In yesterday’s post I mentioned comic book critics that I follow on YouTube and that I could recommend some that put the current comic debate into perspective as far as what people unhappy with the current trends are actually saying versus what you’re being told they’re saying. I thought that tonight I’d spotlight a few of those critics, letting you hear, for example since it was brought up, what some of these critics mean when they complain about a comic or other piece of media is “woke”, though not every sample I’ll be using will touch on that, or just the issues with the darker themes for formerly fun comics. Sadly none of them are as adamant about letting kids read mainstream DC and Marvel superhero stories as I am and some of them came from the 1990s, where some of these trends truly began before politics infected every aspect of our entertainment…usually coming off more as a distraction from how bad the show is combined with lazy marketing than anything else.
In compiling this list I snagged a sample from liberals, conservatives, the politically unaligned, the biased and unbiased view alike, and people I may or may not agree with on specific topics but do agree with in broad terms or at least find their presentation interesting enough. Frankly I’m a bit concerned to even do some of these. I’ve had people in the past that I’ve promoted like the Game Overthinker or JewWario either fall into madness or was secretly problematic the whole time…and given my stats I’m sure most of you know what I mean about the second name given that my article about it gets read at least three times a day for some reason. Some of the stronger critics on the right like Eric July are not on the list because right now he’s focused on his own comic company and I want to show that it’s more that white conservative Christians (he’s not white but he is the other two, specifically Libertarian) calling out the current trends in comics. It’s a wide variety so if you want to get the full flavor of the current debate check these reviewers out as well. Let’s start with the most neutral party on this list.
BW Media Spotlight 
BW Versus Comicstorian: Digging Deeper Into His Comic Backlash Theory
With my current YouTube backlog still in December and being a month behind seems like a hill I can’t climb (I now understand Sisyphus’s plight and I don’t even have a boulder) I haven’t watched as much Comicstorian as I used to. Readers from the early days may recall I used his “complete story series” as a discussion point or just filler, especially after I lost my job and couldn’t buy new comics. I’m hoping that I can watch some of the stories I’m interested in out of actual love of the story or morbid curiosity.
Recently, Benny (formerly known as Eligible Monster) posted a commentary on the current state of comics, or the perception of same as it turns out. Entitled “Why You May Have Stopped Liking Comic Books” (or according to the thumbnail “Why You Hate Comics Now”), Benny goes over the reasons he feel is causing a wave of malcontent when it comes to current US comic stories, specifically at the big two, DC Comics and Marvel. I listened to the video and while he makes some good points the complaints he list doesn’t quite jibe with what I’ve heard from other storytelling reviewers and commentators who discuss comics either exclusively or as part of the wider range of “genre” media. (You know, the stuff us geeks read, watch, and play.) Of course I will play the video first. We’ll listen to his commentary and then go over why the critics I follow have taken issue with US comics in 2023…and my own issues. There’s one big one he dances around but never quite sticks the landing, and it has nothing to do with our current “social” climate.
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Posted by ShadowWing Tronix on January 19, 2023 in Comic Spotlight and tagged BW versus, comics, commentary, DC Comics, Marvel Comics.
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