What makes a good comic book good?

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masterbruce
Since I don't read comics, I want people to tell me what qualities separate good comics from bad comics.

I will then take those ideas and make the ultimate comic and make lots of money off you guys when you purchase it.

thanks in advance big grin

PS: people with good ideas will receive credit in my comic book when it's published, but no royalties stick out tongue

Disclaimer: Everything in this thread is copyrighted and trademarked to Masterbruce Productions and cannot be used in any way without permission.

Soljer
Characters.

First and foremost.

If you have interesting, well-developed, and constantly-developing characters, then even poor storylines will hold interest.

masterbruce
Originally posted by Soljer
Characters.

First and foremost.

If you have interesting, well-developed, and constantly-developing characters, then even poor storylines will hold interest.

that's true...but aren't most comic characters pretty one-dimensional and very unrealistic?

pr1983
Originally posted by masterbruce
that's true...but aren't most comic characters pretty one-dimensional and very unrealistic?

god no...

the reason great characters endure is because their relatable...

masterbruce
Originally posted by pr1983
god no...

really, you don't think so?

I feel like most heroes, while they have some superficial differences (one's a geek, another's a god, etc) they all have pretty much the same personalities

I want a hero who doesn't always have a straight moral compass (ie he beats a criminal one day, but the next day he uses his powers to steal money, etc)

masterbruce
Originally posted by pr1983
god no...

the reason great characters endure is because their relatable...

Who the hell can relate to Superman, Hulk, or any of those guys?

pr1983
Originally posted by masterbruce
really, you don't think so?

I feel like most heroes, while they have some superficial differences (one's a geek, another's a god, etc) they all have pretty much the same personalities

I want a hero who doesn't always have a straight moral compass (ie he beats a criminal one day, but the next day he uses his powers to steal money, etc)

if he goes around stealing for financial gain, he isnt much of a hero is he?

if you want a hero with questionable morals, look at wolverine, or punisher, or midnighter...

and no, alot of them have varying personalities...

Originally posted by masterbruce
Who the hell can relate to Superman, Hulk, or any of those guys?

i can relate to both in different ways...

superman represents the desire to make yourself a better person, to do your best to do the right thing no matter how hard things get..

and hulk? the guy is a big, clumsy, misunderstood, angry man...

who hasnt felt any of that in their lifetime?

DigiMark007
Take a hacked backstory, preferably with dead parents to give him angst of some sort.

Have a pivitol childhood event determine his costume and gimmick. Maybe he remembers a shiny dime slowly floating through the air when he found out his parents died. Thus, the Coinsmith was born! You can insert your own moniker.

Next, throw some B-list villians at him that offset his personality. Maybe a rust-centered villian that rusts our hero's coins. Diabolical! Witty dialogue during the battles is a must.

Give him an alter-ego with a new love interest every few months to keep it interesting...our hero's a player, damnit! Alternate between his duties to the real world and his duties as a superhero.

Sidekicks are expendable. Penny, the plucky young girl dressed as a...well, penny, should quickly be decapitated. Readers will love this.

If your character fails with this formula, wait about a year after the series is cancelled then have him show up as a surprise new member to a popular team. Avengers, JLA, etc. Outsiders and/or X-Men if he's reviled. An ambiguous identity and moral compass help him seem "edgy" and he can have fights with teammates over what to do. This will make him marketable to the Wolverine crowd who enjoy a "loner", even though he's on approximately 3 new teams a year. Any more and he might lose loner status, which is important, because he's...um...a loner.

Sleep around the team, have him become a bit player with funny lines, and no writer will care enough to write him out....until, of course, the next big event. At this point he'll be killed and people will pretend like they cared about him. He'll have a touching memorial punctuated by a poignant Superman/Tony Stark comment about forgetting the roots of our heroism, and how the Coinsmith reminded us all of what we should be like.

Good luck.

masterbruce
Originally posted by pr1983
if he goes around stealing for financial gain, he isnt much of a hero is he?

if you want a hero with questionable morals, look at wolverine, or punisher, or midnighter...

and no, alot of them have varying personalities...

no, even Wolverine, Punisher, etc...are straight arrows. sure, they might be a bit rougher, but they don't really do anything wrong.

I guess Im more interested in seeing a character that isn't just a 'bad' guy or a 'good' guy.

I want someone whose motivations seem realistic. (ie, if I had superman's powers, I would help people, but at the same time, I would use my powers to impress girls, get rich in hollywood, etc)

masterbruce
Originally posted by DigiMark007
Take a hacked backstory, preferably with dead parents to give him angst of some sort.

Have a pivitol childhood event determine his costume and gimmick. Maybe he remembers a shiny dime slowly floating through the air when he found out his parents died. Thus, the Coinsmith was born! You can insert your own moniker.

Next, throw some B-list villians at him that offset his personality. Maybe a rust-centered villian that rusts our hero's coins. Diabolical! Witty dialogue during the battles is a must.

Give him an alter-ego with a new love interest every few months to keep it interesting...our hero's a player, damnit! Alternate between his duties to the real world and his duties as a superhero.

Sidekicks are expendable. Penny, the plucky young girl dressed as a...well, penny, should quickly be decapitated. Readers will love this.

If your character fails with this formula, wait about a year after the series is cancelled then have him show up as a surprise new member to a popular team. Avengers, JLA, etc. Outsiders and/or X-Men if he's reviled. An ambiguous identity and moral compass help him seem "edgy" and he can have fights with teammates over what to do. This will make him marketable to the Wolverine crowd who enjoy a "loner", even though he's on approximately 3 new teams a year. Any more and he might lose loner status, which is important, because he's...um...a loner.

Sleep around the team, have him become a bit player with funny lines, and no writer will care enough to write him out....until, of course, the next big event. At this point he'll be killed and people will pretend like they cared about him. He'll have a touching memorial punctuated by a poignant Superman/Tony Stark comment about forgetting the roots of our heroism, and how the Coinsmith reminded us all of what we should be like.

Good luck.

if I understood the message of your post, you're basically critiqing how formulaic most of comics are, which is exactly what i think I would do differently were I to create a comic. Of course, its prob going to fit some pitfalls of stereotypical comicbook drama, but I intend to create something interesting and original.

pr1983
Originally posted by DigiMark007
This will make him marketable to the Wolverine crowd who enjoy a "loner", even though he's on approximately 3 new teams a year. Any more and he might lose loner status, which is important, because he's...um...a loner.

laughing

Originally posted by masterbruce
no, even Wolverine, Punisher, etc...are straight arrows. sure, they might be a bit rougher, but they don't really do anything wrong.

I guess Im more interested in seeing a character that isn't just a 'bad' guy or a 'good' guy.

I want someone whose motivations seem realistic. (ie, if I had superman's powers, I would help people, but at the same time, I would use my powers to impress girls, get rich in hollywood, etc)

they've both murdered people, thats not exactly heroic...

if you did those things, people would quickly tire of you, because they'd assume you were only in it for the fame...

thats not what being a hero is about...

Priest
Originally posted by masterbruce
no, even Wolverine, Punisher, etc...are straight arrows. sure, they might be a bit rougher, but they don't really do anything wrong.

I guess Im more interested in seeing a character that isn't just a 'bad' guy or a 'good' guy.

I want someone whose motivations seem realistic. (ie, if I had superman's powers, I would help people, but at the same time, I would use my powers to impress girls, get rich in hollywood, etc)
uh Wolverine and the Punisher are straight killers, they don't fit your typical "hero" by most standards.
If u wanna start buying/reading comics, i recommend the Spiderman titles specifically Amazing and Hulk.
The new Thor would be a good pic up because he just started a new run, and as far his book is excellent.

DigiMark007
Originally posted by masterbruce
Since I don't read comics...

...I will then make the ultimate comic

Also, this made my day.

laughing out loud

Symmetric Chaos
Pretty pictures.
Imaginative abilities.
Interesting characters.

Soljer
Originally posted by Priest
uh Wolverine and the Punisher are straight killers, they don't fit your typical "hero" by most standards.
If u wanna start buying/reading comics, i recommend the Spiderman titles specifically Amazing and Hulk.
The new Thor would be a good pic up because he just started a new run, and as far his book is excellent.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Immortal Iron Fist.

If you're gonna buy ANYTHING, buy the Immortal Iron Fist.

stick out tongue.

masterbruce
I think my story will be about a kid who grew up idolizing his fav comic hero batman, and attempts to become a real life Batman.

anyone want to read that?

Symmetric Chaos
Originally posted by Soljer
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Immortal Iron Fist.

If you're gonna buy ANYTHING, buy the Immortal Iron Fist.

stick out tongue.

Or food. Food's nice too.

masterbruce
Originally posted by Priest
uh Wolverine and the Punisher are straight killers.

wolverine and punisher are NOT straight killers. have they ever killed innocents while not being mindcontrolled?

Symmetric Chaos
Originally posted by masterbruce
I think my story will be about a kid who grew up idolizing his fav comic hero batman, and attempts to become a real life Batman.

anyone want to read that?

Sounds like some perverse freak of nature who oughta be shot on sight . . .

Soljer
Originally posted by masterbruce
I think my story will be about a kid who grew up idolizing his fav comic hero batman, and attempts to become a real life Batman.

anyone want to read that?

laughing

As a part of his 'origin' story, does he go onto a forum, bragging about how he's stronger and faster than Captain America, more skilled than Batman, and starts going on and on about his unity of mind, body, and soul that allows him to take out the local punk twelve year olds with his mighty hockey stick of doom?

pr1983
Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
Sounds like some perverse freak of nature who oughta be shot on sight . . .

damien?

Priest
Originally posted by Soljer
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Immortal Iron Fist.

If you're gonna buy ANYTHING, buy the Immortal Iron Fist.

stick out tongue.
I know, I've been hearing great things about IIF(mostly by u) stick out tongue
I'm thinking about adding it to my normal pick ups, i haven't heard any bad thing about it. what issue are they up to again?

Symmetric Chaos
Originally posted by masterbruce
wolverine and punisher are NOT straight killers. have they ever killed innocents while not being mindcontrolled?

I can pretty much assure you that Punisher has killed innocent people because he didn't find out the whole truth about what was going on.

Soljer
Originally posted by Priest
I know, I've been hearing great things about IIF(mostly by u) stick out tongue
I'm thinking about adding it to my normal pick ups, i haven't heard any bad thing about it. what issue are they up to again?

I think nine comes out on the 22nd.

Symmetric Chaos
Originally posted by Soljer
laughing

As a part of his 'origin' story, does he go onto a forum, bragging about how he's stronger and faster than Captain America, more skilled than Batman, and starts going on and on about his unity of mind, body, and soul that allows him to take out the local punk twelve year olds with his mighty hockey stick of doom?

That would be ridiculous and impossible to believe wink

masterbruce
Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
I can pretty much assure you that Punisher has killed innocent people because he didn't find out the whole truth about what was going on.

yeah but he thought they were guilty

Priest
Originally posted by masterbruce
wolverine and punisher are NOT straight killers. have they ever killed innocents while not being mindcontrolled?
well if u don't believe in the justice system and decide to execute criminals without proper due process, i guess that is ok erm
Like i said, their not ur typical heros.

masterbruce
Originally posted by Soljer
laughing

As a part of his 'origin' story, does he go onto a forum, bragging about how he's stronger and faster than Captain America, more skilled than Batman, and starts going on and on about his unity of mind, body, and soul that allows him to take out the local punk twelve year olds with his mighty hockey stick of doom?

first, I never said I was stronger and faster than Cap AMerica, or more skilled than bats, that would be ridiculous

what I said was I am close to peak human, and that got misinterpreted and ridiculed

Symmetric Chaos
Originally posted by masterbruce
yeah but he thought they were guilty

Which makes him something less than heroic wouldn't you say? Not really holding to a high moral standard if you kill people because you "think" they're guilty.

Priest
Originally posted by Soljer
I think nine comes out on the 22nd.
oh ok, so im not too far behind on things.
Ill try to catch up on them this weekend, before #9.
any specific issues i should be looking forward too? Or are they all fantastic eek!

Soljer
Originally posted by Priest
oh ok, so im not too far behind on things.
Ill try to catch up on them this weekend, before #9.
any specific issues i should be looking forward too? Or are they all fantastic eek!

They're all pretty damned good. You don't really need to read #7 for the story, I think that's the one that focuses on one of the past Iron Fists and doesn't really contribute to the main storyline - even though it's still a fantastic issue.

Soljer
Originally posted by masterbruce
first, I never said I was stronger and faster than Cap AMerica, or more skilled than bats, that would be ridiculous

what I said was I am close to peak human, and that got misinterpreted and ridiculed

Who said I was talking about you? confused/

SnazzySmurph
Originally posted by masterbruce
I want someone whose motivations seem realistic. (ie, if I had superman's powers, I would help people, but at the same time, I would use my powers to impress girls, get rich in hollywood, etc) So, you want pre-52 Booster Gold?

Symmetric Chaos
Originally posted by SnazzySmurph
So, you want pre-52 Booster Gold?

omg Geek!


The Authority also fits much of that description.

SnazzySmurph
Originally posted by masterbruce
first, I never said I was stronger and faster than Cap AMerica, or more skilled than bats, that would be ridiculous He wasn't talking about you, silly.

But, if you want to nitpick, you DID say that you were peak human (like Cap, lolz), or close to, and that you had a chance at taking Robin in a fight.

Which is imbecilic

But, back to comics, people.

SnazzySmurph
Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
omg Geek!


The Authority also fits much of that description. vin

No-one fits it as well as nearly everybody in X-Statix.

Priest
Originally posted by Soljer
They're all pretty damned good. You don't really need to read #7 for the story, I think that's the one that focuses on one of the past Iron Fists and doesn't really contribute to the main storyline - even though it's still a fantastic issue.
good to know thumb up

Innerhype
I think the most important thing to a good comic book is first having something that a reader can relate to the main character.

Spider-Man for example is a character with amazing powers but at the same time he is a troubled young adult that stuggles with everyday probelms, probelms that many of us can relate to because we deal with those probelms daily.

Iron Man is a character I like because of the science/technology angle of his books, but on top of that Tony Stark can be related to because he is just a normal man with no fantastic powers at all. Tony has lots of money, drives fast cars, and gets lots of ladies and to some he may represent the future, someone they would want become. To others he is a metaphor to the future because he proves that with technology humans can do ANYTHING.

DigiMark007
It all depends on the type of thing you're doing. You always need good characters, and also story. It's like saying you need to breathe to live.

If it's an ongoing, "character" takes the forefront because it's the only constant in the series. In a mini, story takes precedence...characters play their roles and can have multiple dimensions, but can only develop so much, and facilitate the story more than anything.

But again, this is all child's play in terms of comic theory. At the end of the day, regardless of what it is, it has to be something the creators feel strongly about and something they can bring a fresh perspective to, and also write/draw/color/etc. in an intelligent and exciting manner.

Most of that can't be taught through a "what makes comics good" thread, but needs to be intuitive and/or learned through study and practice. Masterbruce isn't exactly wasting his time, because I realize he wants to learn some stuff...but threads like this in public forums (even among knowledgable members) never really accomplish much (and there's been more than one similar to this).

masterbruce
Originally posted by masterbruce
I think my story will be about a kid who grew up idolizing his fav comic hero batman, and attempts to become a real life Batman.



so Digi, what do you think about this idea for a comic?

SnazzySmurph
Digi, take that image from your sig, change the sound effect to "Pwned Thread", and post it whenever you close a thread. With a catch phrase that's mocking and challenging, but ironic because they can't respond to it.

Because their thread just got pwned.

DigiMark007
Originally posted by masterbruce
so Digi, what do you think about this idea for a comic?

I think that it's 1-2 sentences. Anything can make a great comic (or a horrible one) depending on the treatment. But when you write a comic you're creating a world, a backstory, multiple issues of varied content, etc.

So the idea's fine. But there's not enough for anything resembling an accurate assessment of "good or bad".

Beyond that, for Batman to be involved it would need to be a DC-published book. No one gets into the big-name companies without lots of credentials, and few break into the industry at any level.

DigiMark007
Originally posted by SnazzySmurph
Digi, take that image from your sig, change the sound effect to "Pwned Thread", and post it whenever you close a thread. With a catch phrase that's mocking and challenging, but ironic because they can't respond to it.

Because their thread just got pwned.

laughing out loud

I'll consider it.

SnazzySmurph
Originally posted by DigiMark007
laughing out loud

I'll consider it. You'll be sorry if you don't.

Tron'll steal the idea when you hesitate, and become the "cool mod" again.

Just saying...

grey fox
Stories fluctuate on how much pure awesome is in them.

Not only that but it all matters what YOU deem awesome.

Take me for example, I think it's pretty damn bad-ass when a unit of 5-10 military guys (Marines, Infantry ect ) take out someone with Super-powers. I like it because it shows the sort of 'indomnitalbe spirit of man' schtck.

masterbruce
Originally posted by DigiMark007
I think that it's 1-2 sentences. Anything can make a great comic (or a horrible one) depending on the treatment. But when you write a comic you're creating a world, a backstory, multiple issues of varied content, etc.

So the idea's fine. But there's not enough for anything resembling an accurate assessment of "good or bad".

Beyond that, for Batman to be involved it would need to be a DC-published book. No one gets into the big-name companies without lots of credentials, and few break into the industry at any level.

Batman isn't technically involved.

This guy just wants to be Batman because he grew up reading those comics, but the universe the story takes place in is our world, not DC universe.

For example, if I wrote in a comic someone eating at a McDonalds, would I need McDonald's permission?

tjcoady
Originally posted by masterbruce
Batman isn't technically involved.

This guy just wants to be Batman because he grew up reading those comics, but the universe the story takes place in is our world, not DC universe.

For example, if I wrote in a comic someone eating at a McDonalds, would I need McDonald's permission?

well, if you're making money off of it, and you use the McDonald's logo... well, yea, actually. You would need their permission. or you'd be sued for copyright infrigment. and you'd lose.

grey fox
Originally posted by masterbruce
Batman isn't technically involved.

This guy just wants to be Batman because he grew up reading those comics, but the universe the story takes place in is our world, not DC universe.

For example, if I wrote in a comic someone eating at a McDonalds, would I need McDonald's permission?

Yes , why do you think there is so many parodies within the media ?

Mindship
The main character: appearance, powers, personality.
The artwork.
A story that's original or at least clever.

lordboo
what makes a good comic!..... a free one (sorry im a cheap ass)

Symmetric Chaos
Originally posted by masterbruce
For example, if I wrote in a comic someone eating at a McDonalds, would I need McDonald's permission?

Yes, you would. If you didn't McDonalds would sue you.

Darkness_Male
the best comics have a combonation of good artwork and good storytelling and the art work dont have to be that great i guess but still it helps to be great

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