The Four Color Media Monitor

Here's the Hollywood Reporter's list of comics they consider best of 2023, and surprisingly enough, they seem to have the audacity to admit something's rotten in the industry:

After a brief explosion during the pandemic, the comics industry is undergoing an existential crisis. It faces tumultuous sales at local comic shops, and the creative malaise audiences felt this year in the superhero movie genre is well-reflected on the publishing side of Marvel and DC, the industry’s two biggest publishers. To say that most of the output from these companies lacks spark is to put it mildly.

Well that's correct. And they're putting it mildly, in the sense that this decline's been occurring for over 2 decades, and all the while, MSM sources like them just stood by quietly and didn't object convincingly when Joe Quesada and Dan DiDio reduced great products to a shambles. That's what they don't admit to, which is why that part is otherwise worth little. Now for one of their choices, which is Birds of Prey:

Birds of Prey has had many incarnations over the decades since the title first appeared in the 1990s, tethered to Black Canary and other Gotham City characters. It even became a failed Harley Quinn-led movie a few years ago. Forget all that. This is a superhero team book done right.

[...] Canary is back but this time she leads Big Barda of the New Gods, Batgirl Cassandra Cain, fan favorite Quinn, and Zealot, a character from the Wildstorm imprint continuing her DC integration. The team comes together and plans a daunting mission to rescue Canary’s adopted sister from the heavily-fortified and Amazon-filled Paradise Island.

The dialogue is snappy, mixing comedy and heart. All the characters pop and actually feel cool. Zealot’s inclusion is one of the few times that a Wildstorm character works in the larger context of the DC universe. And Quinn, for the rare time, is not dreadful annoyance to us as readers.

If Harley's part of the cast, and still canonized as a deadly criminal, no way this is done right, and the artwork looks dreadful as it is. This is not amusing at all. It's just tiresome to see how the falling apart of a series that once had potential is sugarcoated ever still. What good does it do to claim Quinn's characterization "isn't annoying", when any establishment as a vile criminal still conflicts with what the series was supposed to be about, which isn't that they can't accept reformed criminals. Just not somebody with a record as disturbing as Quinn was established with.

Another example on the list is the latest Transformers adaptation:

A comic based on a Habsro toy ending up being one of the best things we’ve read is the last thing we expected. But in a year that also has a movie based on a Mattel toy as one of the best movies of the year, well, maybe it’s not that crazy.

In the hands of Daniel Warren Johnson Transformers buzzes with excitement and a love for the medium.

The writer-artist also created our favorite book of 2022, the emotional and visceral supernatural wrestling book Do A Powerbomb. Here, he opts for a back to basics approach that re-introduces the Transformers as two warring factions — Autobots and Decepticons. Each issue is accessible for newcomers but still a deep delight for long-time fans, never an easy task. Johnson also never loses sight of the core human story because most of the giant robot action would be meaningless without a strong emotional connection.

I seem to recall Do A Powerbomb builds on some form of anti-religious theme that's insulting to Judeo-Christianity. But even if that weren't a problem, the art in this Transformers comic is still pretty mediocre, and doesn't look very encouraging in a time when mediocrity's become an awfully large problem. And considering the Barbie movie was built on wokeness, that's why even that fluff-coating is dismaying.

There's also the Local Man indie comic:

It’s a book that should be a joke – and believe us, it’s got plenty of those – but it somehow manages to be a well-thought out superhero noir that moves beyond simple nostalgia.

Tony Feels (co-creator of Stray Dogs) and Tim Seeley (co-creator of Hack/Slash) give us Jack Xaver, a once-high-flying member of a super-team named Third Gen, who returns his small-town roots. He is now disgraced, hated, and without prospects. But he can’t wallow too long, as he becomes enmeshed in a murder in which he’s the prime suspect. A mystery, fleshed out characters and gnarly fight scenes fill out the pages.

As I may have noted before, I find the premise appalling, and if it's a joke, it's not a funny one.

One more item to note is something about the Across the Spider-Verse movie:

Across the Spider-Verse was an audacious, envelope-pushing sequel that propelled Miles Morales into the crazy multiverse of Spider-Men (and women and teens and pigs and…) that was a feast for the senses. This art of the movie book gives the reader that eye-popping feeling.

It captures the inventiveness and artistry that went into designing all aspects of movie, from the many characters to the many versions of New York, and not forgetting the Easter eggs and homages that pay tribute to the long history of Spidey.

Well I'm sorry, but based on how the cartoon was more like woke pandering, that's why I can't appreciate this either. As far as having more protagonists wear Spidey-style outfits, seriously, Jessica Drew was enough in that regard. When you come up with only so many, like the cartoon movie did, it only dampens what Spidey was all about to begin with, and trivializes the significance. Besides, none of this does anything to mend the damage that resulted from One More Day, and kicking Mary Jane Watson to the curb. One more reason why these major Hollywood movies only wound up becoming so dispiriting.

Labels: dc comics, indie publishers, licensed products, marvel comics, msm propaganda, politics