Are there any comic CREATORS left?

[TJLamb0518]

Honest question.

We have a plethora of comics WRITERS, all with varying skill sets. But how many are truly CREATORS? I don't mean "let's take the same old tired thing and put a new spin on it for the umpteenth time", but the "let's do something entirely new" kind of thing.

Even the most popular writers out there now just rehash (Green Lantern, Kingdom Come, Skrull Invasions, Civil War, Crisises, etc.) characters and concepts others have let go while the best we get is new and sometimes interesting takes on existing concepts.

Where are the creators outside of indie books?

[KevinTBrown]

Dan Jurgens created Booster Gold... albeit many years ago. But the character is once again very popular and he's drawing it.

[Amentep]

If there are comic creators, would the companies really allow them to create something brand new, and if they did would any of the readers in the market actually buy it?

[Zatara2000]

Garth Ennis created Preacher and the Boys. Both are stories that have never been done before?

How about Neil Gaimen and his Sandman stuff?

I also think anybody working over at Vertigo is hardly rehashing things. Jason Aaron's Scalped, Bill Willingham's Fables and David Lapham's Young Liars have introduced us to a whole new world of original characters.

I know where you're getting at, but I think that if you question if there are still creators that you are looking at the spectrum of comics a bit narrow. Rehash sell, but that doesn't mean theres not a whole world of new stories being told.

[Joshua Pantalleresco]

Check the Indie scene. There are tonnes of original ideas out there.

JP

[Jeffrey Neary]

Blue Beetle.
Manhunter.

But these books don't sell as well as existing titles...so they put proven CREATORS on existing titles.

So new creations exist in the form of supporting characters and storyline details.

Some Examples:
Green Lantern has Atrocitus(sp?)..the Alpha Lantern concept...most of the Sinestro Corp members.
Superman has Christopher Kent and Subjekt 13
Booster Gold has Booster's Dad and Peter Platinum.

New Creations exist.

[Bob Francis]

If there are comic creators, would the companies really allow them to create something brand new, and if they did would any of the readers in the market actually buy it?

Amentep

And there is the paradox of North American comics.

[TJLamb0518]

If there are comic creators, would the companies really allow them to create something brand new, and if they did would any of the readers in the market actually buy it?

Amentep

That's the true rub of it, isn't it?

Someone on this thread mentioned Vertigo. Creative teams are allowed freedom to be creative, but the books aren't really pushed as heavily as other mainstream books and also don't sell the same numbers. Another poster brings up supporting characters and villians, not the core of what should be selling the books; the main character (IMO).

Companies don't inspire creativity and push the same old same old.....which appears to be correct, because that's all readers seem willing to purchase in any real quantity.

[J. Torres]

If there are comic creators, would the companies really allow them to create something brand new, and if they did would any of the readers in the market actually buy it?

Amentep

Well, while it's not an entirely new concept, DC did let us create our own characters for this miniseries...

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...ticle&id=12553

...and we're hoping people pick it up

Look for Family Dynamic in stores starting August!

[Amentep]

Well, while it's not an entirely new concept, DC did let us create our own characters for this miniseries... http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...ticle&id=12553 ...and we're hoping people pick it up Look for Family Dynamic in stores starting August!

J. Torres

Good luck with it!

[Jeffrey Neary]

That's the true rub of it, isn't it? Someone on this thread mentioned Vertigo. Creative teams are allowed freedom to be creative, but the books aren't really pushed as heavily as other mainstream books and also don't sell the same numbers. Another poster brings up supporting characters and villians, not the core of what should be selling the books; the main character (IMO). Companies don't inspire creativity and push the same old same old.....which appears to be correct, because that's all readers seem willing to purchase in any real quantity.

TJLamb0518

Well if you intentionally filter out all the things that make a story unique (namely story details, execution and supporting characters)..then of course it comes across as "Same old same old".

[Ron Marz]

You also need to consider the business realities of creating characters and titles from whole cloth. If you create a brand new character or concept for Marvel or DC, the company owns it 100%. If you did that same character as a creator-owned property at another company, or for an imprint like Icon, the creator ends up owning the lion's share of the property, and reaping the benefits.

In other words, if Robert Kirkman had created Invincible as a Marvel book, he would reap very little benefit from it beyond what he's paid to write it. Since he created it as an Image title, he gets all the benefit from it.

There's very little incentive to create something new for Marvel and DC (Wildstorm and Vertigo creator-participation options aside) -- it's like giving away your ideas. There are just too many other options (Image, Dark Horse, Top Cow, Oni, etc.) where you can retain all or some ownership. That's why you rarely seen "new" creations in the Marvel U and DCU.

[Lundonj]

Companies don't inspire creativity and push the same old same old.....which appears to be correct, because that's all readers seem willing to purchase in any real quantity.

TJLamb0518

Sean McKeever and Mike Norton created the character Gravity for Marvel and the only things I read online were reactions from fans that compared the new character to versions of existing characters.

It was a fun take on a young hero gaining powers, but vast majority of the audience stayed away from that mini-series and jeered it from their keyboards at a safe distance.

Paul Jenkins' Sentry is often called Marvel's newest version of Superman. The comparisons aren't easy to escape, even when people are creative or inventive.

Manhunter is a very unique legacy character and while it has a loyal, vociferous audience, it is rather tiny contrasted with the "tried and true" books of the Big Two.

I think the Young Avengers were generally well received, despite playing on an established name, there were some very new characters all with unique ties to existing continuity.

But I think it is far more difficult to find open minded readers than it is talented creators at Marvel and DC. If the bigger companies have to mind the bottom line more often, they have to generate the material that sells the most.



-Don

[Amentep]

Ooo, that's a good point Ron! Hadn't really considered the effect of wider range of company options and creator-owned benefits, but yeah I'd think if someone had the option, they'd go for creator-owned all the time.

[jafabian]

Archie Comics continously adds new characters to their established cast. Kim Wong, Ginger Lopez, Alison Adams, Miss Haggly, Mr. Wood. So not all comics have been maintaining the status quo.

Uh...okay. I get Archie Comics sometimes. But I get it for the articles!!!

[superfriend]

I think Ron's got it. I'm not convinced WFH is the best litmus test to determine if there's creativity in comics.

also depends on how strict one's standard of creativity is. Like many in the thread have pointed out, there's loads of new stuff around if you're looking for it. The Final Crisis Sketchbook blew me away with the creativity infused but to others it might just seem like the same old rewrites on the same old characters.

Ostensibly independent comics are where it's at when it comes to works that are harder to define with formulas and expectations but there're plenty of independent comics that follow predictable tropes as well.

If the point is that superhero comics, as they're currently known, lack creativity because they aren't creating new and lasting characters like Superman, Wolverine or Batman...and that that's a problem...well, I'm not sure much can be done other than being some sort of New Character Activist or looking elsewhere for this specific quality.