Lack of Saturday Morning Cartoons Leads to the Peril of Comics

This December I will be 45 years-old. I picked up my first comic in my parent’s attic when I was about 7 years-old. But it wasn’t comics that got me into reading comics. Instead, it was Saturday Morning Cartoons, Fox Kids shows, and USA Cartoon Express. These cartoons got me interested in Batman, TMNT, X-Men, and more. On top of the cartoon mania, a major comic book story hit that propelled me to start buying comics and that story was The Death of Superman.

As a young kid, I was shook that Superman, of all the super-powered beings, could die for good. Yes, I was naïve and not yet jaded by life. But the storyline from Death of Superman to Reign of the Supermen, to Return of Superman was fantastic. From there, I started to discover more titles and began to develop a taste for certain artists. I slowly learned that a good writer/artist combo could entertain me just as much as the cartoons.

Then, after high school, it all changed. Girls, college studies, partying with friends, video games, concerts, and watching sports took up my time.

Towards the end of my college career, I stumbled upon Batman #619 in the grocery store back when spinner racks were still a thing. Jim Lee’s art and Joseph Loeb’s storytelling sucked me in, and I found myself in the comic book store hunting down back issues of the Hush storyline. After that, I got caught up in Infinite Crisis, Identity Crisis, and so forth, and so on.

Around early 2000s, super-hero movies started to take flight, and I found myself at the movies more. The movies were alright and gradually got better. Eventually, I became a Marvel Zombie after watching Captain America: The First Avenger. It was also around this time that Walking Dead became a phenomenon and I found myself buying up all kinds of Image books.

Fast-forward to the pandemic, and the age of streaming services, and with a push of a button, I was instantly gratified by a new Star Wars show, Marvel movie, and able to download the latest issue of my favorite comic. It became a lot easier to find what I was looking for, and the entertainment industry was doing a great job of leaning into 70s/80s/90s nostalgia.

After watching The Last Jedi, and the Marvel movies that followed Endgame, it became clear – things were starting to fall off. I even felt the step decline in quality when I visited my local comic shop. Comics were becoming even more progressive but in ways that failed to entertain – things were being forced. And it seemed like every 12 or so issues a series was rebooted with a new creative team. Each time we were told that things were even bigger and better. But they really weren’t. Instead, the comic industry was leaning into the selling of #1s, instead of good stories.

Some comic creators such as Kelly Sue DeConnick were pretty arrogant about their level of talent and scoffed at comic shoppers that didn’t agree with her political or social views. She even went as far as to tell comic book shoppers to not buy her books if they didn’t like her views. Guess what? She’s no where to be found in mainstream comics anymore, and years later has lamented about how unstable the comic industry has become.

I’ll be honest here, if a writer wants to write about WHATEVER it doesn’t bother me. I can choose not to buy it. But whenever there is no escaping that shared vision of change, and every comic is following that vision, it becomes problematic. I’ll give you an example, when Alex Alonzo was Editor-in-Chief at Marvel a lot of changes were made. We got Secret Wars, then All-New All-Different titles, then Marvel NOW! titles, and eventually Marvel Legacy titles – four reboots in a span of four years. Below was the main Avengers title – notice anything missing?

It is not the Avengers team that is on the big screen that everyone knows and loves. Eventually, Alonzo parted ways with Marvel during a firestorm of controversies – with some speculating that it had to deal with low sale numbers.

After Marvel burnt me out, I could no longer get sucked in to another comic event, reboot, or a character changing into whatever. I tried DC Rebirth for awhile but it just seemed messy and titles I enjoyed, like Superman, went in a direction I didn’t care for – like Jon Kent getting aged up.

It was about 2021 that I stopped collecting comics. I retuned in 2024 for Transformers by DWJ, Absolute Batman, and to read the new Hush story by Jim Lee and Joseph Loeb (the creative team that got me back into comics way back when). Hush2 was receiving a huge amount of hype and I was there for it. I saw this as my gateway back into comics, and the first issue was good, but confusing at times.

However, subsequent issues have been frustrating to read due to them feeling directionless, characters not acting like themselves, and a regurgitation of prior storylines. Also, the storyline feels tone-death to prior events making it difficult to understand where in the Bat-mythos this story takes place.

After reading the latest Hush2 issue back in July and finding out that the next one won’t release until November, and realizing that the whole thing was a massive cash grab preying on my nostalgia, it was the straw that broke my back.

Luke Skywalker is dead along with my nostalgia for current renditions of popular 70s/80s/90s properties. I am done with the reboots or the revisiting of things that were once popular.

I didn’t even bother to order Batman/Deadpool because I saw what it was – another cash grab filled with various stories that don’t matter. The comic industry is in peril. Marvel and DC would have never teamed up unless they were in trouble. This comic screams of desperation. And so does the new Batman series written by Matt Fraction with all the blind bags of #1.

There are some shining stars out there that don’t rely on gimmicks to sell – I am looking at you Absolute Batman. But there aren’t many.

Eventually, comics are going to be harder and harder to find, and might die out. Why?

As of late, there has been a heavy lean into 70s/80s/90s nostalgia in the comic industry. This is obviously geared toward the old-heads like myself because we are shelling out the big bucks at the comic store. And as good parents what do we do? We bring our kids along and share with them the hobby. But if the hobby is failing us, and we aren’t going to the stores as often, then our kids aren’t likely to get hooked.

My son is 12 years-old and I would bring him to the shop with me a lot when he was younger. I’d buy him whatever caught his eye. But around the pandemic when digital media really took off, he’d much rather stream a movie or show, or play a video game. Going to the store, browsing through comics, and cracking one up to read isn’t appealing to him. Honestly, I rarely see kids around his age or younger at the shops.

Eventually us old-heads are going to pass on, or give up on the medium altogether, and there isn’t going to be a generation like us to take our place. Without a doubt, my generation was the biggest comic book audience in the last 50 years. But our enthusiasm is dying out because we have been burnt out on:

1. Reboots
2. Gimmicks
3. Over-hyped books that don’t deliver, and
4. Realizing that long-term value of a book is a rarity

The heavy lean into 70s/80s/90s nostalgia wasn’t for the younger generation. It was aimed at us old fats in hopes that we would bring our kids along for the ride. When we did, they pulled the rug out from under us, and tried to do a bait-and-switch. It didn’t work and now they are regretting it, especially Marvel. Need further proof, just listen to Rob Liefield’s podcast.

Check out the podcast I do with my good friend Eric as we discuss all sorts of pop culture!