"The alternative comics field is where new talents can try new ideas and develop the comics of the future. This is critical because new talent must have a place to go when it is frustrated by the "dinosaur mentality" that is threatening the comics industry today. The super-hero formula evolved in comic books over the last 50 years, and this served to entertain readers and sell books. In the general course of things, that formula became entrenched, and with few exceptions, remains with us today as a dominant theme.

"We're at the point where the "super-hero formula" threatens to choke and stunt the creative growth of the field through sheer force of numbers. Readers will be faced with an unhealthy problem, because unless there are publishers who provide an opportunity for daring new talent, super-heroes will continue to spawn other super-heroes, feeding on a single theme, always being copied and cloned. There must be choices and alternatives."

Will Eisner, in his introduction to Fantagraphics Books' "New Age Comics" #1, 1985. It was a catalog of alternative comics publishers, like WaRP Graphics, Kitchen Sink, Blackthorne, and Mirage Studios. He certainly called it on what happened to the direct market over the next decade. But in the bigger picture there've been lots of opportunities for alternatives to superheroes since then.

I don't think that's a problem any more. We've got more superhero tosh than ever, but we've also got a greater variety of comics than ever - Stateside, that is.

Whoa...Eisner predicted the Clone Saga 10 years before it happened!

It's kind of funny to watch what was going on in the mid-80s, when Miller and Moore inspired people to get a bit more creative.

You ended up with a lot of non-super-hero comics that read almost exactly like super-hero comics. Major examples would be Gilgamesh 2 and Camelot 3000. But before too long, people who knew how to write other things started entering the medium and you started to see the humble beginnings of the Vertigo/Indy Age.

These days, you'd probably be better off creating your own non-super-hero book than attempting to create a new super-hero.

1. THE WALKING DEAD (24,567) written by Kirkman
2. HAUNT (20,005), written by Kirkman
3. INVINCIBLE (18,996), written by Kirkman

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBiI6YRfWIY[/youtube]

Yup, much better off creating your own non-super-hero comic.

What dinosaurs are we talking about? The Troodontids, or the Sauropods? It makes a big difference.

Can't be sure, but I suspect Eisner had the Sauropods in mind.

Dino Paul Crocetti!

Not the pterosaurs!

I wanted to be a dinosaur.