. Older fans often complain about the “feminization”(sic) and “SJW-ing” of American comics and that books are being catered to “politically-correct” crowds instead of them and bully fans and creators of titles they feel do this, which is sad and self-destructive.

That kind of mentality is wrong for the comics industry as a whole. No wonder Japanese manga is still shattering sales records the comics industry could only dream of. Plus, there’s not a lot of old manga fans harassing fans of newer manga mostly because there is literally something for everybody.

That said, I am impressed that DC and Marvel are kind of trying to reach younger comics readers. DC has a pair of graphic novel imprints (DC Ink and DC Zoom) dedicated towards kids and teens as well as put out several monthly collections of comic titles, including full issues of newer titles, at a sub-$5 cost at Walmart. Marvel is using outside work with Archie collecting older Marvel stories in digest forms and IDW producing original Marvel fare for kids.  

It would be nice to see more family-friendly books published monthly. It’d be even nicer seeing more shows, games. and films based on these characters at a PG or even G-rated level. All this gloom and doom is unnecessary in the medium I love. There’s room for everything. It’s time for the big two to prove it once again. 

Check out Chris’s art on his Tumblr page and spread the word about this campaign to help his recovery.

These two panels from Batman vol 3 #32 should be seen, remembered, and repeated by everybody at Warner Bros. Animation.

Because dammit, I want more DC Animated films that doesn’t need Batman nor any member of the Bat-Family involved. There are so much stories to tell, and like The Riddler says, not every story is a Batman story.

That said, The War of Jokes and Riddles as a damn good mindbending arc.