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Cour Four: The Contenders
2008-05-15 17:43:52

A couple more thoughts about the "Core Four" titles that had at one point gained the reputation for being difficult to make relevant to a modern audience.

One of the interesting things about the Core Four is what titles didn't fall into the category. Spider-Man and X-Men, of course, remained sales powerhouses, propelled in large part by the caliber of talent being used on those books. So they never suffered any. But DAREDEVIL went through years where it didn't sell any better than those other four books (and often sold worse), and yet the same stigma didn't attach itself to that title. I think this is at least partially due to the reputation that the Frank Miller runs left on the character, and even the fact that he'd taken a natural turn over the years from the bouncy and upbeat character he'd been at the beginning to something darker and grittier and more in tune with the sensibility of the 80s.

FANTASTIC FOUR also largely escaped being tarred with the same brush. I think this had to do with the fact that it typically sold a bit better than the Core Four titles, and was situated right at the center of the Marvel mythos. But it's hard to believe that "science fiction adventure family" was considered to be an easier sell to a 90s audience than Thor or the Hulk or Captain America. Ironically, I see the pendulum beginning to swing against FF a bit these last few years, with the charge of irrelevancy being levied a little bit. I don't believe that's any more true than I bought the rap about the Core Four a decade ago, but as AVENGERS has taken center stage away from the FF, and the series has continued to drift towards the fringes, I can see how some people might begin to feel this way.

Then you have characters such as Doctor Strange or Nick Fury or Captain Marvel, who carry some cache because of the era of their origins, and who make for strong and popular supporting players in other titles, but who've typically had a hard time holding onto a series of their own. These guys and a bunch of other guys like them are constantly being revisited and revamped and rethought, sometimes with good results and sometimes with bad. I think they've all got great potential--they're all teriffic characters--but we haven't quite hit on the winning formula or the winning creative team just yet.

Doctor Strange
I had the chance to saw the not very well known but acclaimed by critics 'Call of Ch'Tulluh' by Andrew Leman, I can tell his work is already a reference, he missed nothing, nothing, nothing.
His use of the movies from the 30' aesthetic, combining with a wonderful photography provides visuals atmospheres close to masterpieces like 'The night of the hunter' or ' Benjamenta Institute', or some Cocteau' films.I think it would perfectly feet for a Doctor Strange movie, if you're not okay with black and white, then see the work of Guy Maddin , who also use old films aesthectics and language, and take a look as what he's doing with lights and colors, then think about it for the meeting between Strange and The Ancient One.Then mix it with a visual atmosphere close to Ditko's artwork and the video-game 'Master Pandemonium 3'....
As for an ongoing that never reached audiences , think about what Neil Gaiman could do with some one like Michael Lark ...I think it could work.

Posted by notapotatoe on 2008-05-16 08:41:53

'Then mix it with a visual atmosphere close to Ditko's artwork and the video-game 'Master Pandemonium 3'.... ' sorry, I mean for the jumps into mysticals dimensions.....and I don't think it will cost that much.

Posted by notapotatoe on 2008-05-16 08:45:19

My thoughts
Of course Spiderman and X-Men are always popular. They deal with rather timeless themes that most people can relate to. In some way most people can relate to the luckeless geek that Parker is, and they cheer for him because he tries to be something more (not to mention his morality, pre-OMD of course, was something to look up to), and the X-Men always dealt with themes of alienation and predjudice that their core audience can relate to (not to mention some very human characters, especially from Claremont). So of course their popularity won't go down unless those universal themes get forgotten or go completely off the rails.

Can't say much about Daredevil. He's entertaining, but I don't read him often.

And the FF... I've read them and they never really stuck to me. The classic stories are ok, but the reason I personally never got into them was because the characters were ones I never got into. Reed Richards seems to me like a reckless and irresponsible mad scientist, Johnny Storm's a braggart and a showoff, Sue Storm seems distant. The only guy I connected to was The Thing, who seems the most human of them all. And because of all that's gone on with the FF, it looks like the friendly animosity that was their strength has now been stretch to the point where they can barely work with each other. I guess to me, the FF is showing their age, their scifi theme isn't so spiffy anymore (especially with Iron Man as the king of tech) and I just don't like the people in the group. Could I not be the only one? Could that be why the FF's taking a downturn?

Posted by DRock1 on 2008-05-16 11:52:21

some will say that the FF without Reed and Johnny and Ben and Sue too are not the FF but I tend to think that it's the best thing that can happen to them for a little time.

Posted by notapotatoe on 2008-05-16 14:06:31

Personally, I found Dwayne McDuffie's run on FF to be the best thing I've read in ages.

Posted by deworde on 2008-05-16 14:23:32

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About this blog:
Ramblings and musings from the mind of Tom Brevoort. "It won’t be clean. It won’t be fun. It mostly won’t be coherent."

About the author:
Tom Brevoort is Executive Editor for Marvel Comics, and oversees such titles as New Avengers, Civil War, and Fantastic Four.


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