The New Millar Thing

[Ultimate Houde]

I doubt Morrison sells to the general public.

 

[E]

I can see what you're saying, but Millar over Johns?

Gotta disagree. If it was true before Blackest Night, it certainly isn't anymore.

If Johns can get to that level, it will be because of Blackest Night.

But Millar has already done it with Civil War and Ultimates. I'm not saying Johns isn't as good of a writer, I'm saying: Civil War sold on the successes of Ultimates. Blackest Night is selling because it's good/interesting, not because it's a Geoff Johns book.

I doubt Morrison sells to the general public.

Completely wrong choice of phrase there. Disregard.

 

[Ultimate Houde]

But Millar has already done it with Civil War and Ultimates. I'm not saying Johns isn't as good of a writer, I'm saying: Civil War sold on the successes of Ultimates. Blackest Night is selling because it's good/interesting, not because it's a Geoff Johns book.

I have to disagree with you there. It's selling because it is a Geoff Johns book, the Sinestro War sold because of a good/interesting story that sucked people in, which is also selling the Blackest Night story at the moment.

 

[E]

I have to disagree with you there. It's selling because it is a Geoff Johns book, the Sinestro War sold because of a good/interesting story that sucked people in, which is also selling the Blackest Night story at the moment.

I really don't think so. I really don't think the reason a majority of people are reading Blackest Night is because it's a Geoff Johns book. I do agree that Sinestro Corps War is part of that, but Blackest Night is a continuation of it. It's the culmination of events originating in SCW but doesn't really require reading SCW to "get it" - it's an interesting concept - DCU's greatest heroes turned into zombies.

 

[Zombipanda]

Gail Simone, really? I mean, sure, she writes a great Wonder Woman, but... I wouldn't put her up to Mark Millar standards. He sells books with his name. She doesn't.

I'm not talking about popularity. I'm talking about innovation and consistency in writing. Millar's one of the best selling comic writers around. There's no denying that.

As for Wonder Woman, while it's a decent book, and certainly a far cry better than most of the work done with the character, I feel like it's not close to her best material. I think she really thrives with lesser known characters that she can pour personality into.

Let's give credit where credit is due. This isn't the music industry, where you can publish a catchy song on Myspace and get a record deal out of it. Comics is one of the creative industries where you still actually have to prove yourself. He did that with Red Son and Authority and now he's riding on that crest. Will it crash? Maybe.

I don't think that's wholly true. The 90's were glutted with terrible books with terrible scripts that sold hellacious numbers and made careers out of a lot of sub-par writers. We're in a writer's renaissance for the medium, but the number of truly exceptional writers still doesn't come close to matching the amount of product being churned out by comic book publishing companies. Bendis also sells exceptionally well, but I don't find him to be all that good a writer.

I don't think Millar is a bad writer. I think he has the potential to put out some really good books. But when he hypes up his books by revealing the big flashpoints, it only underscores the weaknesses in his writing, and he seems to have a hell of a time meeting a schedule. I'd honestly like to see the guy focus on more creator-owned work. I think Ellis is a pretty good parallel to him. Ellis puts out a lot of books at any given time. A number of these have a hard time meeting a monthly deadline and some are much better than others, but he has so much output that in any given month, there's bound to be at least one great Ellis book being published. And when he does work in mainstream DC/Marvel comics, it tends to be a means to finance his other products, and works on the fringes of the universe. I think Millar would succeed artistically a lot more by working on book that aren't such marquis titles, where the deadlines aren't such a big deal and he can take more time to polish up the book and focus on quality.

Millar, weather you like it or not, could sell a Dasani bottle full of desert sand to a thirsty man. He might be a snake oil salesman, but he's one of the very best at selling that snake oil. I probably like Ennis and Ellis (pattern there?) better but I always look forward to what Millar will do next because he's pretty ******* unpredictable.

More like, he could sell a Mountain Dew bottle of desert sand to a thirst geek.

I'm not saying he isn't a good hype man. I'm saying he's a better hype man than he is a writer. He sells boatloads of books. But then, so does Loeb. And while Millar is a bazillion times better the writer than Loeb, that doesn't change the fact. I think Millar would be a much better writer without the fringe celebrity. His output suffers from the consistent sells and perpetual attaboys.