Cronin Theory of Comics
Cronin Theory of Comics – At Least Explain Characterization Changes
I’m totally cool with the idea of Writer X coming on to a book and deciding that she/he wants to change the characterization of a character. I mean, if I think the change is a poor one it’ll irritate me, but at least it’ll be a case where I get it – the writer has [...]
Cronin Theory of Comics – You Really Don’t HAVE to Argue Every Silly Point Out There
Yes, this is a general thing, too, it is not just about comic book blogging, but about any sort of blogging or message board posting, as well. You don’t HAVE to argue every silly point out there. Really. Lord knows that I don’t. If I don’t think a point is worth dignifying with a response, [...]
Cronin Theory of Comics – Keep Insults of Other Creators Out of Comics
The other day, someone linked to a blog post Tom Brevoort did awhile back, and in it, Tom makes a comment that I completely agree with, and I’ve been meaning to post about for awhile. To set up the quote, Tom was talking about a “Year One” Hulk Annual by John Byrne that had some [...]
Cronin Theory of Comics – Good Art Better Transcends Bad Material
Another “problem” I have had looking at writers to feature for the Month of Writing Stars is that there are a number of writers that I like a lot who have somewhat of a spotty reputation because they worked on terrible projects. However, the artists who worked on those projects tend to escape unscathed in [...]
Cronin Theory of Comics – Writers are More “Famous” on the Internet
Comic book writers appear to have more of a presence on the internet than comic book artists. Now, of course, there are very popular artists who are on the same level as the most popular writers – guys like Jim Lee, John Byrne, Todd McFarlane, George Perez, Walt Simonson, Frank Miller, etc. However, the second [...]
Cronin Theory of Comics – Pre-Judging Works
This was recently brought up in the comments, so I figured it worth an entry. Okay, so right from the get go, I don’t think you should ever state that a work is bad before it comes out. Nor do I think you should state that a work is bad without first having read/watched it [...]
Cronin Theory of Comics – Comics Tend to Eventually Regress to the Mean
This is one of the more obvious theories, but my pal Dan Larkin said I should write it up, so here it is! In serialized comics, given enough time, comics will eventually regress to the mean. The “mean” in this instance is defined as what the average comic book writer has identified as the classic [...]
Cronin Theory of Comics – If “Groupthink” is Your Argument, You Don’t Have Much of an Argument
One of the things that I’ve tried my best to instill in this blog (and I’m quite pleased that I have VERY rarely seen it used by any of the contributors on the blog) is the idea that we will not infer motivation behind someone enjoying or not enjoying a comic book. If I think [...]
Cronin Theory of Comics – Don’t Make Guarantees You Can’t Guarantee
This really isn’t that big of a deal, but you see it happen over and over again – an Editor-in-Chief or an editor or a creator or whoever make some guarantee and odds are the guarantee is not going to hold – so why make the guarantee? Why not just “we don’t plan on doing [...]
Cronin Theory of Comics – Creators and Their Work Are Two Separate Entities
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
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 [...]
Cronin Theory of Comics – Treat Comic Creators Respectfully
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 [...]
Cronin Theory of Comics – “Why Should I Change, He’s the One Who Sucks”
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
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
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.
