Cronin Theory of Comics
Cronin Theory of Comics - Creators and Their Work Are Two Separate Entities
- by Brian Cronin
- Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 5:44 AM EST
I’ve been following the coverage of Judd Winick’s relaunch of the Wolfman/Perez-era Titans (CBR just had a piece on Winick and the book here), and it’s really interesting to note that Judd Winick just seems like a really nice fellow.
He did an interview with George Perez for Wizard (which I believe had been archived […]
Cronin Theory of Comics - Theories on Comic Book Death
- by Brian Cronin
- Thursday, January 24th, 2008 at 9:04 PM EST
The rabbit got me thinking about comic book death, and about some thoughts I have about the appropriateness of it all.
To open, do note that I am really against the basic concept of “Big event? I guess we have to kill somebody.” I think it is generally a ridiculous concept that hurts comics by depriving […]
Cronin Theory of Comics - Treat Comic Creators Respectfully
- by Brian Cronin
- Monday, December 31st, 2007 at 4:18 PM EST
It’s kind of weird, as this sure seems to be self-evident, but apparently it needs to be stated - not liking someone’s comic book is not a reason to be disrespectful to them.
I am aghast at some of the terribly disrespectful things that are being said towards Joe Quesada for his crime of messing around […]
Cronin Theory of Comics - “Why Should I Change, He’s the One Who Sucks”
- by Brian Cronin
- Thursday, August 2nd, 2007 at 2:56 AM EST
In the film, Office Space, there is a scene where two characters are talking about their names, and how much they dislike them. One character tells the other one, who is frustrated to be named Michael Bolton (the same name as a noted soft rock balladeer), “Well, why don’t you just go by Mike instead […]
Cronin Theory of Comics - The Erasure Point of Comic Book Grief
- by Brian Cronin
- Monday, July 23rd, 2007 at 3:34 AM EST
For whatever reason, I got to thinking about the death of a cool Batman supporting cast member, Sarah Essen, the second wife of Commissioner James Gordon. Introduced in Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One, Essen returned to the books during Alan Grant’s great Batman run (very clever idea on Grant’s part) and ultimately married Gordon. She […]
Cronin Theory of Comics - Chuck Austen: Harbinger
- by Brian Cronin
- Friday, July 13th, 2007 at 5:17 AM EST
My pal Sean Whitmore referenced Chuck Austen’s Avengers run the other day, and it struck me - Chuck Austen’s comics were a perfect harbinger to the style of comic books that both DC and Marvel produce right now.
Let me explain.
Cronin Theory of Comics - Fan-fiction is a Limited Critique
- by Brian Cronin
- Monday, June 18th, 2007 at 3:40 PM EST
“It was like fan fiction” is not a good critique of a comic book writer’s performance.
Cronin Theory of Comics - Serialized Fiction Is Judged Individually
- by Brian Cronin
- Thursday, May 24th, 2007 at 8:24 PM EST
I get it, Paul Dini, you think that, when Countdown is read as a whole, then the early lame issues will be transformed into a strong opening in the vast tapestry that is Countdown.
However, serialized fiction does not work that way (at least not according to the Cronin Theory of Comics, that is, natch). […]
Cronin Theory of Comics - Detailed Plot Synopses Are Lame
- by Brian Cronin
- Tuesday, October 24th, 2006 at 3:08 AM EST
Don’t get me wrong, I am not against spoilers. I think that a good deal of comic book discussion pretty much has to involve discussing what goes on in a comic, particularly if the event in the comic factors into the book heavily. To wit, while it was a spoiler, it is difficult to express […]
Cronin Theory of Comics - It Doesn’t Matter If Bronze Tiger Can Beat You Up
- by Brian Cronin
- Monday, September 11th, 2006 at 3:44 AM EST
There is no doubt that, once you create a shared universe, the Comparative Hierarchy exists. It doesn’t even have to be two titles. It can be just one title with more than one character. If you have a book starring, say, a detective, if you then introduce another detective, the question WILL come up in […]
Cronin Theory of Comics - Don’t Compete With Your Readers
- by Brian Cronin
- Saturday, July 15th, 2006 at 2:54 AM EST
I will be honest, I really do not care what writers think about their readers. For instance, you can adore your readers and you can hold them in contempt, it really doesn’t matter to me. The one thing I think you should not do, though, is to compete with your readers over how you […]
Cronin Theory of Comics - Nostalgia/Importance Quotient
- by Brian Cronin
- Saturday, June 24th, 2006 at 3:39 AM EST
Here’s a simple enough equation I have come up with. The greater the importance of the scene in the comic book, the greater damage it does to the story for the scene to be steeped in nostalgia. Nostalgia is not a bad thing, per se. Little geeky touches in a comic that only longterm fans […]
Cronin Theory of Comics - Dr. Strange Isn’t a Walking Plot Device
- by Brian Cronin
- Tuesday, June 20th, 2006 at 4:08 AM EST
Dr. Strange is a fine character, so I would like for comics, when they use Dr. Strange, to actually USE Dr. Strange. Except for Peter Milligan in the recent X-Statix mini-series (and that was more of a co-starring role than a guest appearance), when writers use Dr. Strange, it seems to boil down to the […]
Cronin Theory of Comics - Comic Reviews
- by Brian Cronin
- Tuesday, April 25th, 2006 at 2:58 AM EST
As you all may know, the way that I see the blog working, when it comes to reviews, is that we tell you all what comic books we think are good or, in the alternative, tell you why books that were NOT good were not good At the heart of that, then, is the only […]
Cronin Theory of Comics - It Is a Lot Harder To Move From Another Media To Comics Than Is Given Credit
- by Brian Cronin
- Sunday, March 26th, 2006 at 2:57 AM EST
I did a bit on this in 2004 before I started doing the “Theory of Comics” shtick, so I thought it would be nice to rewrite it as a “Theory of Comics” bit. In any event, , I believe that, if you’re a good writer, you’re just a good writer, no matter what the genre […]
