By which I mean, what changes would you like to see in the content of mainstream comic books nowadays? What trends in the content of mainstream comics do you feel are going in the wrong direction? (Got a meeting to attend so I'll chime in later).

All ages content. Every issue is somebody's first issue. Newstand distribution. Schedules maintained.

Content, guys, content!

A few of mine:

a return to single issue stories (or brief 2-3 parters) along the lines of Moore's
Swamp Thing American Gothic arc
the abolishment of "guest appearances"
the abolishment of "crossovers" and "cross-company crossovers"
every book has its own view of the world and tone
more cool science fictiony ideas like The Bottle City of Kandor
wider range of genres -- romance, war, sci-fi, detective, western, horror, adventure
leave Manga out of mainstream superhero titles; let Manga be Manga
wider range of art styles
more humor titles like Blue Devil or Ambush Bug
better pacing of stories -- actual codas and epilogues of stories with spirited
debate among the characters, instead of stories that end abruptly
fewer "splash" pages and more panels per page (around 5 or 6, on average)
lots and lots of subplots on the back burner ala New Teen Titans or Elementals
sunnier, more optimistic artwork and storylines
more characterization

Maybe "abolishment" is a strong word, but that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

You are contradicting yourself here Andrew, Although I do feel that there are way to many superhero tittles drawn with a Manga style.

I think some titles look nice in Manga style but I feel the artist must match the title.

It also depends on the artist, as the word Manga has come to mean cartoony artwork, I think their are allot of Manga artist that can do justice to superhero books and draw more realistic characters.

I would like for traditional Super-hero comics (Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, etc.) to go back to the age group they were originally intended for. If adults want to enjoy them, that's fine, but enjoy them like a Bugs Bunny cartoon, not like NYPD Blue.

Divirsity of content like we saw up to the early 70s. Meaning horror, western, comedy, etc. titles. Publishers need to stop playing the safe bet of 10 X-Men and Superman titles.

Single to double issue storylines for the most part, but not as a hard rule that can't occasionally be broken.

Comics that come out on schedule, whether it's monthly, semi-monthly, bi-monthly, what have you.

Annuals that reprint stories from years past.

I agree 99% with Leo's suggestions, the only thing I'd change is the last item:
"Annuals that reprint stories from years past."

I'd rather see digests (ala Archie) with reprints. And annuals come back as they once were: double-size "special event" stories

Even with all of these changes, though, *my* buying habits wouldn't change. I do think it'd make for a better industry, though.

Yes, digests, REAL Annuals, age-appropriateness, diversity of market, consideration for our past AND our future. Full-colour Essentials....

I'll concede the annuals to being new and digests (I always loved those as a kid), and I would like to see a regular series of reprints at regular cover price. Like Marvel Tales and the rest used to do.

I actually prefer the black and white for the Essentials.

Grrrr. Okay, I'll suffer with reprints in colour (as you say, Marvel's Greatest Comics, and Marvel Super-Action!) and you can have yer crummy Essentials!


(Honestly, I prefer single issues anyway!)

Kindly point out my contradiction. Just curious, what superhero titles do you feel are well suited by a Manga style, except Manga? By Manga, incidentally, I do mean Manga -- with the great big eyes. The comics that look like Speed Racer and Star Blazers. Would you make Swamp Thing a Manga title?

You are stating you'd like to see a wider range of art styles but are saying let Manga be Manga.

The word Manga is the equivalent to the word comic book, and as in comic books there are a variety of art styles and content.

I understand that the word Manga has been associated with "great big eyes", and the two examples you state Speed Racer and Star Blazers. are more Anime than Manga.

Basically I would say there is the same range in manga as in American comics (that is of course more than just the big two).

I know what's being pushed on the American market is limited, the same with what is being pushed on the Japanese market with superhero books here.

Example: for a while it was Spawn, lately it's Jim Lee's Batman run....true both represent American superhero comics but not all superhero comics are drawn that way.

Would I make Swamp Thing a Manga title? yes, given the artist talent lends itself to the material. It's more a matter of an artist talents and not a preconceived notion that Manga has to have "great big eyes".

what superhero titles do I feel are well suited??

any really depends on the title and the artist.

I Liked what HUMBERTO RAMOS did on CRIMSON but did not think what he did on spider-man was fitting with that title. and I do think he went a little over the top.

with that said most "manga style artist" that I see being used on superhero comics have the same style so dose that style fit superhero comic....sometimes yes sometimes no, I don't like some of the "manga style" superhero books for the same reason I don't like some of the American style books..artwork. some artist can pull it off no matter what their drawing styles are like some cannot.

the biggest failing is trying to hard to look like anime, IMHO.

Manga is getting a bad rap...and most of the artwork in the superhero books is not really manga, it's anime style artwork and a very specific style.

I could if you wish find various styles and range of manga and post examples.

Link History of manga:

http://www.dnp.co.jp/museum/nmp/nmp_i/articles/manga/manga1.html

I wouldn't mind seeing the standard of 22 pages raised back to 32 pages... but that would mean the standard price would be about four bucks (American).

I think that new series need to start with a great first issue. Even if the first issue is the beginning of a lengthy story arc, it should make the reader say "wow, that is a great book". Comics are expensive and a new series really can't afford to stumble out of the gate.

I would also like to see more finite series. Most titles that aren't part of the big franchises are dead on arrival. I'd rather see more limited series that tell a complete story, rather than tons of cancelled series that are interrupted mid-stream.

Michael

Fewer X Titles.
No mainsteam manga title art period. Not fro superspecials, nada.
Some anthology titles, especially those that feature Sci-Fi stories rather than super heroes.
Less arguing among the retconers and restorers ("I've totally changed the origon of Dyna Girl","No, no you haven't, I've restored her origin and undone the other 40 years of changes that have occured since the first panel of her first issue").
A mix of single issue stories (that are actually complete stories and not just the hero laying on the couch for 22 pages) and longer stories that have the story"weight" to justify their length.
A crossover by a character that actually takes place in the other companies main run. Can you imagine She-Hulk runing around the DC universe for Twelve issues?

Okay I definitely feel I'm going to be in the minority here but hey, what the heck.

More creator owned work first off. I don't want just new things and creator owned things, but I want a fine mix. Imagine if Alan Moore would have written a Superman title in addition to his beautiful ABC books. That way, those who enjoy creator owned and company owned works would remain happy.

Also, take more chances! Four Superman, Batman, X-Men, Spiderman and soon to be Avengers titles is to much. Give each one two (for now at least) and trim the fat from there. And do we really need the extended Batman family of titles?

While we're at it, no more crossovers for the next two years, period. Work up the standard of the individual issues then crossovers. Creators are also to work in a story structure, everything has a beginning middle and end. It can be from half an issue to I'd say six issues for the max for this mythical two years. Can experiment from there.

With less of the Batman etc books, can give more room for creativity in these universes. Can give Zatanna a mini-series if the story warrents it. More minis less ongoings. The big ones stay of course.

Just my 13 cents.

there was a time when annual giant size issues were common.

there was a time when creator own projects had their own imprint.

there was a time when Horror, Fantasy, Westerns, etc. were on the stands along with Superhero comics.

there was a time when you could pick up a single comic and have a total understanding of that book.

there was a time when you could go to your local newsstand and every month like clockwork the book you wanted was there.

what I thing I would change is try and change things back, I would go back to the mid 80s there was enough variety in the big 2 and enough independent companies that anyone age 8-50 could find a comic book that would interest them.

I realize that you asked for "content only" suggestions, but it's my belief that all the content changes in the world aren't going to amount to a hill of beans until the industry starts putting comics back in front of as many potential new customers as possible.

Exactly...we need to broaden our customer base if this industry is ever going to thrive again.

Edward

get rid of:
-excess of titles based on one character/team. one or two each at the most, and have each title be unique (i.e. super-villains in Batman, crime stories and mysteries in Detective Comics)
-superstar glut. Stop having Bendis or Jim Lee on every title
-crossovers
-variant covers
-shock value storytelling
-"big event" storytelling
-editors who can't keep creators under control
-instant TPBs

add:
-newsstand distribution
-imagination
-respect for history (and I mean history, not continuity)
-variety

The Bad:

Pin-up covers bereft of story content
Cover copy/dialogue for all but the humor titles like Blue Devil or Ambush Bug
Excessive, overwrought coloring
Imprints that have no particular corporate identity
The Anime/Manga style in superhero comics
Weak panel flow and storytelling
Partisan political grandstanding in comics with politcal subject matter
Hackneyed plots for superhero comics
Too much grim and gritty
Amiguously humanoid aliens from Outer Space
Endlessly rotating creative teams

The Good:

Marvel and DC's new Manga imprints
DC's partnerships with Humanoids and Archie
Vertigo
Wildstorm
Bringing new writing talent in from other media
Resurgence of the crime genre (where grim and gritty belongs)
Blending of genres (the Tiki Noir of Hawaiian Dick)

Having just read JLA: HEAVEN'S LADDER & been
discussing The Future Of Comics in another thread, it's
made me better able to clarify the changes I want to see,
which can be summed up in 2 words: MORE IMAGINATION.

I want writers to stop writing what they think comic-book
stories should be & artists to stop drawing like they're
connecting the dots. I want stories that make your mind
melt & art that leaps off of the page & bites you in the
ass!

As I mentioned in an earlier thread, forget "decompression"
I want "super recompression!" Stories that make it so that
you not only can't wait to read the next issue, but that you
can't wait to read the next page!

As Grant Morrison once said: "Intelligent is not necessarily the point; I think what older readers (and younger ones too ) want to see is not necessarily more ‘realistic’, in the sense of ‘filmic’ comics, but simply what’s lacking from most current books and that’s a sense of the truly epic, the unusual, the novel, the beyond simply mundane. Stuff they haven’t already seen in a movie or on TV, basically. And with the best will in the world, who really wants to watch Superman suffering agonies of doubt, for instance, when he could be wrestling Phantom Zone giants back into the 10th dimension ? If Superman felt any doubt at all, he’d know it was Luthor’s Doubt-O-Ray to blame and smash it up fine style."

He once made a point in anothor interview about this trend
writers seem to have about making comics more like movies,
when instead we should be trying to force movies to catch
up with comics. As he pointed out, movies are only just now
able to do the things guys like Kirby were drawing on a
page 40 years ago (the Hulk transforming, Spider-Man
web-slinging, the various FF powers, etc.) so now we should
be trying to come up with stuff now that'll take another 40
years to translate to the big screen.

And as our own, "Big Tex" Dave Farabee said on another
board, in a thread discussing the latest Astro City special:
"What did Superman do in the old days? Fly back in time, move the moon, out-think his oppenents in a hundred different (if sometimes ridiculous) ways. What does he do now? Punch his oppenents and fly into them like a putz. Sure, you get a Morrison, a Millar, an Ellis every once in a while, reminding fellow writers of the infinite possibilities, but that's the exception as superheroes become more and more straightjacketted by allegiance to realism."

My sentiments exactly! I want that sense of awe & wonder to
return to superhero comics. Comic-book creators don't have to
worry about special f/x budgets. The only limits are those of
their own imaginations. So let 'em loose, baby!

Just my opinion.

Big fun. When I was a little girl comics had big fun in them. They were bright, and colourful, and the good guys were the good guys, and the bad guys were the bad guys, and it was huge action and admirable characters and realism was for the rest of life.

I want big fun again...