Name: Beau Smith
Height: 5' 10"
Weight: 172 lbs.
Hair (what's left): Brown.
Eyes: Menacing Brown.
Current Hideout: The Flying Fist Ranch. Ceredo, West Virginia
Website: www.flyingfistranch.com
Contact: beau@flyingfistranch.com
Occpation: Writer, Marketing Specialist, Columnist and Cowboy Warrior King.
Creator Owned Comic Book Work: Wynonna Earp, Cobb, Parts Unknown, The BadLander, Primate, Lost & Found, Ronna: Beauty, Brains & Bullets, Werewolves: Dead Moon Rising, The Black Terror, Beau LaDuke-Real Man and the Dogs Of Danger
Noted Comic Book Work: 24: Cold Warriors, Batman/Wildcat, Catwoman/Wildcat, The Tenth, The Undertaker, Wonder Woman vs. Xena, Guy Gardner: Warrior, Green Lantern Corps, Star Wars, Wolverine vs. Shi, Young Justice, Spawn, Shadowhawk, The Berzerkers, Scout, Alien Worlds, Boof, Boof & The Bruise Crew, Angela and Good Girl Art Quarterly
Upcoming Comic Book Work: Wynonna Earp: The Yeti Wars, Lost & Found, Maximum Jack, Cyn, 200 People to Kill, Jefferson Buck: Man Hunter
Screenplay: Parts Unknown-The Movie.
Noted Video Game Work: Maximo and Army Of Zin (Capcom)
Columns: Busted Knuckles (Comics Bulletin) Dottin’ The Eyes. (The Comics Buyer’s Guide) Far From Fragile. (Impact: The Global Action Entertainment Magazine)
--Beau Smith
Dark and Gritty: DC Comics Or A British Writer’s Teeth?
By Beau Smith
Ya know, I really appreciate all the email you guys send to me here at the ranch. I really do. Before I got into the business I used to write quite a few “letters to the editor.” I had a habit of writin’ a letter for most every comic book I read. That added up to a lot of letters. This was before the internet and computers. I used a typewriter that weighed more than a Wal-Mart full of women when Cheetos are on sale. I had a bunch of letters printed in comics. I made a lot of friends in comics that way. It was so long ago, Mike Carlin was an assistant editor at Marvel Comics. As for you… I’m sure you were just a drunken glint in your daddy’s eyes.
So when I get an email written to me I always read it. Some have questions and need answerin’. Others just wanna give me their thoughts on that week’s Busted Knuckles or maybe they are throwin’ in their feelin’s on what goin’ on in comic books at that moment. It seems that a lot of the emails I got this past week were in what some folks are referrin’ to as “Dark DC Comics.”
After I counted, there were 73 emails in two days, that all mentioned that they think DC Comics is gettin’ too dark and gritty. I’m sure this was spurred by the recent murder of Blue Beetle in the DC hit comic Countdown To Infinite Crisis. Most of em’ mentioned that they believe the darkness began fallin’ over DC with last year’s Identity Crisis. It used to be the only thing dark and gritty was a British writer’s teeth. Now it’s taken on a whole new meaning.
They said that DC was followin’ Marvel Comics lead into the deep end of the pool. It seems that a lot of readers were hopin’ that DC Comics would remain their safe haven for cities of sunshine. Where superheroes righted all wrongs with a sense of fair play and a glass of milk. I think what they really meant was that they expected what I will call the JLA type of super-heroes to remain fairy clean and wholesome. They figured that Batman—The Original Mr. No-Fun—was as dark and gritty as they wanted to get with their mainstream superheroes. Now we’ve had mind wipin’ of bad guys and heroes, sweet, innocent Sue Dibney got raped by formerly noted goofball bad guy Dr. Light. Then to top it off she got murdered and fried by the ex-wife of The Atom. Yeah, you could say that’s a little dark and gritty. It might not be manly, but it is dark.
Granted, that ain’t the DC Comics I grew up with. For that matter it’s not the DC Comics of the last 10 to 20 years. The same goes for Marvel Comics. I can remember guys older than me writin’ letters into Marvel and DC back when I was growin’ up complainin’ that the Silver Age JLA wasn’t the same as their Golden Age heroes. They were unhappy that Hal Jordan would never mount up to the “real” Green Lantern-Alan Scott. The same was said about that other young upstart, Barry Allen, the new Flash.
Times change. Along with that so does pop culture and society. It also means that you’re getting’ older. I’m sure most of ya readin’ this are male. You’re also some where between the ages of 20 and 50. Notice I used the word MOST and not the word ALL. So for the three of ya that are female and the handful of ya that are still in high school don’t send me an email tellin’ me how wrong I am. I know you’re out there, but you’re just in the minority of comic book readers right now. I would more than love for ya to prove me wrong.
Like I said, things change. We may not always like it, but in the case of “Marvel without morals” and “Dark DC” someone sure likes it because these darker books seem to be sellin’ enough to where they keep sellin’ out and makin’ more. It may not be manly, but they are sellin’.
A lot of these readers asked me if I was surprised by these darker turns. My answer.
Nope.
Why would I be? As I’ve said before and have noted with the recent results from my “Branded By Marvel and DC” column, Most readers are male adults between the ages of 25 and 50. Keyword is adults. For the most part mainstream super heroes aren’t being written for anyone younger. Sure Marvel and DC make attempts to have more young reader friendly comics with superheroes, but they don’t sell as well. Reason bein’ there aren’t as many young kids buyin’ comics. Kids never outnumber the adults in a comic store. I wish they did but they don’t. God bless you retailers that work extra hard and have a strong kid readership. Please pass on your tactics and stories of hard work to other retailers and get them to join in. We need this to happen and we need smart people doin’ it. I’m very thankful for Free Comic Book Day and the retailers that bust their ass to get these free comics into the hands of new readers and then work to keep them all year round. Anybody can preach to the choir. There’s not a good retailer out there that doesn’t give some free comics to regular customers all year round to get them to try a new book. That’s good business that always pays back. They don’t have to wait for Free Comic Book Day to do that. They’re ahead of the game. Those guys do Free Comic Book Day all year round. Those same good retailers make sure that when Free Comic Book Day rolls around they are ready to introduce new and young readers into the world of comics. They are there to make sure that those new readers keep comin’ back. They are the real heroes in the comic book business. Check things out at http://www.freecomicbookday.com
Getting’ back to darker comics. Like I said, why would I be surprised? The other night I was flippin’ through the TV channels. What do I see on most channels?
Dark and Gritty or Just Smilin' Smitty?
And ya wonder why comics are getting’ dark? A less manly time I have never seen.
Am I getting’ older? Sure, but that don’t mean I’m sittin’ here in a trailer with my shirt off, wearin’ a mullet, toothless and waitin’ for cops to drag my ass on to the pavement while my 300 pound live-in girlfriend screams and complains that I was seein’ her mom on the side.
I’m sorry to say that the things people think are shocking and terrible today will be the mild good ol’ day 10 years from now.
Whose fault is it? Everybody gets a little blame. I think the media should get the bulk of the blame for findin’ a way to break down our wall of decency and get us give in to our darker sides and thoughts. It’ll only end if we want it to end.
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Blue Beetle R.I.P. |
As far as my quick thoughts on Countdown to Infinite Crisis so far. Blue Beetle dies. As much as I liked him it’s still not that big of a deal. As I hope you know by now, nobody ever really dies in comics. Ten years from now Ted Kord could be back on monitor duty for the JLA. Hell, ten years from now you, the bright-eyed college kid readin’ this could be the guy that has shoved Judd Winick out of his writin’ job and into his 40th year reunion of that reality TV show he was on when you were in grade school.
A lot can happen in ten years.
A lot can happen in comics. Be around for the change. It’s later than ya think.
Countdown To I’m Outta Here
Well, I guess I ranted a bit this week. I was all over the place like woman without a map and a man to read it to her. Been a while. I’m sure there were some of ya that agreed with me and others that are outside puttin’ a flamin’ bag of poop on my porch and ringin’ my doorbell waitin’ for me to come stomp it out.
Close The Barn Doors On Your Way Out
These empty beer bottles on my desk tell me that it’s time to lock the barn doors here at the ranch and call it a night. I look forward to hearin’ from all of ya and thank ya for once again comin’ over to read my not always sane thoughts. At least they’re manly thoughts and their mine.
Your amigo,
Beau Smith
The Flying Fist Ranch
P.O. Box 706
Ceredo, WV. 25507
http://www.flyingfistranch.com
Prove your manhood by visiting Beau at the Flying Fist Forum!