Unimportant side character comics

What is your opinion on this type of comics that don't actually add anything to the universe's development? Are they a waste of time? Are they some fun extra content?

Their comics are usually better than A lister's comics due to less editorial interference.

>Are they some fun extra content?
If you like them
>Are they a waste of time?
If you don't like them

A universe's development comes from whatever comics people remember. Even if a comic book seems inconsequential at the time its released, if it ends up sticking in the mind of someone who later goes on to become the next big comic book writer, then it will become important.

In nature, it's survival of the fittest. In fiction, it's survival of the most memorable.

This is now a Super Sons thread.

Well said.

That being said, I like a good side character book if it is well thought through and has a goal that it achieves. Birds of Prey (Simone's first run) had a goal - make Oracle and Black Canary high-level badasses again, and put Helena on the road to herodom rather than being an excluded antihero. It achieved that, though it suffered setbacks when Simone left and then the title ended (Oracle became cranky directionless hacker, Huntress went right back to crazy antihero killer, and Black Canary drifted from writer to writer) - but those fifty issues under Simone did provide a really strong direction that any good writers followed up.

A negative example is a book whose agenda is so blatant it overwhelms its storytelling. I think the recent Batman and The Signal does that - it's poorly paced, badly structured, the characters have no real reason to be in the comic, there are way too many characters without serious voices who just exist to "flesh out the world" - but if you don't care about the characters and what they want, they're just noise and exposition voicebox attachments.

Or not. :)

This is a really solid point. My point about Birds of Prey and The Signal will be who remembers them. I just did a reread of We Are Robin, and I think one of the reason The Signal (and Duke in general) don't really matter is that it's clear that every writer who is using him is only using him to further an agenda, none of which are telling good stories - and none of whom are talking to each other. Almost nothing from We Are Robin actually matters at all, even in Duke's life.

It's all a waste of time. Nothing ever happens in comics. Even the important stuff is trivial.

Why are you on /co? Like seriously - what do you want to talk about?

This is true. I like the way you look at it, it boils down to what the audience receives well.

>Even if a comic book seems inconsequential at the time its released, if it ends up sticking in the mind of someone who later goes on to become the next big comic book writer, then it will become important.

Right. I want to write for DC and I love the idea of Jon and if I could be there right now I'd plan out stories for him for the next TEN YEARS so he can through all the motions of growing up with superpowers, then hitting puberty, rebelling, not wanting to be in Superman's shadow, trying to strike off on his own, getting his ass kicked and his heart broken, finally accepting his father's legacy once he grows up and matures...

Maybe not that exactly the point is there is so, so much story there and like you said, future writers pick up on it and make it "important".

Not capeshit, you dumb faggot.

I don't think DC or Marvel have planning documents or series Bibles anymore, though.

...

If it's good it'll be known as an underrated story that people will use as to prove their cred as a comics expert

If it's bad it'll be forgotten unless it does some SERIOUS character assassination and ruins the character(s) starring in it.

Then why are you in a cape comics thread?

Oh, right. To be an user. NVM.

Then make a thread that isn't about capes.

Comic books weren’t around long and were pretty irrelevant until superheroes came along. Whether you like it or not it is what it is.

Worrying about whether or not a comic is ''''''''''''''''''''important'''''''''''''''''''''' is the most cancerous shit in capeshit fandom.

Just read what you like, Jesus fucking Christ.

Read what you like with your brain off. Seriously. Why are you in a cape comics thread if you hate them and people who like them so much?

Comics that "add to the universe's development" are the ones that are eventually destroyed by editorial meddling and the universe they help develop.

Either the MC dies if they're not popular enough, or if they are, their personality gets twisted into a horrible misrepresentation of themselves to fit whatever mold is needed for the latest Civil War-esque crossover.

I don't hate cape comics, but that whole mindset leads to mediocre and bad comics selling well. It's why we get more of the same shit over and over no matter how much people bitch about it.

I've bought Spider-Man, Batman, X-Men, etc. comics, so it's not even about hating popular stuff, but it makes no sense to me that people avoid good comics just because they're not "important." If you like it, it's not a waste of time or money. If you don't like it, don't buy it even if Marvel or DC tell you that it's leading to the next big crossover where a character will die so you know it REALLY matters.

>I like the way you look at it, it boils down to what the audience receives well.

Even comics that are poorly received can make some kind of impact if people remember them.

That's the reason Brother Power the Geek pops back up every few decades. That comic may not have been "good", but nobody can ever forget it.

Especially considering how much power writers have, a so called "important" book could easily just be wiped away by the next writer who wants to start from scratch.

Some of my favorite comics in the superhero genre are just solid stories that utilize characters well. Not every comic needs to change the face of the company forever.

Hell The Long Halloween is considered a must-read Batman story and it's nothing but a string of solidly written mysteries using established villains.

I agree that it's frustrating when people buy so many useless crossover or event tie-ins because it's "important." But your original post seemed to have a bit of "don't think about what you like, just buy the stuff you like."

I think it's clear that people do like events. I personally think they do like them for bad reasons, but they clearly like them.

my own opinion is that as long as they are well made and don't ruin something, comics can be about anything

Indeed. This thread is now being hijacked. Post Best Boy.

Helps if you hijack it with an actual point, or gushing.

...

What point could I possibly make that others haven't already clearly outlined or made apparent? If you don't like a specific book or even a series of books, then good for you! Nobody gives a single shit. People read what they genuinely enjoy, and sperging out over how a certain comic series focuses on "unimportant side characters" when you haven't even read the book itself or even know the slightest bit about characters themself, is retarded and utterly inane behavior. And such behavior just cements you as being a fucking Sup Forumsntrarian autist who probably hasn't read a single even remotely decent comic in his life. If you truly hate certain comics that badly, then either ignore them and read something you truly enjoy or better yet, drop the medium entirely and spare us your whiny attention-whoring bullshit.


There. Was *that* good enough for you?

Sure!

Now I just want to tone police the heck out of you. ;)

>That comic may not have been "good"
I liked it. The reason it only got two issues was because the Editor in Chief at the time hated that the hippies were depicted as dumb but well meaning kids instead of America hating commies.

>Comic books weren’t around long and were pretty irrelevant until superheroes came along.
Superheros only became relevant in USA because CCA killed everything else.

not gonna lie, their series is pretty adorbs

yup

this is your example? the sons of the two biggest heroes in their universe are pretty important characters. especially damien.

This is a straight up lie. Sci fi, western, adventure, funnies and war comics survived the CCA. Even horror made a comeback a decade later.

they are the perfect example tho: they are sons of important characters yet they haven't done a single impactful thing yet and all their arcs have been self contained stories. even the recent arc that leaked into other comic series.

Itctruly is. Though I do want them to meet Kraklow and friends once again. I think that would have some potential for growth between the two of them.

We don't deserve these boys. People always act like DC is grim edge but it has this pure comic.

>Are they a waste of time

That’s all this shit is man.

>Sci fi, western, adventure, funnies and war survived the CCA
Yeah, but they had to be horribly butchered to fit CCA restrictions, which the downfall of EC.

I agree, but you seem to think cape comics weren't affected by the CCA. I for one would love to see what capes would have been if there wasn't a CCA. I think their evolution would have been very different than what we saw.

He is right..

I liked Robin:Son of Batman and now I don´t like Supersons..

Not every story needs to be a universe-spanning-tie-in-crisis, dude.

Son of Batman was amazing

didn't say it was a bad thing, just that it deserves the label of: nothing of importance would really change in the dc universe if super sons was never made (no, crazy tim drake isn't important)

What have you got against comfy kid bro-shenanigans?

its the league of legends of comics: popular comic thats just casual garbage that only people who can't get into good, complex plots eat up

it is nice to see how jon gradually de-damianises damian like how damian completely dropped his guard around jon cus he was too worried for his safety, and got one punched by jon.