Starting Again - For Better or For Worse

[Baby Gonzo]

I always wished for one of Calvin and Hobbes.

While I think it would have been neat to see Calvin and Hobbes as an animated series and I for one would have loved a Hobbes plushie, Bill Watterson seemed adamant about not doing any major marketing for the comic. I think that is admirable. He could have said, "Who cares about tarnishing my product! More money!" but he made it clear that he did not want toys or a tv show or any major merchandise outside of the books.

I don't think that just because a comic has toys and t-shirts and tv shows means it's a sellout, but I still admire his stand on the issue.


I'm all for creative freedom by the artist... but then again, I'm a comic artist myself (okay, webcomic artist at least) so I'm biased.

 

[Redsonga]

Even if you are against the idea Beck, you still realize that it is her work & that she can do anything she wishes to with it, even if it upsets people, right?

Well, like I said, it's not like my disagreement will do anything in the long run, they are just words, but I do still miss her old style and tone.

 

[Baby Gonzo]

For the record, I think I like her old style better as well. Though I'm still going to give the new comic a chance... Though I feel like its going through a slow point at the moment.

 

[Drtooth]

It's just like Power Rangers...Digimon, Poke'mon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Naruto are going to be milked for all their worth.

Firstly, Naruto isn't doing half as well as all of the others combined. interrest in the property (in the US) has really fell lately, and other than the teenage fans, no one's really latching onto them anymore.

Secondly, Japanese franchises usually last years and years. Why, the anime version of Doraemon alone has been around since 1979... and that doesn't include the failed 1974 episodes. I still wonder why certain franchises are still popular over here (Pokemon especially), when other, bigger hits in Japan either flop (Astroboy's 2000 series), or never see the light of Day in the US (Time Bokan.... we got an OVA of 2 "reunion specials" and that's about it).

 

[wwfpooh]

and other than the teenage fans, no one's really latching onto them anymore

Blame CN for playing marathons of the show endlessly, thus creating overexposure for the series.

I still wonder why certain franchises are still popular over here (Pokemon especially), when other, bigger hits in Japan either flop (Astroboy's 2000 series), or never see the light of Day in the US (Time Bokan.... we got an OVA of 2 "reunion specials" and that's about it).

It's simply because taking care of animals--whether for competitions or just for the fun of it--is still interesting to many kids (hence why Neopets, Webkins, Tomagotchi [sp?], and Pokemon have all flourished) and even some of our own generation, although this mainly often does apply to girls more than boys (though this is not saying boys can't get into it, for they can, but the attraction is generally marketed towards girls).

 

[Fozzie Bear]

My thing with comics is that life is so stressful as it is, I really wish comics were more about being funny than something they are playing off of for their popularity or, as was mentioned before, how much of a soap opera they can get out of them.

 

[wwfpooh]

*shrugs* It's all a matter of taste, honestly.

 

[Redsonga]

Blame CN for playing marathons of the show endlessly, thus creating overexposure for the series.

It's simply because taking care of animals--whether for competitions or just for the fun of it--is still interesting to many kids (hence why Neopets, Webkins, Tomagotchi [sp?], and Pokemon have all flourished) and even some of our own generation, although this mainly often does apply to girls more than boys (though this is not saying boys can't get into it, for they can, but the attraction is generally marketed towards girls).

I am a girl, I am of 'our' generation, and I love all of the taking care of animals games, Pokemon, Digimon etc. I was one of the first members to join Neopets when it first started, back before their money system made the game a mirror of the real world (with the rich getting richer, and the poor getting poorer and hacked), I just love all sorts of things like that, and I also love collecting hundreds of little figures

But anyway..her comic style was so nice a loose and flowing when she started...I still wonder, is it just a redrawing or a total rewrite? The think the rewrite idea is what I don't like the most...

My thing with comics is that life is so stressful as it is, I really wish comics were more about being funny than something they are playing off of for their popularity or, as was mentioned before, how much of a soap opera they can get out of them.

I know, when I started to hear the 'dumdumdaaaah!' after every comic is when I stopped enjoying it .
Soap operas are fine for super hero comics but I dunno, having it in the newspaper brings me down a bit more..it's like more bad news, only from another world *lol*

 

[wwfpooh]

Yeah. Soap operas are fine for superhero comics and even the short-lived WWE comic book line, but for newspaper comics, they simply don't work, IMHO.

 

[Baby Gonzo]

My thing with comics is that life is so stressful as it is, I really wish comics were more about being funny than something they are playing off of for their popularity or, as was mentioned before, how much of a soap opera they can get out of them.

I think that's a valid statement, though many people really enjoy looking at soap operas and saying "Man, at least my life isn't that bad!" and are somehow picked up by that. Other people (and even the same people) may look at comedy strip, with happy situations and that happiness rubs off. Though I find that too much of either extreme can be rather bland after a while. If something is always happy or always sad/dramatic, the thread connecting it to reality is severed. Not everything in life is always happy or always sad. But that's just the way I see it.