Whither JMS?

As you've probably already read, J. Michael Straczynski is going to be quitting both the Superman and Wonder Woman books, which were lauched under his name with a fair amount of hoopla, and instead concentrate on a Superman: Earth One book. A number of people have covered this news, and with far greater accuracy and insight than I can offer. The gist of the thing however, is that JMS, (I refuse to keep typing out Straczynski!) has decided that monthly books are for the birds, and that trades are where it is at.

This news does not bother me in the least. While JMS can be a decent writer...in the same way that Judd Winick CAN be a decent writer, it is only when he wants to be. I do believe that he's actually a television writer, and not a REAL comic book writer. And therein lies the problem, as I see it. DC and Marvel each seem to hunger for a certain feeling of legitimacy, and keep trying to land REAL writers, as opposed to people who actually know how to write comic books. Joss Whedon is pretty decent, but slow. Jody Picault was a disaster. Weinberg was ok, JMS has his moments, and I'm sure that there are a ton more that I'm forgetting off of the top of my head, but somehow these little experiments never seem to pan out. Yes, they are REAL writers, in that they write for a larger audience tha comics provide...but that doesn't mean that they are necessarily as good when they try to switch genres.

It takes skill to write a comic book, and a certain mindset. The premise is that they are monthly...or at least supposed to be, with a certain amount of action and plot jammed into twenty or twenty-two pages or so, with a nice opening, and a decent cliffhanger at the end, to entice the reader to come back next month. As a superhero comic fan, there is a certain suspension of disbelief that is required, and lord knows that there can be some incredibly silly elements thrown in for good measure.

But please, don't disrespect comics as a medium. If you aren't capable of the work load, then don't say that you are, and then quit in the middle of a run. It isn't very professional for one thing. It's damned annoying for another.

On the other hand, I'm a bit giddy at the prospect of getting the REAL Superman back from his Pity Parade across America, not to mention getting the REAL Wonder Woman back. I'm hoping that she'll just wake up, and it will all be a dream or something.



So now other writers have to step in and clean up the mess. And apparently it is quite the mess, there are barely any notes, much less any completed storylines. Again, this strikes me as being unprofessional. So...enough with the Big Names from the Real World. Let's stick to people to actually love comics and know how to write them. Surely there are undiscovered but excellent writers out there, for whom writing a comic book isn't just a vanity project.

Man, I'm cranky today!