LogFAQs > #946283327

I_Abibde posted...

The entire discipline of editing -- in chief, or otherwise -- seems to have gone down the toilet since the '80s, be it for comic book franchises, video game series, or individual books, and I cannot put my finger on the why of it. I always thought it was a thing that could be taught, but ... perhaps not?

I'm sure at least part of that can blamed on industry disruption and the lack of traditional gatekeeping. And, of course, to some extent the fact that disinterested editors have been replaced by hobby enthusiasts who don't necessarily adhere to the same standards.

Granted, in the case of comics, there's the secondary issue that the big houses have become trapped by their biggest titles so they can't really put their force behind something new. Basically they're relying on building upon stuff created by others instead of having a hand to fully create themselves, so somebody who might have been talented at creating something else is instead allowed to work on what amounts to canonical fanfiction for their favorite titles. But then there's also the issue that comic editors don't have balls any more -- kowtowing to social pressures from people who will never read their comics and trying to adjust superheroes to match what works in the movies to try to draw in a crowd that likely isn't terribly interested in reading that stuff while potentially alienating the fans who would. All of these cases (except for the kowtowing) are to some extent examples of them being victims of their own success, particularly since it makes sense to do things that way.


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There are precious few at ease / With moral ambiguities / So we act as though they don't exist.