I just had a lengthy debate online with a comics fan who disputes my assertion that we're currently in a Golden Age of great comics. His argument was that superdude comics suck now, and "indie" books are just as bad, or the stuff of "hipsters."
I suspect the real problem here is the fan and I are talking in two entirely different languages. To most mainstream fans, "indie" means whatever they see in their Diamond-run shop that is not Marvel, DC or Image. That means a few Fantagraphics or Top Shelf titles, but mostly an entire wall of wannabee publishers of superdude knockoffs. And yeah, for the most part, that's dreary stuff. There are some books that are pretty cool, but most of it is derivative dreck. That's always been a flaw with mainstream floppies. As Jim Starlin infamously portrayed the biz 45 years ago: a mountain of manure sprinkled with diamonds.
The problem is a mainstream comics shop is the last place a fan should be looking for a
The problem is a mainstream comics shop is the last place a fan should be looking for a
