13 Truths Comic Book Fans Would Never Admit To Themselves
10. You Think Some Of The Greatest Comics Are Overrated
What You Say: The Dark Knight Returns was absolutely brilliant. Watchmen should be taught as great literature. The 60s and the 70s were the years when the greatest comic book stories were being published, and anything since then pales in comparison to the greatness of those books. Things were so much better for comic fans in the past, the modern stuff just doesnt measure up, either in terms of writing or art. But What You Really Mean: Every single form of media has its sacred cows, works that are supposedly free from criticism and are considered universally beloved. Like Citizen Kane for movies, or Shakespeare for literature. And comics are certainly no exception. Lee/Kirbys Fantastic Four or Lee/Ditkos Amazing Spider-Man, Claremont/Byrnes Uncanny X-Men, ONeill/Adams Batman and Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Gaimans Sandman, and just about anything ever written by Alan Moore or Frank Miller, just to name a few. And yes, these works were extremely groundbreaking at the time. But modern readers picking up these works for the first time may be slightly underwhelmed by them, given all the hype. And then there are the so-called modern classics, like the Loeb/Lee run on Batman: Hush, or the Millar/McNiven Civil War crossover, both of which are pretty highly overrated and mostly the product of a lot of hype and little substance.
Percival Constantine is the author of several novels and short stories, including the Vanguard superhero series, and regularly writes and comments on movies, comics, and other pop culture. More information can be found at his website, PercivalConstantine.com
