Does the Mystic/Supernatural stuff get treated like crap nowadays?

#1

I feel alot of peep’s just seem to screw around with this catagory in comics nowadays… Some shit gets treated well I.E. Ghost Rider, Spawn, and Hellboy but the rest of it gets a spit in the face by it’s writer.

I.E. The new Dr.Strange Movie ya It was good and all but was it all the way true to how strange is or not?? Imo it felt much more as though they were going the martial arts direction which wasn’t bad but I wanted to see strange pulling out REAL MYSTIC attacks. Not just swords and saying I can now because I’m a supreme Sorcherer B.S.

All I’m wondering is do alot of the writers treat it like crap because it’s too hard to create a mystic or supernatural setting or they feel this catagory they can use to pay their rent with???

#2

Read Shadowpact.

#3

Eh. Most mainstream comics are like that. I guess it’s easier to notice in the magic/supernatural sub-genre since it’s small enough to examine by itself.

The solution is really quite obvious.

Step one: get good teams on the books.

Step two: give them a long leash.

Unfortunately, the bigger the character is (i.e. Dr. Strange, arguably the president of the Marvel mystic characters), the less likely this is to happen.

#4

marvel has raped the mystical/cosmic side of stuff…though their fixing it.

dc has always played respect to the mystical/supernatural stuff…its pretty much a big part of what made it what it is today.

#5

Dr. Strange has been treated better lately. He’s been doing stuff in New Avengers. Plus, there was the BKV Dr. Strange: The Oath miniseries, which was pure gold.

I think there’s still good mystical/supernatural comics out there. I mean Hellblazer has been going on for what, like 230-something issues and it’s still good stuff. And there’s tons of Vertigo stuff, old and new, that dabbles in the genre. Vintage stuff like Sandman, maybe some Swamp Thing, and various spinoffs like Lucifer. And then you got the new school stuff like Fables and Crossing Midnight.

There’s got to be stuff in the indie scene as well. There was this great miniseries called Phonogram: Rue Brittania that Image published recently. That was a clever story.

And there’s Alan Moore comics. I just read one of his supernatural comics yesterday, The Courtyard. That dude is all about the mysticism and magic and crazy stuff. All you need is Promethea. That comic is like the bible for magical/mystical/supernatural graphic literature. Not only that, but it’s still a mashup of the supernatural/superhero genres.

But I guess I can’t really think of too many Marvel/DC Universe supernatural type books other than Dr. Strange: The Oath or '80s Swamp Thing.

#6

Mystic Arcana. :tup:

#7

if your looking for shit out of the big two.

vertigo…its basically built on the shit. and its funny you can find a very interesting comic by neil gaiman about a certain young londener who is on his way to become a wizard…and this is pre-harry potter.

#8

Yeah, Books of Magic… The kid even has glasses and a pet magical owl.

#9

Thanks guys I’ll be checkin some of Vertigo’s books out when I get the chance.

Hey zephy is Prometha easy to get or rare to find nowadays???

#10

Yeah, Promethea is still in print. It was part of America’s Best Comics line, which was a WildStorm imprint. WildStorm of course is owned by DC. There are 5 total volumes.

For some reason, I don’t see volume 1 on Amazon, but they have all the other volumes. I still see volume 1 at stores, though, so it can’t be too hard to find.

Promethea is just one of those things that just goes beyond all imagination for what a comic book can be. I mean Moore basically uses myth and magic to explain the foundation of reality and art. It’s a trip. I don’t even know if I understand or agree with most of what he writes, but it’s just a compelling read nonetheless. Plus the art is just crazy good.

Heck, the final issue does something I’ve never heard of before. It’s a normal comic book that you can read from front to back, but if you take out the staples, you can arrange all the pages into a giant poster that illustrates all the themes of the series! AND you can still read the poster for a different experience!! That’s nuts.

#11

They are playing Strange like a chump in New Avengers.

Not being able to tell how a Skrull evaded his magic is somewhat plausible. But having him not be able to stop the plane from crashing, or floating or teleporting everyone to safety is just insulting. Damn, if they wanted someone whose magic is so low, all they are good for are teleports and the occasional illusion, they should have dug some other magic character from Marvel’s past.

#12

I’m not sold on Strange’s treatment in New Avengers, where it seems like he’s a lot less powerful than he would/could/should be, but The Oath was definitely brilliant. I went into that series knowing nothing about Dr. Strange other than what I’d seen in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, and came out a fan of the character. If you’re looking for magic, Dr. Strange: The Oath is great.