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scans_dailyYeah, I'm gonna get nailed to the wall for this, but this shouldn't really surprise anyone who has long-term familiarity with my posts. Granted, I'm talking about the late 80s-90s period as a whole instead of just the Image-infused years that everyone instantly thinks of when "Dark Age" is brought up, but there doesn't seem to be any other popular name for the Age as a whole. Heck, some people think that it hasn't really ended yet!
So why this Age? I'll admit... I'm a shallow bastard in many respects when it comes to my comics. The stories of the Golden, Silver, and Bronze Ages all have a certain charm about them, but the dialogue is just something I can't ever fully get over. No one ever uses one word when they can use five, even when they're supposed to be seconds away from horrible, painful death. Both the narrator and the thought bubbles hammer the same plot points over and over with all the nuance of a Wikipedia article. And all the character voices sound almost the same, to the point where tacking a stray "Ha-Ha!" or "Ho-Ho!" in the Joker's speech bubbles looks like a genius innovation.
In that sense, the leaner, sparser dialogue style of more modern comics is a godsend. In the interest of fairness, though, I will say that I don't care much for overly flippant, pop-culture-stuffed speech, which also seems to be popular in modern comic-book dialogue. But when this:
Goes up against this:
The latter's gonna win every time.
Aside from execution, we have the matter of content. I will be the first to acknowledge that the writers of the Golden, Silver, and Bronze Ages had some pretty revolutionary imaginations - hell, much as we take him for granted today, Superman himself was a rather bold innovation circa 1938. And since the top writers back then often pumped out hundreds of scripts over their careers, they would come up with dozens - or at least half a dozen - brilliant ideas that are well worth revisiting in modern times.
But tragically, those ideas - no matter how brilliant - were inevitably bound by the iron Status Quo. Superman's mermaid girlfriend was obviously never going to overtake Lois in his affections, Kandor was never going to return to normal size, and Batman would never use one of his pals' handy-dandy time machines to undo the Wayne murders.
I know that today's status quo isn't a lot more flexible, but what has changed is the number of stories that writers are allowed to place out of continuity, out of lockstep with both the content and the style of the "mainstream" tales. It was the Dark Age that brought forth things like Legends of the Dark Knight and Batman: Black and White, places where creators could let their imaginations and personal takes on a character run wild, continuity be damned. Granted, sometimes this leads to All-Star Batman and Robin, but sometimes it leads to Eisner-worthy stories like Ted McKeever's "Perpetual Mourning" or Archie Goodwin's "Heroes".
Tying into the above, there's the matter of art styles. The earlier periods seemed to have a more strictly-enforced house style, which, combined with the more limited coloring palette, meant that it was more difficult to tell one creative team from another art-wise as well as story-wise. Sure, the discerning eye could easily tell a Don Newton apart from a Gene Colan, but even a newbie would never mistake a Norm Breyfogle:
For, say, a Kelley Jones:
You may or may not like both of the styles (I've met few people who do), but the emphasis on variety is welcome.
Returning to story for a bit - I know better than to claim that the Dark Age invented deconstructive superhero storytelling, but there's a certain rawness to its deconstructive stories that gets to me every time. Maybe it's just the faded quality of the art at work, maybe not...
(Incidentally, I want to kick off a Peter Milligan tribute event kind of thing when 2015 rolls in. A lot of writers have tried to tell Vertigo stories with Batman, but I feel Milligan is the only one who ever succeeded.)
Admittedly, I can't speak for all of the Dark Age. My experiences are 90% Batman, and from what I hear, he actually got off relatively light compared to everyone else in the superhero game. I dunno, maybe Marvel and Image had some truly atrocious things going on in the Dark Age that justifies all the animosity towards it.
But lastly, and most importantly...
I just can't hate an Age with this scene in it. I just can't.
Have a happy New Year, everyone!
So why this Age? I'll admit... I'm a shallow bastard in many respects when it comes to my comics. The stories of the Golden, Silver, and Bronze Ages all have a certain charm about them, but the dialogue is just something I can't ever fully get over. No one ever uses one word when they can use five, even when they're supposed to be seconds away from horrible, painful death. Both the narrator and the thought bubbles hammer the same plot points over and over with all the nuance of a Wikipedia article. And all the character voices sound almost the same, to the point where tacking a stray "Ha-Ha!" or "Ho-Ho!" in the Joker's speech bubbles looks like a genius innovation.
In that sense, the leaner, sparser dialogue style of more modern comics is a godsend. In the interest of fairness, though, I will say that I don't care much for overly flippant, pop-culture-stuffed speech, which also seems to be popular in modern comic-book dialogue. But when this:
Goes up against this:
The latter's gonna win every time.
Aside from execution, we have the matter of content. I will be the first to acknowledge that the writers of the Golden, Silver, and Bronze Ages had some pretty revolutionary imaginations - hell, much as we take him for granted today, Superman himself was a rather bold innovation circa 1938. And since the top writers back then often pumped out hundreds of scripts over their careers, they would come up with dozens - or at least half a dozen - brilliant ideas that are well worth revisiting in modern times.
But tragically, those ideas - no matter how brilliant - were inevitably bound by the iron Status Quo. Superman's mermaid girlfriend was obviously never going to overtake Lois in his affections, Kandor was never going to return to normal size, and Batman would never use one of his pals' handy-dandy time machines to undo the Wayne murders.
I know that today's status quo isn't a lot more flexible, but what has changed is the number of stories that writers are allowed to place out of continuity, out of lockstep with both the content and the style of the "mainstream" tales. It was the Dark Age that brought forth things like Legends of the Dark Knight and Batman: Black and White, places where creators could let their imaginations and personal takes on a character run wild, continuity be damned. Granted, sometimes this leads to All-Star Batman and Robin, but sometimes it leads to Eisner-worthy stories like Ted McKeever's "Perpetual Mourning" or Archie Goodwin's "Heroes".
Tying into the above, there's the matter of art styles. The earlier periods seemed to have a more strictly-enforced house style, which, combined with the more limited coloring palette, meant that it was more difficult to tell one creative team from another art-wise as well as story-wise. Sure, the discerning eye could easily tell a Don Newton apart from a Gene Colan, but even a newbie would never mistake a Norm Breyfogle:
For, say, a Kelley Jones:
You may or may not like both of the styles (I've met few people who do), but the emphasis on variety is welcome.
Returning to story for a bit - I know better than to claim that the Dark Age invented deconstructive superhero storytelling, but there's a certain rawness to its deconstructive stories that gets to me every time. Maybe it's just the faded quality of the art at work, maybe not...
(Incidentally, I want to kick off a Peter Milligan tribute event kind of thing when 2015 rolls in. A lot of writers have tried to tell Vertigo stories with Batman, but I feel Milligan is the only one who ever succeeded.)
Admittedly, I can't speak for all of the Dark Age. My experiences are 90% Batman, and from what I hear, he actually got off relatively light compared to everyone else in the superhero game. I dunno, maybe Marvel and Image had some truly atrocious things going on in the Dark Age that justifies all the animosity towards it.
But lastly, and most importantly...
I just can't hate an Age with this scene in it. I just can't.
Have a happy New Year, everyone!
no subject
Date: 2015-01-01 05:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-03 02:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-01 05:43 am (UTC)For me, it's really the 90s-00s where I really start getting into the comics. Though the post-dark age is my fav.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-01 08:21 am (UTC)Obviously the 90's is considered a low point because the bad stuff is particularly prominent (hello there, Image), but it becomes increasingly clear that the catch-all of 'THE 90'S' as something where only shitty comics were published is pretty blatantly incorrect.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-01 01:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-01 10:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-02 08:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-01 11:02 am (UTC)For my money, the best deconstruction is still Squadron Supreme, which as it began in the mid 80's fits in this age of comic book art. It took the IDEA of the Justice League of America and applied that to the eternal question of whether moral intentions could justify seemingly immoral actions. In this case the intention was Utopia, and to create paradise anything looks justified. What charmed me when I read it a few days ago was how much of a superhero story it is. It really is a 1980's superhero story that just so happens to be about a really thorny, knotted philosophical question debated through the actions of its entirely sympathetic and relatable characters. Doctor Spectrum is about the best version of Hal Jordan I've seen in a long time, and next to modern Wondy Power Princess is an idealistic yet practical breath of fresh air. There's no pointless, distracting cynicism, just people who want to do good and make things right being led by their own sense of purpose to do what's frankly wrong.
Too often deconstructors miss that. They too often look to the characters themselves as the most sensible thing to deconstruct, which is easily the least useful way such stories can be told. That Madoka cartoon didn't gain much anything from declaring that "real" girls with magical superpowers would "really" be lonely and miserable, or having Evil White Rabbit Luna, but it gained a great deal with its social commentary on how as women age they become slowly detested, and while young are pushed towards implausible ideals that if allowed to take root can cramp and warp their lives. The Boys is at its weakest when it deals with superhero tropes crossed with hilarious Hard Men antics, but its vicious look at the seamier side of the comics business is a much-needed reminder of the injustices marring its vivid paragons. Same with Squadron Supreme, it's an essay on how well-meaning people won't automatically make the right choice(to be uselessly reductionist) and the terrible danger of public trust in people offering easy solutions, told in a clear, entirely earnest way. And all throughout, the superheroes act and think like superheroes, and not parodies or caricatures or subversions of the type. Even Hyperion isn't evil, and he's an alternate universe Superman! That's like a natural law by now.
So yeah, that's what I think about the cold, hard Iron Age, Squadron Supreme richly earned its status as a classic and lots of people ought to read it.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-02 06:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-03 12:16 am (UTC)People talk about how much the 1990s sucked in comics, when really it was more Rob Liefeld's bizarre little corner of things. It's just a good thing that he burnt himself out and actual talented people came to the fore, is what I'm saying. Why they decided to bring him back I have no idea, because his exit from the company (such as his less than dignified rant on Twitter where he told Scott Snyder that the only reason his Batman run was selling better than Rob's books was just because it was Batman, not because it was better quality than his own stuff).