Letters to the Editor
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I guess I'm just hopelessly old school
I stopped collecting new comics in 1984/85. They just weren't that much fun anymore. I don't know how it happened, but at some point all the kids who used to enjoy the infinite pleasures of reading comics when they were young turned into artists and writers themselves and decided that they were not going to let go of the genre. They insisted on taking it along into adulthood as "Graphic Novels"; they were going to make high art of what began as wish fulfillment fantasy and hero role playing.
They robbed young kids of the same pleasure that they enjoyed growing up. It's just wrong. If the industry is wondering where the new readers are, it's amazing that they don't consider the most obvious answer; the new readers are to be found among the people who are learning to read. Duh. And those kids are probably looking for some of the same wish-fulfillment fantasies that I was. The idea of being a superhero used to be fun; now, it seems, nothing could suck worse.