Types of Writers Epilogue

In my past six posts, I examined 6 types of writers that appear in comics.  With the possible exception of the Mind-Screw Specialist, all of them have one thing in common.  They have forgotten an essential truth of comics: Comics are supposed to be fun.


When I read a comic, I read it because I have grown attached to the world of the comic and the characters within that world.  I don't read comics to see my favorite characters killed without ever being mentioned again.  I don't want fun characters to be turned into brooding anti-heroes.  I don't want to see them behave in ways that contrict their previous characterization because a lazy writer didn't bother to research them or simply didn't care.

I don't want characters to be slaughtered by writers who see them as nothing but cannon fodder. For teammates to not be allowed to grow and develop into a coherent team, learning to work with their teammates even if they dislike them.  Not fighting and squabbling over nothing in order to create artificial "drama."  I don't want light-hearted characters to be subjected to trauma or poor writing because light-heartedness has been equated with being "less mature."

I want to see the characters I love work through their problems. For them to fight for what is right, even if they sometimes struggle to determine what the right thing is. I want to see them grow and mature. If they must die, I want their deaths to have meaning. I want them to leave a lasting mark on me; I want readers who never heard of them to be impressed and moved by their deaths.
 
I guess what I'm saying is this: I want to enjoy the comics I read, not feel depressed afterwards.  Comics don't have to be light-hearted.  I am willing to both laugh and cry with my comics.  But I want to be with characters through both their ups and downs.  Not just their downs.