Top 10 Problems with Comics That Fans Ignore
advertisement
VOICE OVER: Noah Baum
WRITTEN BY: Owen Maxwell
Don't get us wrong, we absolutely love comics, but for every so many ups there's always a down. For this list we'll be looking at problems with comics fans Ignore.
Have an idea you want to see made into a WatchMojo video? Check out our suggest page at http://WatchMojo.comsuggest and submit your idea.
Have an idea you want to see made into a WatchMojo video? Check out our suggest page at http://WatchMojo.comsuggest and submit your idea.
Top 10 Problems with Comics Fans Ignore
Despite creating a powerhouse film industry, comics still have a lot of fallbacks. Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 10 Problems with Comics Fans Ignore.
We're looking at the downsides to the colorful world of comics as both an art form and a business. We're basing our picks on troublesome narratives, financial dilemmas, and the hurdles that bother fans as much as newcomers.
With the amount of ink that goes into comics, a single issue usually costs between three and four dollars. For the meager 22 pages that you get at this price, many readers can finish a comic in under 20 minutes. Though there's a lot more color involved than a normal novel, plenty of ads fill the pages too. Since self-contained stories are rare as well, readers are generally on the hook for multiple comics at a time. Variant covers offer unique art but retailers often charge at least double the normal retail price for them. (xref) For fans still committed to buying physical comics, the bill is unfairly high for what you get out of it.
Publishers like DC and Marvel save a lot on printing and shipping when they sell digital comics, but they don't always pass this on to consumers. Amazon's ComiXology app usually charges the store prices for comics, without any physical product to show for it. There's also no guarantee users keep access to comics if ComiXology goes out of business. While Marvel Unlimited offers a more robust and thorough access to their back catalogue, you're always a few months behind what's on the shelves. Given how narrow the savings on digital comics are already, publishers nickel and dime you far too often on extras.
Collectibles and toys give fans a tangible version of their heroes, but there are hundreds of items just trying to cash in on comics. Products like Joker underwear shamelessly turn characters into commercial entities and rarely fit thematically with their source material. This kind of merchandise takes away from how seriously we see heroes and saturates our exposure to them as a whole. Between all the waffle makers, beard combs, and lewd water guns, licensed products make fans pay a premium for their fandom too. Though there's no shame in showing love to comic books, most merch is just too costly and gaudy.
While the art is what sets comics apart from books and films, drawing work barely pays the bills. Artists earn anywhere from 30 to just under 300 dollars for a page, which can take hours to complete depending on their role. It's also rare for illustrators to work full-time for one company, which means many of them are forced to take on multiple jobs. Pencillers on major series often sustain their rent with commissions, magazine illustrations, and other work. While there are a few people earning good money for their work, most artists struggle to move up in the industry. With demanding work-lives and little to show for it, it's a wonder anyone is still drawing comics.
No matter how many times the Avengers defeat Ultron or Doctor Doom, they just keep coming back. Big villains like Thanos get massive story arcs to heighten drama and lend weight to their eventual demise. After so much emphasis is put on their crimes and defeat, resurrecting a big baddie just cheapens what death means in their world. Reviving Baron Zemo through family or Red Skull with a mind-transfer also leads to a lot of redundant narratives. Fans rarely protest with their wallets, however, which only encourages the practice to continue. Given how many characters exist in superhero canon, publishers recycle their evil-doers far too often.
If you find the Marvel Cinematic Universe hard to follow, there's about 80 years of comics to consider as well. With such a massive backlog of stories and characters, trying to get into comics is daunting to say the least. Though there are occasional events like DC's “New 52,” it's rare to see initiatives by publishers to bring in new readers. Finding an entry point isn't easy either, as any one series is constantly changing what's considered canon. The high costs and complex ordering systems are also big investments for a newcomer. While digital platforms and graphic novels can help you adjust to the format, comics still have too many barriers to entry.
With movies, merchandise, TV shows, games, and even novels coming out about superheroes, the genre is quite full of content to say the least. Over 400 comic series release every month in North America, which makes it impossible to follow everything. It's easy to burn out on certain heroes as well, given that legacy heroes like Spider-Man often have at least three ongoing series at any time. Publishers have had to reduce their output in recent years, as their growing bodies of work exceed demand. As much as we love reading comics, there's simply too much to read.
A crossover event is an amazing way to bring heroes together, but the payoff isn't always worth the hype. Though there are a lot of interesting premises, many stories go on too long or end rather abruptly. There are also dozens of tie-ins for each event, that go from intriguing to exhausting for readers to keep track of. Crossover comics generally cost more too, despite the fact that they're becoming relatively common in the industry. Publishers are pretty erratic with how many consequences these stories carry on as well. For all the time and money events demand from fans, there are just too many risks to buy them all at release.
Sometimes a reboot is the only way to keep a classic hero alive, though that doesn't mean they'll come back like you remember. A new creative team will change a comic one way or another, and they're infamous for taking out characters that fans love. Additional switches in art style, writing, and overall tone can transform series into something completely different too. Reboots discourage publishers from creating new heroes, while leaving previous readers feeling alienated. Writers will even retcon beloved comics to fit a new series. While restarting a comic can give a starting point for new readers, it risks losing the people who care too.
Readers get tired of seeing the same stories play out again. Take for example the trend of villains who are just evil opposites of their heroes. Plot devices like clones, time-travel, and mind control have become so common that they're predictable these days. With so many similar origin stories, new characters get old faster and faster too. Reboots of iconic heroes are also guilty of repeating family deaths and major battles in their own series. More than anything, this kind of writing just makes comics more boring to read as a whole. Though there's only so many ways to tell a story, fans still deserve more originality in their comics.
Despite creating a powerhouse film industry, comics still have a lot of fallbacks. Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 10 Problems with Comics Fans Ignore.
We're looking at the downsides to the colorful world of comics as both an art form and a business. We're basing our picks on troublesome narratives, financial dilemmas, and the hurdles that bother fans as much as newcomers.
#10: Prices
With the amount of ink that goes into comics, a single issue usually costs between three and four dollars. For the meager 22 pages that you get at this price, many readers can finish a comic in under 20 minutes. Though there's a lot more color involved than a normal novel, plenty of ads fill the pages too. Since self-contained stories are rare as well, readers are generally on the hook for multiple comics at a time. Variant covers offer unique art but retailers often charge at least double the normal retail price for them. (xref) For fans still committed to buying physical comics, the bill is unfairly high for what you get out of it.
#9: Digital Can Be Just as Pricy
Publishers like DC and Marvel save a lot on printing and shipping when they sell digital comics, but they don't always pass this on to consumers. Amazon's ComiXology app usually charges the store prices for comics, without any physical product to show for it. There's also no guarantee users keep access to comics if ComiXology goes out of business. While Marvel Unlimited offers a more robust and thorough access to their back catalogue, you're always a few months behind what's on the shelves. Given how narrow the savings on digital comics are already, publishers nickel and dime you far too often on extras.
#8: The Silly Merch
Collectibles and toys give fans a tangible version of their heroes, but there are hundreds of items just trying to cash in on comics. Products like Joker underwear shamelessly turn characters into commercial entities and rarely fit thematically with their source material. This kind of merchandise takes away from how seriously we see heroes and saturates our exposure to them as a whole. Between all the waffle makers, beard combs, and lewd water guns, licensed products make fans pay a premium for their fandom too. Though there's no shame in showing love to comic books, most merch is just too costly and gaudy.
#7: Artists Remain Fairly Underpaid
While the art is what sets comics apart from books and films, drawing work barely pays the bills. Artists earn anywhere from 30 to just under 300 dollars for a page, which can take hours to complete depending on their role. It's also rare for illustrators to work full-time for one company, which means many of them are forced to take on multiple jobs. Pencillers on major series often sustain their rent with commissions, magazine illustrations, and other work. While there are a few people earning good money for their work, most artists struggle to move up in the industry. With demanding work-lives and little to show for it, it's a wonder anyone is still drawing comics.
#6: Villain Deaths & Returns
No matter how many times the Avengers defeat Ultron or Doctor Doom, they just keep coming back. Big villains like Thanos get massive story arcs to heighten drama and lend weight to their eventual demise. After so much emphasis is put on their crimes and defeat, resurrecting a big baddie just cheapens what death means in their world. Reviving Baron Zemo through family or Red Skull with a mind-transfer also leads to a lot of redundant narratives. Fans rarely protest with their wallets, however, which only encourages the practice to continue. Given how many characters exist in superhero canon, publishers recycle their evil-doers far too often.
#5: Inaccessibility
If you find the Marvel Cinematic Universe hard to follow, there's about 80 years of comics to consider as well. With such a massive backlog of stories and characters, trying to get into comics is daunting to say the least. Though there are occasional events like DC's “New 52,” it's rare to see initiatives by publishers to bring in new readers. Finding an entry point isn't easy either, as any one series is constantly changing what's considered canon. The high costs and complex ordering systems are also big investments for a newcomer. While digital platforms and graphic novels can help you adjust to the format, comics still have too many barriers to entry.
#4: Flooding the Market/Saturation
With movies, merchandise, TV shows, games, and even novels coming out about superheroes, the genre is quite full of content to say the least. Over 400 comic series release every month in North America, which makes it impossible to follow everything. It's easy to burn out on certain heroes as well, given that legacy heroes like Spider-Man often have at least three ongoing series at any time. Publishers have had to reduce their output in recent years, as their growing bodies of work exceed demand. As much as we love reading comics, there's simply too much to read.
#3: Tie-Ins/Events
A crossover event is an amazing way to bring heroes together, but the payoff isn't always worth the hype. Though there are a lot of interesting premises, many stories go on too long or end rather abruptly. There are also dozens of tie-ins for each event, that go from intriguing to exhausting for readers to keep track of. Crossover comics generally cost more too, despite the fact that they're becoming relatively common in the industry. Publishers are pretty erratic with how many consequences these stories carry on as well. For all the time and money events demand from fans, there are just too many risks to buy them all at release.
#2: Reboots
Sometimes a reboot is the only way to keep a classic hero alive, though that doesn't mean they'll come back like you remember. A new creative team will change a comic one way or another, and they're infamous for taking out characters that fans love. Additional switches in art style, writing, and overall tone can transform series into something completely different too. Reboots discourage publishers from creating new heroes, while leaving previous readers feeling alienated. Writers will even retcon beloved comics to fit a new series. While restarting a comic can give a starting point for new readers, it risks losing the people who care too.
#1: Repetitive Storylines
Readers get tired of seeing the same stories play out again. Take for example the trend of villains who are just evil opposites of their heroes. Plot devices like clones, time-travel, and mind control have become so common that they're predictable these days. With so many similar origin stories, new characters get old faster and faster too. Reboots of iconic heroes are also guilty of repeating family deaths and major battles in their own series. More than anything, this kind of writing just makes comics more boring to read as a whole. Though there's only so many ways to tell a story, fans still deserve more originality in their comics.
