I think we're more in agreement than in disagreement, Not-Mxy.

Except that you have a more favorable opinion of Gaiman and Morrison, and I obviously don't. But that's just preference.



 Quote:
I'm Not Mr Mxypltk said:
.
 Quote:
Dave the Wonder Boy said
.
And as I said on the previous page, Moore said in a COMIC BOOK ARTIST interview that himself and others had unwittingly brought about a Dark Age in comics with their 1980's work, and that he was attempting to bring back an optimism and upbeat heroism that had been lost, when he created new titles like TOM STRONG and other ABC titles.

.
Exactly, but the dark comics trend was born from the misinterpretation of Moore and Miller's work: as I said before, people ignored the message and stayed with the darkness because it was "cool". I think comics today would be different if writers had imitated the other aspect of those comics instead.


But that would require work on the part of modern creators! And talent !
\:lol\:
I agree that exploiting the most surface elements of Moore and Miller's work is what's occurring, and has been for 20 years. And that's for the precise reason that it's easy.

I dislike, not only in the comics field, but in movies, television, music, and pretty much every entertainment form, that publishers, etc., don't even try for originality.
They try to find what they perceive as the ONE magic formula of "what sells", and when they think they have it, they machine-stamp a billion imitations of it.
And worst of all, when they do find people with original ideas and talent, they still want the talented material to be re-packaged into "what sells".

I miss the 70's and early 80's period, and prior, where there was also a fair amount of cloning of that era's perceived "what sells", but at the same time publishers were not afraid to put something completely new out there.







For that matter, I wonder if even Alan Moore's SWAMP THING, if it were first presented in the modern era, would last 6 issues.
Even at its peak, despite almost immediate critical acclaim, Moore's SWAMP THING was at best a moderate seller.

But DC believed in the book and promoted it hard with house ads in all their books, to the point that it had a chance to become a moderate seller, enough to keep it on the stands.

Whereas books before it (like Adams' STRANGE ADVENTURES/Deadman, like Kubert's STAR SPANGLED/Enemy Ace, like Kirby's NEW GODS and FOREVER PEOPLE, like McGregor/Russell's AMAZING ADVENTURES/Killraven ) were cancelled relatively quickly when they couldn't build the desired level of sales.

Which is a WTF of some sort, to have prematurely ended these great series, without giving them more of a chance. Kirby's NEW GODS more than any other, cried out for completion.
And I don't mean tragic HUNGER DOGS-style, half-heartedly and 13 years after the magic was gone.