“I only killed him with the intention of bringing him back.”
Before I jump on my critical train let me say this. Comic books are a commodity, commodities to be sold, the people making the commodities need to make a living in order to continue making them. I favor capitalism like the next capitalistic pig!
So, when we think about comic book creators, it will do us justice to think of them as capitalists. No matter how they may say publicly that they do it for the “art” or the “love” or whatever it may be, they, like the rest of us, have to get paid in order to survive.
So let’s use ol’ Ed Brubaker as an example.
Ed has many projects and he’s done very well for himself commercially and I would assume financially. And to me, this is fantastic! Good for him! He’s multifaceted, working in comics, tv, film, and books. He deserves success.
For a writer of his status with that many projects, free press is fantastic! The more people read his name, the more people buy his book. It’s Advertising 101. The “Mere Exposure Effect”. The more you hear about something the more you like it. (I assume this is why some pop singers make it so big since quality usually isn’t the reason.)
So when Ed killed off Captain America it must have been great for him professionally. People in the media where spreading his name, reading him, quoting him, interviewing him. I assume that sales on all his published work shot up and I assume doors opened for him in tv and movie land. Again, fantastic!
But Ed, I have to tell you, even after saying all of this in your defense, can you at least try to hide how obvious it is that you’re hoping to strike gold for a second time on Captain America?
Ed was recently quoted by MTV as saying:
“There was never any thought on my side that we wouldn’t bring him back, so it’s not like there was ever a fight about it,” said Brubaker. “I only killed him with the intention of bringing him back.”
Ahem. Did you hear the little capitalist pigs squealing in there?
“I only killed him with the intention of bringing him back.”
SQUEAL!
Let me rewrite what he actually meant:
“I only killed him so I could make a ton of money off the event and I certainly had the intention of bringing him back so I could make even more money off him! Squeal!”
Dude, I’m happy with your success, but learn how to hide your intentions a bit better!
And for all you who will e-mail me saying I’m too cynical, this is a sarcastic blog.
Oh, and here’s the first review of Captain America #600 that I found.
Oh again, make sure to check out his “Angel of Death” series on Crackle.com. It’s free and all and is pretty crazy.
Labels: Comics, Commentary, Marvel Comics
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