Some Simple Rules

Last Updated on Saturday, 9 February 2008 10:58 Written by Brian! Saturday, 9 February 2008 10:07

Most people who work in comics are comics fans. It only makes sense. I mean, you don’t become a auto mechanic if you hate cars. And this is what’s wrong with most comics. They’re written and drawn by people who think comics are doin’ just fine. If Atomic Robo has any kind of advantage, it’s that its co-creators kind of hate comics.

See, Scott and I collected comics in the early ’90s because that’s when we were stupid teenagers. The state of the industry and the benchmark for quality in those days eventually pissed us off and we both gave up on comics. It would be years before we’d come back to them, and it would be a slow and grudging effort.

We enjoy the idea of comics and take great pleasure in a number of titles from a number of companies and creators, so maybe it’s unfair to say that we “hate” comics. More accurately, we hate the reality of the state of American comics today; what comics have become in an overall gestalt sense; what people come to expect out of a comic. We see so many titles making the same mistakes that pushed us away from comics in the ’90s, and the tragedy is that these are wholly unnecessary elements and easily remedied. But it feels like no one ever does.

So, when we were brainstorming on what we wanted Atomic Robo to be, we came up with a list of rules. It was nothing formal, but things would come up in conversation, like:

“Man, I hate it when comics do X.”

“I know! Let’s never do that.”

“Agreed.”

So, a little while ago, I put together a list of things that Team Robo guarantees you’ll never see in one of our comics.

In no particular order, Team Robo promises you:

  • No angst: Loading characters up with angst was a revolutionary move on the part of Marvel Comics back in the ’60s. I haven’t looked at a calendar today, but that was four decades ago. There are other emotions and motivations available to characters. Atomic Robo is not a comic that will be 100% sunshine and jokes, it would idiotic to portray a complicated life of 80+ years as a nonstop party with scientists, but we aren’t going to delve into melodrama either. You are not going to see Robo mope about his lack of emotions, or pine to be human, or throw a tantrum over daddy issues, or whatever childish nonsense passes for characterization in most comics these days.

  • No “cheesecake”: This is nothing more than Scott and I having the audacity to treat women like human beings. I mean, come on, 99 times out of a 100, there is no reason at all to frame a panel from the perspective of a girl’s ass. Grow up already.

  • No reboots: They’re frustrating, unnecessary, and a jarring reminder that all fiction is a thinly veiled series of lies. The major events of Robo’s lifetime were plotted years before we worked on the first page of the first issue. Anything Scott and I add to that has to fit organically into the existing framework. If it doesn’t fit as naturally as if it’d been there all along, then we skip it and move to the next idea. This is a much better solution than making a deal that the character would never make with the devil he’d never deal with to change “one” thing that alters the entire universe in ways that no one in charge seems to fully comprehend or address. Ahem. Everything that happens will fit into the larger mythos; everything that happens will happen for a reason; and nothing that happens can be “undone.”

  • No filler: This one’s pretty simple. Why should we devote a month of our short lives to creating an issue if it isn’t worth reading? And then why should we try to sell you an issue that isn’t worth buying? The main source of filler issues seems to be due to moving set pieces from the aftermath of one event to set up the next one. Since we have no reason to follow Robo’s life as a linear chain of events, we’re free to jump straight from one adventure to the next. Maybe Robo fights a sea monster. Maybe we follow the lives of Action Scientists when off duty. But it ain’t filler.

  • No delays: This one’s even simpler. The industry’s gotten so bad about delays that they have become the norm. No one is surprised any more when a comic is delayed. And when a comic has no delays, there’s that unspoken “yet” or “in a while” tacked at the end. Red 5 Comics was constantly praised, praised, merely for delivering books on time. What kind of industry is this? Think about it for a minute. Imagine if you were lauded by co-workers and supervisors just for showing up to work on time. It’s ridiculous. We could make more money if we gave you 12 issues a year, but we take a break between each mini-series to build up a buffer on the next one. We’d rather deliver nine issues a year exactly on time than promise you twelve issues and deliver one of them late.

    • Pick up any Big Two title and you’ve got a 50% chance of finding one, some, or all of those rules broken between its covers. Pick it up for a year, and it’s a 90% chance. This is what’s wrong with comics today. I mean, honestly. What kind of maladjust goes out of his way to read melodramatic borderline misogynist stories with incomprehensible continuities that constantly shift when there’s a story at all if it shows up on time?

    It’s not that people don’t like what mainstream comics are about. NBC’s Heroes proved that. So it’s got to be something else. Do you really think Heroes would’ve taken off if every scene involving Claire or Nikki was shot at ass- or boob-level? If the events of previous episodes changed with every new episode? If the show occasionally aired an hour, or a day, or six weeks late?

    You can blame cable television, and DVDs, home entertainment systems, and PC and console games for the decline of comics readership. I don’t doubt for one second that those contribute to the problem. But, maybe, just maybe, people sought other forms of entertainment because it is a rare comic that treats itself or its readers with respect.

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    This entry was posted on Saturday, February 9th, 2008 at 10:07 pm and is filed under comics, nonsense. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
    • TimothyT
      These are awesome and with these rules most (if not all) comics would be better off. However, you missed one thing. Atomic Robo deos not do this, it's less stupidity and more bad writing/drawing (and atomic robo is neither).

      I mean when they have the main character thinking/narrating what happens. You know, "Oh no, the caves collapsing around me! Must... reach... the boat in time!". Its the sort of thing that really bad actors do and it drags the comic book down into bad acting. I know its not possiable to show perfectly whats going on in a comic book but there are better ways of doing it without resorting to cliche/bad lines.
    • A.R.C.
      A no cheesecake rule?

      You know, I'm tempted to buy this comic just by this rule alone. When writers at Marvel tell women to stop reading their comics if they find them sexist, it's tragically a breath of fresh air when a comic says it has no cheesecake and doesn't suffer for it.

      But you've also summed up why I don't read comics from the Big Two. Comics are hard enough to get where I am without delays, and seeing ridiculous reboots or retcons or -whatever- just makes it too ridiculous. After One More Day I'm too scared to ever read Spiderman again, and I love him as a character.

      Anyway, I appreciate you guys trying to bring some deceny and class to this industry. I'm gonna try and get an issue as soon as I can! :D
    • C. Baker
      Mad props dude. Your rules should stand as a shineing example to general-audience comic book artists everywhere. :)
    • I just discovered Atomic Robo and loved it. Its everything I love about comics, the art, writing and concepts are even right up my alley. But especially now that I've read your rules, I believe you are my new heroes. Thank you good sirs. I will be following you both on Twitter.
    • Louie Q
      Finally someone who cares.
    • Ragged Boy
      That's understandable, I guess.
    • Ragged Boy
      This article makes me a little sad for the future of comics. I've always loved comics and still do, especially DC. And as much as I don't what to admit it, you guys make a valid point. I'm an aspiring comic book artist and writer, and if I get my own comic it will interesting and tasteful.

      Although, I have a question, and I'm sure it's probably self-explanatory. When you say no cheesecake does than mean no sexy outifts at all? I've recently toned down the level of skin my female characters show. I think its still sexy and tasteful is that ok?
    • I think we're of the opinion that "sexy outfits" are just dumb and unnecessary unless it serves a specific point for the narrative or makes logical sense for the character.
    • I'm new to buying and reading comic books, but I'm currently following three different comics at the moment. 1. Atomic Robo (love it) 2. HALO uprising (like it so far) 3. Invincible IronMan (cause I like the movie) and I've noticed what you promised never to do happens to be in 2 of the marvel titles I'm following, like delays (especially with halo) and cheesecake (again, mainly with halo, beleive it or not). I love the atomic robo series so far. Keep up the great work!
    • Tirpen
      And this is why Atomic Robo is one of the best damn comic books in years! Keep following these rules and I'll keep buying (and kicking my friend in the groin until they too buy it)
    • Marc
      Well, just be careful you don't overdo panel closeups of the side of a person curled-up hand while they're looking forward. That's another thing thats been done to death!!!
    • Scott!
      Well, keep in mind Joe, that those comics were pretty goofy when we were kids too. We just happened to be . . . kids, back then. I mean, I tried watching Robotech again when they released it on DVD a few years ago. Wow what a shit-storm! Should have left those happy childhood memories alone! But I still totally get what you are saying. I'm still in love with the characters, but have almost no interest in the comic books themselves.

      Lots of great comments here that I want to add my 2-cents about;

      1.) TPBs- frankly I like the trend in comics to move towards the trade paperbacks. Regular comics are expensive, a pain in the ass to store, and once they are bagged and boarded you almost never read them again.

      TPB's also get the comic book creators out from under the heel of Diamond Distributors. Despite what the lawyers say, Diamond is a monopoly. And they take a large chunk of plublisher's profits while making the selling of comic books really difficult. Having trouble ordering Atomic Robo? We've got them. But that's not what Diamond tells your retailer when they try to place a back-order. TPBs move comics out of the dusty and dank comic book shops and into the bookstores. Much better exposure.

      2.) Cheesecake- There is a time and place for everything. Brian and I are adults. We've seen naked ladies without paying for it, and I may have even seen internet pornography once.

      But the way most female characters are written and drawn is just offensive to me. And embarrassing. 9 times out of 10 its just juvenile fan service. And its of the lame Jr. High School, Maxim magazine variety. Lame all around.

      I'm not opposed to sexy female characters. Not at all. but that has to be one of many facets of her character. The Bruce Tim version of Batgirl for example -She's sexy, and badass, and smart, and confident. She's what I try to make of my own character Lucy Nocturne -she's the kind of girl I'd want to date, and the kind of person I want to be.

      I'm also not opposed to sex, nudity, or other "adult" situations in comics -but it needs to be in the appropriate comic book. Not ones supposedly written for children.

      3.) Delays -God I hate these. I'd rather do 9 quality comic books each year and get them out on time.

      When I came back to comic books after a ten year break I as amazed to see how big a problem this had become, and there's really no good reason for it. There is also no single reason for it -some times its lack of coordination on the editor's part, other times its the artist or writer who's to blame.

      I recently did some work for Marvel because an artist fell behind schedule. But the editor of that book was on the ball, knew that he had a situation to take care of and took steps to get his book out on time. And he did.
    • Joe Trueblood
      I agree with you 100%. I am really, living proof of how screwed up Marvel and DC are. I really just cant read mainstream comics anymore. I'll pick up the occasional hardback which my friend recommends but really I just cant bear to see the insane crap DC and Marvel do to the characters I grew up loving. It's just so sad because I still love Captain America, Punisher, Spiderman, Batman, Superman, the Hulk, etc. I talk about them with my friends all the time, and I spend hundreds of dollars a year on nerdy pursuits, but I wont buy the comics about the characters I love. I don't want to read the crap they do to them.
    • You guys are so right about this. I used to read Batman and Spiderman and a bunch of other comics. Around high school, I realized that the story arcs were virtually the same plotlines with different villains. The only comic I ever read any more is "Savage Dragon" because I like the characters.

      Maybe I should give this "Atomic Robo" a try.
    • Bearden!
      I agree.

      And I wish I had something more profound to say.
    • I enjoyed the heck outta this post!

      It's like somebody drilled into my head, poured in a whole mess of "Ya got that right!" and hi-fived the brain hole!
    • Rob Browning
      I'm glad you pointed out that "Action Scientists off-duty" isn't filler. A lot of people have the silly idea that anything that doesn't progress the main storyarc is filler, regardless of whether or not the story advances character development or says something interesting or funny in its own right. It's that sort of idiocy which leads to ten-episode-long fights in Dragon Ball Z or whatever, which ironically deserves the name "filler" a lot more than whatever it's replacing.

      Rob
    • Stephanie
      Wow, how true all these rules are, especially the one about delays! I have very (un)fond memories of one limited-series comic that I adored that took close to two years...to put out EIGHT COMICS! Issues 1-6 came out (reasonably) on time, but then issue 7 didn't come out until close to a YEAR later. After it came out, I had to re-read the first six issues just so I could remember what had already happened, it'd been so long. And that's just sad.

      I'm SO glad you and Scott are breaking free of these unfortunate comic conventions and putting the fans first by giving us prompt, classy, well-paced, well-plotted comics. It's a very welcome change indeed.
    • Dan
      No cheesecake? Come on, Robo's walking around topless in like half of every issue!
    • Josh
      At the comic store I work at, we don't even pay attention to release dates anymore. Someone asks when New Avengers is coming out, the response'll be, "I dunno, running late again." It is absolutely amazing how widespread it's become. Also, when covers like the JLA one you guys parodied (#10 I think) come through, it's just embarrasing to have that on the shelf.
    • I don't think they all have delays, but enough titles have been delayed enough times in the last ten years that readers now expect any title to be late.

      Titles that have never been delayed aren't immune to this either. They're merely "not delayed yet" in the minds of most readers.

      I knew delays were a problem, but I didn't know it was quite so widespread until I started reading more reviews and reader reactions to a wide range of titles. The number one gripe? Delays. The number one concern about the future? Delays.
    • John
      I'm amazed. I'm in college and I'm a writer. I don't think about the sheer amount of absurdity going on in comics today, but this list has made me think about it anyway.

      If I turned in a paper late, ANY paper, there would be penalties. Sometimes it's a few points. Sometimes it's an entire grade. Sometimes the professors don't take late papers at all, and damn the consequences. I turn in anything late, and I will pay. I knew some comics had delays, but I didn't think ALL of them did.

      I don't like cheesecake either. I appreciate a beautiful woman. I appreciate a beautifully drawn woman. I don't appreciate an deeply exaggerated woman in what the artist thinks are sexy poses. I'd get laughed out of my classes if I wrote a space marine fighting aliens in lingerie. It's stupid.

      Anyway, I like Atomic Robo. Stay classy, Clevinger.
    • Mohammad
      I just want to say how much I appreciate the "NO CHEESECAKE" rule. (Where the heck did that term come from, anyway?) It means that I can feel perfectly secure knowing that I can hand my AR issues to my 12-year old brother and not worry about what he's going to find in there. It's a rarity to find material that is both fun and clean anymore.
    • Most of the titles I read aren't mainstream superhero comics, so I don't run into that situation very often.

      Then again, I like several Dark Horse titles, but they don't exactly make their reputation on timely releases.

      I hear more and more people stating a preference for TPB's versus monthly comics, and I have mixed feelings about that trend.
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