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Lobo was the ultimate example of this. Made into a exaggerated version of everything that was wrong with comics...and the fans loved it.
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Dave Hackett: It's like he's become the sensationalist "Shock and Awe" comic creator he was sending up earlier in his career.
I've noticed that with a few creators. They come in with something that's a tongue-in-cheek poke at certain sensibilities (literally making Ultimate Captain America into a 'jack-booted thug' and stating so textually, in case anyone missed it) and then the fans of that sort of thing *eat it up* and leave them in the awkward position of pandering to the fans they thought they were poking fun at, because now they are associated with the exact sort of writing and characterization and sensationalism that they were unsubtly trying to lampoon.
In attempting to be sarcastic or 'ironic' or whatever, they end up being stuck writing the sort of stuff they were supposedly caricaturizing...
And then they get bitter and grumpy and blame it on the stupid comic fans who didn't 'get' their too-clever-by-half prose, since it didn't necessarily occur to their fans that they were paying the creator money to have the entire genre lampooned, and their tastes mocked.
Personally, I think he knew exactly what he was doing and what repercussions it would have. He has a long history of glorifying bullies and fascists and then, when he's called on it, he puts on the puppy-dog eyes and the shit-eating grin and gets all like, "I was just being ironic." BULL, I say!
In that thread that I linked to on the previous page, one poster says that Millar wants to retire at 45, so it makes sense that he'd pander to the lowest common denominator.
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I'm also reading and think it's excellent. (I reviewed in the random comics thread IIRC). Certainly better than any Capt Marvel story in 20+ years.
It's potentially the best thing Millar has done in quite a long while.
The fall-on-the-floor gorgeous artwork certainly helps too!
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Jerry: Is anyone else reading Superior? It's kind of fun.
quote:Originally posted by Cobalt Kid: I'm also reading and think it's excellent. (I reviewed in the random comics thread IIRC). Certainly better than any Capt Marvel story in 20+ years.
It's potentially the best thing Millar has done in quite a long while.
The fall-on-the-floor gorgeous artwork certainly helps too!
Superior finished up with #7 and I actually think its the best work Mark Millar has ever done. I think he's really began to mature as a writer, and especially with his creator-owned properties, is delivering some very solid stories.
The Leinul Yu artwork is also the best he's ever done as well, which helped. The coloring being nice and bright really enhanced Yu's work in a way a lot of his past Marvel stuff didn't.
What was so nice about this was that Millar set-up the entire story to be going the way a lot of his stuff does--towards the sensational or lurid--and then gave a nice bait & switch by re-focusing on the heroic aspect of the series. This is true not only for the main character, but for the reporter, who after 5 issues of coming off as "Lois Lane taken the extreme worst stereotype", suddenly gets to be rounded out a bit in #6 and #7 and really shine through as one of the best reporter characters I've read in years.
I think Millar is having a bit of a Renaissance right now with his creator-owned stuff. Kick-Ass was pretty good; Nemesis was better; and finally Superior was just flat out spectacular. Coming up, he has three things which look equally as good: Supercrooks (with Yu), Secret Service (with Dave Gibbons) and Jupiter's Children (with Frank Quitly). All three of these things look VERY good, and if they are on par with Superior, they'll be totally worth every cent.
It pleases me to see Millar moving away from his Marvel stuff and doing his own series. Even better, it pleased me to see Millar moving away from the uber-sensationalist style of story-telling. It's still there to a degree, but he's actually putting a little heart back into his work, and that slight shift goes a real long way.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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I agree. Superior ended strong. The story had a lot of heart without being overly sentimental. As I read it, I kept thinking it would make a great movie.
-------------------- No regrets, Coyote.
From: Missouri | Registered: Oct 2003
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I just finished Grant Morrison's "Supergods", and was surprised given the animosity Grant holds for Millar that he was actually (relatively) complimentary towards his former writing partner. Granted there were a few backhanded compliments and Morrison doesn't hesitate to take credit for a lot of Millar's ideas, but he was actually quite effusive in a few sections, especially when talking about the Authority.
From: Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada | Registered: Sep 2004
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His Superman Adventures is my favorite work of his. I am not a Superman fan but he made me enjoy that comic.
Next is his non big two work. His creator owned stuff has been good and his Authority was good as well (not as good Ellis' Authority but close...and Mark would agree to that I think)
At Marvel I liked his Ultimates but I didn't buy into it 100%. Still think it was fine crafted work. Same with Civil War...well crafted but I thought Cap, Iron Man, Hank Pym and Mr. Fantastic were entirely out of character. Probably the biggest example of so many characters being out of character...but the story overall was good. I just had a problem with how it got there.
From: Tampa | Registered: Mar 2004
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