@KookieSuperApe: Have to agree. You can not talk about the importance and history of the DC Golden Age and Silver Ages of Comics and not include Gardner Fox!
It didnât stop people from crying and saying âWhy is Toys R Us going away, why?â when just a couple years prior they would have very easily said âToys R Us? Eh, whatever.â
People are sadly fickle beyond belief at times and they really shouldnât bemoan the lack of something when they havenât cared about it for years and years on-end.
Iâm fully on board with this, as @KookieSuperApe pointed out initially.
Iâve only seen some big chunks of the first part and I FWD through bits of parts 2 and 3, because I was over at the friendâs who has HBO Max, after walking his dog/watering the plants and thatâs all I had time for. Weâre supposed to get together soon, so Iâll need to see if I can talk him into it. But my initial impression, other than significant documentary details like omitting Gardner Fox (although people do forget that Julie Schwartz had the background not only with Science Fiction but with Pulps before his career at DC, so he was a factor - just most certainly not the only person who should be credited), and Julie would likely be the first person to say so, as he was always good about wanting to pass along and share credit, not just with the writers, but with the illustrators and other employees who helped put the books together.
I have essentially the same complaint (and I will note it is essentially the same director, co-director here involved) with the WB100 of what I have seen so far, and thatâs that I wanted more documentary focus on the past and on the history (e.g. that STORY part in the DC Story title of this doc), versus the attempts at cross-promotion of current or recent theatrical releases, and so forth. But Iâll chime in more when I have something intelligent to say based on actually fully watching all three episodes.
Speaking of Berger and other kick-ass women in DCâs history, I greatly enjoyed seeing Jenette Kahn once again, as sheâs always a delight to bear witness to.
Had time to watch nearly half of part 3. It starts with the normal problems like horrible transitions and generic praise. When they get to New 52 they finally start being interesting with what is currently the best part. Maybe they continue that later.
Iâve watched the whole thing. It was enjoyable, even if it was self-promotion for DC and MAX (max?). It reminded me of many DC comics storylines and movies I need to visit (and revisit).
But given the very public drama they whitewashed over in its coverage of Josstice League and the Snyder Cut, it makes me wonder about everything else they misrepresented or left out entirely. I feel like a Starro starfish has been attached to my face, its brainwashing trying to make me forget about Peter Davidâs Aquaman run, Alan Mooreâs Swamp Thing run, Joaquin Phoenixâs Joker portrayal, and other great DC creations. Like Smallville. The OG DC Universe and DC Daily. James Wanâs Swamp Thing. Gotham and Pennyworth.
Iâm sure there are other important DC properties that should have been included, but the starfish on my face is making me forget anything that isnât running on Max!
I watched part one and was pleasantly surprised. They talked about the early dumping of owner Major Wheeler-Nicholson. They delved into creatorsâ rights, even though that didnât paint a favorable picture of DC. They talked about Bill Finger getting shafted. What also surprised me was the info behind Warner Brothersâ decision to purchase DC comics 50 years ago. Part one didnât shy away from the insider baseball.
I thought all the talking heads were good - even Michael Uslan was saying things that werenât old hat. I also thought the visuals were a good mixture of movie/TV footage with comic book panels.
Iâd like to see Disney do a documentary on Marvel thatâs even half this candid.
Al the ones that just describe comics history (especially the ones that never use face reveals and keep all the focus on comics). There are hordes of them.
Finished the series. Waste of three hours. Carlin is now on my no list, and I now have a no list. At least Jim Lee, Dan Didio, and Andy Kubert were good, or this would have been way worse.
I didnât think part two was as good as part one, but was candid enough to go through the DC implosion and DC falling behind Image Comics, neither of which youâd delve into in a promotional puff piece.
The normal way that similar âdocumentariesâ on DC handle the passage of time is along the lines of âAnd then came the Kennedy Administration. And DC comics was an integral part of that. And then came the counter culture movement. And DC comics was an integral part of that.â So not holding rigidly to chronological order was a great choice.
Watched the first three episodes and the series plays out very much indeed like DC For Dummies. Now, Iâm not saying that the subject matter shouldâve been completely pointed at the experienced collector audience, but wow- couldnât we at least get a little bit of content tailored toward us?
I know that Sandman was popular and that the title had solid sales during the early 90s when Vertigo hit (I was there- I saw them on the shelves at the LCS) but how they just gonnaâ completely gloss over the brilliant work by Grant Morrison and Rachel Pollack on Doom Patrol during that same era?
Nothing⊠NOTHING on the death/resurrection of Jason Todd?
This.^^^
Supesâ writing team seemed to be phoning it in pre Death Of Superman. At least that was the impression I was getting from conversations with the knowledgeable peeps at my LCS back in 1991. The stories were said to be bland and predictable and that many of the readers were taking a break from the series.
Also- itâs not cool how this show tries to blame the speculator boom of the early 90s purely on the fans/outside sources. DC and Marvel both had a significant hand in helping to inflate artificial speculation pricing of that era with the foils and other marketing aspects that were being employed to drive sales.
Iâm not sure what people were expecting from Superman in the pre-DOS days, but as a party thatâs actually read those books, Iâve always enjoyed them and am thankful beyond words that they didnât mimic Image or other trends of the time, like many other titles and publishers did.
Of course, that came later with the long hair (Its not a mullet! ), costume change, variant covers (Get those embossed covers now, thereâs only a jillion of them to go around! ) and the like.
However, publishers make what fans buy and a lot of fans were buying that stuff of their own free will and in droves.
From a pure business standpoint, can you blame DC for carrying on with trends that kept the lights on and the money coming in?
Fans need to stop playing the pity parade card and just accept their responsibilities in situations like those, instead of acting like they were forced to spend their money on a publisherâs product when the only person(s) that made them part with their money was themselves.
Nobody made the decision to buy that product but them. DC just put it out there and said âWhoever wants it, here you go.â
âMoving on.â
Iâd be curious to see how many converts this mini-series brings into the fold.
If I wasnât already a fan of 34 years, it would have perked up my interest in comics and made me check some stuff out.
Iâm betting people who actually are new to comics because of this series will say the same thing in time.
The best-darn readers there are in comicdom!
Theyâre welcome to their opinions of course.
Its just that in decades of DC fandom, Iâve never seen a valid argument for what should have been done with the Superman line pre-DOSâŠespecially from those who werenât reading the line, but also from its most ardent supporters.
I mean, sure, Superman eventually got useless pouches added to his suit, but at least it wasnât his main suit.
Take that, Cable and 99.99% of the original X-Force team!