REFLECTIONS: Talking With Mark Waid, Part 2

[Jonah Weiland]

Robert continues his conversation with Mark Waid, this time focusing on "Brave and the Bold," "Supergirl & the Legion of Superheroes" any why describing a comic as "fun" could mean the death of a book.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=10535

[Jack Zodiac]

"I started to sweat, because 'fun' is a death word in comics these days."

That's quite disheartening.

I think it would be commercial suicide to pick DC's two worst selling characters and put them in the book together. Like Dial H for Hero and Challengers of the Unknown. No one but me is going to buy it.

[pause]

And now that I've said it there will be six guys who will race to post on the CBR Forums that they would, too, buy it! And they are all forty-five.

See... now that book sounds fun.

OSNAP! Take that Mark Waid!

MW: To my mind, "Brave and Bold" isn't "fun." It can be funny, but so could "Firefly" or "Buffy." Interweaving your drama and shock with humor doesn't lessen the drama and shock - it heightens it because it keeps the readers off-balance.

I think that "fun" being a death mark for a comic is sad as hell, and it's even worse when it's so bad that a writer won't admit that their book is fun, because that's exactly how I felt about the first issue of Brave and the Bold, and even moreso for the third issue. It wasn't comical, or light-hearted, it was just fun, pure action-oriented, plot-driven entertainment.

Still, he's right. When someone says a comic is "fun" its almost always a poor-selling comic. Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil is a fun comic and it isn't selling anywhere near as well as it should in the direct market, but Civil War sold a quarter million copies an issue, and no one in their right mind would use "fun" to describe that book.

Just a shame, is all.

[Ebon]

Robert ... and why describing a comic as "fun" could mean the death of a book.


I was hoping he'd go into more detail about that point.

[Sijo]

Is it really like that? Do most fans today equate "fun" with "silly" and refuse to pick the books out of an "I'm not a kid anymore, I don't buy silly comics!" attitude? :confused: Maybe that explains the fact that most DC comics can't go two issues without killing someone (usually in a gross way) these days.

Somebody should tell those people that liking that stuff isn't "grown up" either, it's juvenile. Adult stories are the ones that treat serious topics with respect.

[catapulto]

The reason I picked up B&B was because I heard it was fun.

I liked it so much I had to add it to my pull-list during a time when I was trying to cut back! I've always liked Waid, and I wouldn't mind if he wrote all of DC's books and made them "fun."

[Billy]

What a disapointing interview, he barely mentions Legion?? I expected more, oh well.

[JoeK32880]

What a disapointing interview, he barely mentions Legion?? I expected more, oh well.

Yeah, seriously. I waited a week for this just to read about his Legion experience, not his Martin Pasko love.