Cheesy & Immature Dialogue in Comics

ThirdMan

Why is there so much of this type of stuff?

"Suck my haemorrhoids".
"**** you retard".
"You're like a two year old spastic."

It's so cheesy and childish. I read Superman: Red Son yesterday and that was also embarrassingly bad. In fairness, it had none of the goofball toilet humour stuff, but it was just poorly written. I enjoy reading comics, but I'm tired of having to ignore how immature a lot of it is.

It's not all bad of course. Stuff like Scalped is mostly well written, and Sandman proved that fantasy-type stuff can work without treating the reader like a 13 year-old.

Can anyone recommend some similar stuff? And I'm not just asking for 'mature' works, because a lot of the dialogue on Vertigo's stuff is desperate.

DoctorEdgeWild

It's the same as TV/movies, there's an awful lot of stuff which is embarrassing to even be associated but there's so much out there that you're bound to find a level that you slot into and enjoy.

It all depends on your taste as to what anyone could recommend. If you haven't read any Alan Moore, I would suggest that is a place to start. I would personally always steer people away from the big American publishers and towards British comics as I find them superior in almost every way but again, that's just my personal taste.

Just off the top of my head, some comics which are lying around my desk currently - Top Ten, Y: The Last Man, Slaine - The Grail War, Batman - Venom and Darwin (a Kickstarter project I only got yesterday so yet to read).

ThirdMan

DoctorEdgeWild wrote: »

It's the same as TV/movies, there's an awful lot of stuff which is embarrassing to even be associated but there's so much out there that you're bound to find a level that you slot into and enjoy.

I get what you're saying, but there aren't many critically acclaimed films or TV shows that have a such reductive approach to humour and dialogue. I read some very positive reviews of Saga on IGN.com yesterday. It was difficult to reconcile them with the actual series when I started to read it. It's wonderfully inventive and I am enjoying it so far, but how can someone write so eloquently about a series that features such crude dialogue.

DoctorEdgeWild wrote: »

It all depends on your taste as to what anyone could recommend. If you haven't read any Alan Moore, I would suggest that is a place to start. I would personally always steer people away from the big American publishers and towards British comics as I find them superior in almost every way but again, that's just my personal taste.

I've read Watchmen and some of his Swamp Thing arcs. Very impressive. I'm gonna take your advice about British comics. I think my issue is with a particular type of American humour, so avoiding it altogether makes sense. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy a good laugh and I really got into Y: The Last Man, which I thought was a good mixture of high-concept writing, quality set-pieces and ballsy humour. But there's a level that I just can't stoop to.

DoctorEdgeWild

I can very much relate to what you're saying. It's one of the reasons why the recent explosion of comics into the mainstream has many comic fans nervous. Well written, insightful, powerful comics can lose out on funding in place of brash, nonsense, American superhero fluff as it has a broader appeal and lends itself to film conversion or, in many cases, is written/drawn with a film end product as the ultimate goal.

I'm always quick to push British comics on to people, 2000ad being the reason I have been into comics for 20-odd years now.

I'd go down and poke around your local shop or click around an online shop and see what takes your fancy. I've found the most rewarding stuff comes from seeing what catches your eye. Avoid DC/Marvel (within reason) and definitely try some unusual stuff as it's usually cheap, entertaining and memorable.

Pick up some of the harder hitting Dredd stuff if you can - quick recommendation for Dredd - America. You don't need any knowledge of Dredd/Dredd's world to enjoy it. It's more an exploration of democracy as a concept, unrequited love as a driving force and fear of authority as a catalyst for rebellion. It's a simple love story too. Basically, it's got a lot of everything going on!

ThirdMan

DoctorEdgeWild wrote: »

I can very much relate to what you're saying. It's one of the reasons why the recent explosion of comics into the mainstream has many comic fans nervous. Well written, insightful, powerful comics can lose out on funding in place of brash, nonsense, American superhero fluff as it has a broader appeal and lends itself to film conversion or, in many cases, is written/drawn with a film end product as the ultimate goal.

I'm always quick to push British comics on to people, 2000ad being the reason I have been into comics for 20-odd years now.

I'd go down and poke around your local shop or click around an online shop and see what takes your fancy. I've found the most rewarding stuff comes from seeing what catches your eye. Avoid DC/Marvel (within reason) and definitely try some unusual stuff as it's usually cheap, entertaining and memorable.

Pick up some of the harder hitting Dredd stuff if you can - quick recommendation for Dredd - America. You don't need any knowledge of Dredd/Dredd's world to enjoy it. It's more an exploration of democracy as a concept, unrequited love as a driving force and fear of authority as a catalyst for rebellion. It's a simple love story too. Basically, it's got a lot of everything going on!

You're one helluva salesman. Cheers for the advice. That's the type of material I'm looking for.

DoctorEdgeWild

Enjoy! If I were in Ireland, I'd happily lend you a load of stuff but since I moved to England, the collection now basically owns me.

ThirdMan

DoctorEdgeWild wrote: »

Enjoy! If I were in Ireland, I'd happily lend you a load of stuff but since I moved to England, the collection now basically owns me.

Haha, I can imagine. No worries. I can get most stuff online anyway. That sounds awful, but I just haven't got the money to take a chance on stuff. So I check things out on my laptop, and if I like it I buy it. I know it's piracy, but it was being able to check comics out for free that actually got me into reading them. As a result I've developed a solid interest in it and I now spend quite a bit on collected editions. I just rely on freebies to put me in the right direction.

Fysh

Mod note: please remember that no discussion of piracy and/or places to unlawfully get comics for free are allowed on boards.ie

ThirdMan

Fysh wrote: »

Mod note: please remember that no discussion of piracy and/or places to unlawfully get comics for free are allowed on boards.ie

That was silly of me. My apologies.