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Underground > Comic Books >

Comic Books Don't Write Themselves, You Know.

11:25 / 02.10.08

I was just reading some old Iron Man, and was struck by the writing. In V2 Issue 12(Oct1997), on page 32, the narrator tells us...

The Sheild Helicarrier. America's answer to having an aircraft carrier that flies.

I wonder how much Jeph Loeb got paid for that run. I'd like to break it down per title, or per word. He was on from issue 7 to issue 12, this dialogue being in his last ever Iron Man. Perhaps not a coincidence?
Marvel don't seem to have ditched him, though. He still has work. In comics. For Marvel and DC. But also for television.
I guess now I know why Heroes and Smallville suck.

What brutal writing has broken your suspension of disbelief recently?

11:37 / 02.10.08

I see I am not alone in thinking Jeph Loeb Sucks.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

05:01 / 03.10.08

Although I agree that Loeb is fairly awful I have to say, I liked his Batman stories. Lots of people complain about Hush saying "it's obvious from the start who Hush is!" which always baffles me because, isn't that supposed to be the point? I mean, sure, he's not the most interesting villain ever and if he were the mastermind behind that story it would be poor, but he's just another stringer being manipulated by the real villain behind it all.

07:23 / 03.10.08

That being God?

08:02 / 03.10.08

That being God?

That being Zod.

Or did I get entirely lost with that story?

I quite liked Hush too, thought it brought a bit more to the Bat/Cat relationship table than a lot of the stories in which they chase about on the rooftops. Entertaining multi-villain arc which I always saw as a good stepping on point for people who haven't read much Batman.

The Sheild Helicarrier. America's answer to having an aircraft carrier that flies.

Doesn't that line feel like it should be in Nextwave?

13:35 / 03.10.08

The Sheild Helicarrier. America's answer to having an aircraft carrier that flies.

Doesn't that line feel like it should be in Nextwave?

In a better world than this, that belongs on CNN.

"Suck it, Convair! This one's all-American." - Bill Clinton, 1997, addressing the nation live at the unveiling, via television. The moment thankfuly lived down thanks to his upcoming impeachment and related complications.

I mean, I'm assuming someone else got there first? Unamerican, of course. Hydra, I'm looking at you here. AIM? Hughes? Captain Mors?

14:18 / 03.10.08

Of course, Spectrum had one.

They built their Cloudbase in 1967, two years after we saw Fury on one. I like to think of it as Britain's answer to having a base in the clouds.

18:56 / 03.10.08

I've never liked Jeph Loeb's writing, the dueling caption thing he does in practically everything he's ever written just grates. The only saving grace of his Batman books and the Marvel color books is Tim Sale's art, and I think I would much prefer that without the awful writing of Loeb.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

19:22 / 03.10.08

Also, he never gave in and let Superman and Batman finally make out, in spite of every fibre of their being, as written by him, screaming for it.

12:29 / 04.10.08

I dunno,i think watching Bruce and Clark would have caused spontaneous strokes for every fatbeard out their, including me at the time.

Still re-reading it recently, yup, they are soooo hot for each other in those issues of Superman/Batman.

The Natural Way

13:24 / 04.10.08

I know this isn't the Hush thread, but I'd like to put my vote in for it being pretty good. Totally kicked the ailing batbooks up the arse, looked great and a fucking rollicking adventure around the bat mythos.

12:09 / 06.10.08

Of course, the first flying aircraft carrier was probably French:

Robur the Conqueror, 1886

14:54 / 09.10.08

I think Loeb had some decent writing chops in SUPERMAN FOR ALL SEASONS; and back then, his approach was fresh. Long Halloween is ok as long as you know it's a pastiche of gritty/cop drama/Godfather-type & other comics cliches, and Hush was dumb popcorn fun in a Bruckheimer way. Neither of those last two Batman arcs would have worked at all without the artists saving the day and bringing the quality up. Since then, Loeb's writing has been either a) awful and horribly dumb or b) dumb Bruckheimer film-type fun if the plot is remotely amusing to you and you're able to shut most critical faculties of your brain off (I present as evidence the first arc of Superman/Batman).

I know this isn't a Loeb thread, but wanted to chime in on the Loeb topic. The Loeb Ultimates, which I skimmed in the store, seemed especially awful. I like the plot idea of the Red Hulk but the execution and actual comics telling that story seem quite poor as well.

As for other bad dialogue in comics, well, it's certainly out there, in many awful books that we're all probably not reading because they're so... well, bad.

14:55 / 09.10.08

I also think All-Star Batman & Robin is pretty awful, and we've gone over that in length (those who like it and those who dislike it) in its own thread. As for other badly written comics, there are so, so many out there...

15:57 / 09.10.08

Fancy sharing some dialogue? I stopped reading ASBAR pretty quickly, what with it being shit. I'd rather not have to wade through it, if at all possible.

What was the worst line in it?

16:24 / 09.10.08

Mario; it's been a while, but was the Albatross an aircraft carrier? I remember it being a flying ship, but not a launching platform.

This illustration from the book seems to bear that out:

05:04 / 10.10.08

What was the worst line in it?

"Text every friend you've got shit heads -- This here arcade belongs to the fucking Batgirl!"

And yet, it's the best line too. What a conundrum this series is.