Continuing this discussion, the last part of which was here.
Naturally, there's more to making the comic-book industry viable again than just improving the story-telling in the superhero titles. We need to expand beyond those concepts...and I don't just mean in publishing other "fan-favorite" genres and titles, like science fiction, including licensed properties such as Star Wars or Doctor Who.
The industry has to have, as it once did, material specifically aimed at girls and women, at children under the age of 12, or even at adults with interests beyond science-fiction, fantasy, and superhero adventure. Well into the 1960s, the best-selling comic-book in the United States was Dell/Gold Key's Walt Disney's Comics and Stories. Given the immense audiences for current Disney material--Frozen, anyone?--why are there no comic-book adaptations and continuations of those properties?
And other modern animated properties seem to me made to order for comic-book stories: Where is the comic-book version of Minions?
Why isn't anyone attempting a comic book with characters reminiscent of Jack Ryan or Ethan Hunt? Why are there no comic books with a rom-com feel or theme? Why not a costume drama along the lines of Downton Abbey or Bridgerton? Surely there is somebody who knows how to write this kind of material for comic books.
Until we have people working at the publishers who have an interest in telling stories, and not just in superheroes, this industry is on a path to extinction.
No comments:
Post a Comment