Shelf Life - Jul 27, 2012

[CBR News]

In the aftermath of last week's Aurora shooting tragedy, Ron does some soul-searching over the violence found in his own work.


Full article here.

[Budnball]

I think it is far too easy for artists to separate themselves from the effects of the work they produce. You say that violence you write is something you are ok with but the fridge murder seems to follow you and with good reason. It was a step way over the line. A Green Lantern comic is not the same as a Steven King novel. Superhero comics used to feature "normal" characters to ground and anchor the "capes" to the real world. Now they are just fodder and props for savagery and sadism. Where is the moral core? Where is hope, responsibility, and true heroism? From Phoenix eating whole planets, to 1900 kill Robin, to the Watchmen, to the fridge. people who read comics may not be kids but they started reading them as kids. It is time that artist be aware of the attitudes they put out into the world. Would you be comfortable with your kids reading that GL at the age of 10, 11, or 13? These Batman movies, like so many comics and entertaiments are stuffed full of nihilism. That is easy to write but inspiring others to do and be good, Can you do that?

[Boabie]

I started reading the comments on the first post about the killings and then stopped. It had descended into arguments about gun control and even whether there should be some sort of 24-hour moratorium about the discussion about gun control!

As someone who comes from a country where gun control is very strict (Scotland) and gun ownership is not part of my culture in any way at all, I find the whole notion of being able to possess weaponry that can fire 100 bullets in a minute to be utterly incomprehensible. If anything, I am surprised this sort of atrocity doesn't happen more often. I dread to think what would happen here if most adults had access to all manner of guns.

[DaronK]

I think it is far too easy for artists to separate themselves from the effects of the work they produce. You say that violence you write is something you are ok with but the fridge murder seems to follow you and with good reason. It was a step way over the line. A Green Lantern comic is not the same as a Steven King novel. Superhero comics used to feature "normal" characters to ground and anchor the "capes" to the real world. Now they are just fodder and props for savagery and sadism. Where is the moral core? Where is hope, responsibility, and true heroism? From Phoenix eating whole planets, to 1900 kill Robin, to the Watchmen, to the fridge. people who read comics may not be kids but they started reading them as kids. It is time that artist be aware of the attitudes they put out into the world. Would you be comfortable with your kids reading that GL at the age of 10, 11, or 13? These Batman movies, like so many comics and entertaiments are stuffed full of nihilism. That is easy to write but inspiring others to do and be good, Can you do that?

So then you're not okay with Bruce Wayne's parent's being murdered in cold blood on the streets of Gotham right? Because that's his origin that was written in the late 40's, and has always been apart of his character. Kyle's girlfriend being murdered is a part of his origin and a defining moment for him as a hero. Why is the 1940's violence okay, but not today??? I'm pretty sure there were a LOT more kids reading comics then than there were when Ron was writing GL...

[Budnball]

So then you're not okay with Bruce Wayne's parent's being murdered in cold blood on the streets of Gotham right? Because that's his origin that was written in the late 40's, and has always been apart of his character. Kyle's girlfriend being murdered is a part of his origin and a defining moment for him as a hero. Why is the 1940's violence okay, but not today??? I'm pretty sure there were a LOT more kids reading comics then than there were when Ron was writing GL...

What I am not ok with is the celebration of violence. Bruce's parents were not beheaded and stuck on pikes! I am not against violence, I am against the idea that evil violence wins and is an end to itself. I am against the idea of gutting your enemy for fun and profit. Is there a difference between Wolverine and Sabertooth? Can we not also inspire? The over the top grisley violence of the 40s and early 50s horror mags led to the hand-cuffing Comic Code. No one wants to go back there. But just because you can, doesn't mean you have to. Is mayhem and murder the only way to tell a story? The difference between Gwen Stacy and Kyle's girlfriend is not the death but that it came across as a stunt. Like a how gross can we get, stunt. Are we really that numb?

[DaronK]

What I am not ok with is the celebration of violence. Bruce's parents were not beheaded and stuck on pikes! I am not against violence, I am against the idea that evil violence wins and is an end to itself. I am against the idea of gutting your enemy for fun and profit. Is there a difference between Wolverine and Sabertooth? Can we not also inspire? The over the top grisley violence of the 40s and early 50s horror mags led to the hand-cuffing Comic Code. No one wants to go back there. But just because you can, doesn't mean you have to. Is mayhem and murder the only way to tell a story? The difference between Gwen Stacy and Kyle's girlfriend is not the death but that it came across as a stunt. Like a how gross can we get, stunt. Are we really that numb?

First, I would argue the exact opposite. Gwen Stacey's death was much more a "stunt" than Kyle's girlfriend. Gwen was an established character in the Spiderverse at the time of her death. Did she need to die so Pete could go off and be with MJ? No, they could have just broken up. But Marvel decided to brutally murder "on screen," and again at a time when a lot more kids were reading comics. When Alex was killed Kyle wasn't even established, and she herself had only appeared in a handful of comic panels. On to of that her death wasn't shown; we only saw the aftermath, which as I said before was an integral part of defining Kyle as a hero. She, like Bruce's parents, was created to push our hero to become hero. It wasn't a stunt. On top of this, Alex was killed at a time when very few kids were reading comics.

You claim comics should be able to be read by kids, but kids aren't reading them. If Marvel and DC started making their entire line kid friendly guess what would happen...most adults would stop reading them. I've flipped through plenty of the "kids comics" in order to find something for my daughter, and if the stuff I bought for myself was anything like that, I'd stop immediately. The comics industry has had to change with it's audience. This is a must in any industry. Hell look at the Harry Potter books for an example. The last book in the series is MUCH darker and less kid-friendly than the first, and it was this way because the author knew her audience was aging over the years as the books were published.

Also as I pointed out, Marvel and DC both create comics for kids, so while I might not hand my 4-year old the GL issue where Alex dies now, I would and have bought her copies of Superman Family Adventures. If when she's older and mature enough to read and understand my GL comics I'll let her read them, until then she can read the kid friendly comics and Super Hero Squad on TV. Because that's what a good parent does, they parent.

[Ron Marz]

That is easy to write but inspiring others to do and be good, Can you do that?

Of course, in 22 years of writing comics, I have never written anything "inspiring others to do and be good." Never. Not once.

I think, perhaps, you missed the point. And aren't all that familiar with my work.

But thank you for the comments nonetheless.

[normanosborn21]

rick leonardi's pencils i will be buying this one. so glad to see rick's penciling.