A short column this week, as I have a four-day weekend this weekend that is being entirely devoted to going to Scarborough Faire and recovering from going to Scarborough Faire. (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme)
I honestly did plan to write something longer, but I got dragged into several conversations across a number of message boards, most of them dealing with one simple fact: Judd Winick is destroying Green Arrow and now we have mathematical proof!
I'll spare you the gory details; if you wish, they're spelled out on our forums. The long and the short of it is that sales have dropped with quality and the book has lost nearly 40% of the audience it had when Judd took over the book three years ago.
But some people have asked me, why do I rage against the machine? Why do I keep reading a book I don't like? Why do I keep trying to talk sense into people who don't want to hear what I have to say?
Maybe it's because Ollie is a very special character to me and it pains me not only to see him badly written, but to see people holding up as strengths what I see as weakness in what was once one of my favorite books.
Maybe it's because I feel it's my duty as a critic to keep digging through the rubble and describing the horror, though I'd rather not.
Maybe it's because I'm a liberal in Texas and it is second nature at this point.
Regardless, my discussions have made one thing clear to me. Ranting will do nothing. Raving will do nothing. And even boycotting the book won't work at this point. The people have already spoken with their dollars and apparently DC is content to let the book float along the sea of mediocrity when it might fly into the heavens once sailed by writers such as Smith and Meltzer.
The time has come for drastic action.
I was going to do a hunger strike, but the editorial staff of Comics Nexus wouldn't hear of it. Besides, it was politely pointed out to me that nobody cares about a 225 pound white guy trying to starve himself to death and that it would be months before there would be any noticeable change.
And then it hit me; since I cannot starve myself, I will merely change my diet.
Henceforth, I take an oath before you my readers as well as whatever gods are so bored as to be reading my column. So long as Judd Winick is writing Green Arrow, I will no longer patronize any local family-owned Mexican restaurant.
Why? Why not? We know that dropping sales doesn't seem to have any effect on DC Comics. And it is my hope that Judd Winick will hear of this noble crusade and, being a man of honor, will step down rather than deprive the people of La Taquerita Le Sierraita near my place of work of the $20 they make weekly off of my lunch breaks.
Besides, it makes as much sense as trying to finance a disaster ridden city with gay marriage.
Should you wish to join me in this quest, I have started a petition.
Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt website.
Looking To The Stars is a critique/satire published by The Comics Nexus, and is not intended maliciously. The Comics Nexus has invented all names and situations in its stories, except in cases when public figures are being satirized. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental, or used as a fictional depiction or personality parody (permitted under Hustler Magazine v. Fallwell, 485 US 46, 108 S.Ct 876, 99 L.Ed.2d 41 (1988)). The Comics Nexus makes no representation as to the truth or accuracy of the preceding information.
Things haven't gotten much better with Scott McDaniel.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what happened since he left Nightwing, but his style has gotten sloppy. And I don't think his style, which is best suited toward high-action, acrobatic characters is really appropriate for a comic where everyone is standing around in suits and talking most of the time.
It's SOOOO nice to read that there are others out there NOT enjoying Winnick's run on Green Arrow. With as long as he's been in the driver's seat on that title, it's often felt like I've been in the minority in my distaste for his take on Ollie.
ReplyDeleteI've seen better Green Arrows on a traffic signal.
I will NOT come back to the book until he leaves . . . Winnick's gone through various books, and each time, he leaves it worse than he found it. Green Lantern anyone? If I wanted to read Pedro and Me, I'd read Pedro and Me.
I'm glad DC isn't giving him as big a part as they seem to be giving people like Morrison and Johns as we move forward into the One Year Later era; for awhile there, DC seemed to be all about pimping Winnick . . .
Trust me, if my figures are any indication (and the chat on the boards APART from Comics Nexus are as well), the vast majority can't stand Winick's Green Arrow.
ReplyDeleteBut since dropping sales and resonable discussion don't seem to be working, I've opted for insane rhetoric to draw attention to the angry masses.