Michael Davis: Your Comics Suck

Michael Davis

Master Of The Universe, Lord Of All Media, Most Interesting Black Man In the World, Sexiest Man on Earth, Mentor, Writer, Artist, Producer & Uppity.

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15 Responses

  1. George Haberberger says:

    Pretty much agree with everything you said here at least with the point you make.

    However, Stan Lee wasn’t writing or editing Spider-Man when Gwen Stacy died.

    I don’t remember who the editor was but Gerry Conway was the writer. I remember reading that Stan found out after the issue was published and was not happy.

    Martha Thomases wrote a very enlightening article on this site about how the Death of Superman was conceived to delay the wedding of Lois and Clark in the comics so that the event would correspond to the wedding on the TV show. Now of course they are not married and Superman is smooching Wonder Woman. And I’m not reading Superman anymore.

    • All good points George. However, Stan Lee will always be the man who killed Gwen. Regardless of what really happened so there.

    • Malcolm Robertson says:

      As I heard, Stan didn’t object to Gwen death so much as he objected to having Peter’s actions result in her death. Originally, Peter catching her by the heels with a web caused her back to snap thus adding another layer of guilt to Spidey’s life. I think some reprints of the issue actually took the snapping noise out. That’s the story I got from a prominent artist back in the early 90’s when I worked at a comic shop. Like all comic store gossip, it could be complete shit. Stan has later gone on to say that it might have been the whiplash that did it.

      Regardless, I’m with you. I think her death was unnecessary, and indicative of the fact that comic writers seem unable to deal with successful realistic relationships for any sustained period of time. It’s no wonder comic geeks have a reputation for being socially awkward.

      • Malcolm,

        They did take the ‘snap’ out in reprints and they tried to clean it up later when the Green Goblin said. “She was dead before you caught her” or something to that affect. I was a kid when I read that but I clearly remember thinking, ‘how could the Goblin know that?’

        Peter Parker snapped her neck when he caught her and that’s what killed her.

        Damn him, damn him..DAMN HIM!!!!!!

        NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

  2. Mark Turner says:

    *Laugh* Great article! So a question for you, for those who truly want to make the industry better, how do they capture the essence of yesteryear and create that kind of energy again? (although the saying is “you can never go home again”)

    • Sean D. Martin says:

      how do they capture the essence of yesteryear and create that kind of energy again?

      Focus on story rather than event. Have a greater number of single-issue stories rather than “writing for the trades”.

  3. Glenn Hauman says:

    I didn\’t even know you had a lawn to tell kids to get off of.

  4. Russ Rogers says:

    I think Dan Parent is doing some of the most exciting comics around over at Archie. Some of it is gimmick stuff. But Archie MEETS KISS! That’s GENIUS! That makes me want to Rock and Roll all night, and part of every day. Even Archie meets George Takei is deliciously silly. Oh my! Kevin Keller was THE big story in comics a couple years ago. And Parent didn’t let that be just a rip off gimmick. Kevin Keller has become part of the gang. Even the Archie/Vallerie romance was clever and cute.

    • Russ,

      I’ll have to take a look at the books you are talking about. That said, I still don’t like the thought of Archie locking lips with anyone besides Betty!

  5. mike weber says:

    Despite my anticipation, i was pretty much disappointed in Kirby’s work for DC. Especially “Jimmie Olsen and the Newsboy Legion”.

    • Mike,

      Jack was doing up to 10 pages a day I’m told. That’s called called by some ‘The Kirby Barrier.’ I’m sure some of his work suffered a bit because of that but 90% in my humble opinion was still some of the bestwork being done at the time and holds up today if you ask me.

  6. Todd Maxwell says:

    I don’t think the comics were better then, so much as the best comics used to involve the superstar characters. Now days, the best comics seem to be independent books or characters not tied to the bigger universes. It used to be the best writers wrote their best stuff for the best characters. Now they save it for the creator owned stuff. Not that there is anything wrong with that.