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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2023 14:33:57 GMT -5
There have been sports comics. If you could choose one to be published, what sport would you choose?
I’ve put an “Other” option here. I’m thinking North America with my choices, hence not including cricket and rugby (I know they are played in North America, but probably not on the same level as hockey, baseball, basketball, etc).
I’ve also included team sports, but if you want to include solo sports like boxing, that’s what the “Other” option is for.
On a final note, I’m thinking realistic sports stories rather than “NFL quarterback fights space aliens”, but, hey, post what you like.
I’d like to see a basketball comic, if the choice was mine - and I had the money to buy it. What about the rest of you?
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Post by Cei-U! on Apr 8, 2023 14:45:16 GMT -5
I have no interest in comics about sports. None. Nada. Zero. Zip.
Cei-U!
I summon the Big Ol' Nope!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2023 14:47:06 GMT -5
I have no interest in comics about sports. None. Nada. Zero. Zip. Cei-U! I summon the Big Ol' Nope! Then I’ll buy some Roy of the Rovers from eBay - and send them to you. Hopefully, I’ll make a believer out of you.  |
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Post by Cei-U! on Apr 8, 2023 14:49:48 GMT -5
I have no interest in comics about sports. None. Nada. Zero. Zip. Cei-U! I summon the Big Ol' Nope! Then I’ll buy some Roy of the Rovers from eBay - and send them to you. Hopefully, I’ll make a believer out of you. Is that soccer? I'd sooner read a comic about (ugh!) golf.
Cei-U! They run up the field, they run down the field, they run up the field...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2023 14:54:18 GMT -5
It is soccer. I mean, who could refuse this:  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2023 15:39:01 GMT -5
Maybe it's because I'm from cold weather places and grew up both watching and playing the game, but hockey. It's not that different from superhero adventures...at some point in every game people come to literal blows, whether intentionally instigated or over a misunderstanding. And the guys with the masks on in particular have to save the day over and over.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 8, 2023 15:46:54 GMT -5
I don’t dismiss the idea outright, but I’d have to see it to believe it could be interesting.
I voted other. I remember some decent outdoorsy pages from Field & Stream or Outdoor Life. I could see me reading that.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2023 15:47:08 GMT -5
Then I’ll buy some Roy of the Rovers from eBay - and send them to you. Hopefully, I’ll make a believer out of you. Is that soccer? I'd sooner read a comic about (ugh!) golf.
Cei-U! They run up the field, they run down the field, they run up the field...
I think this clip from the Simpsons showed the general American outlook versus pretty much the rest of the world on soccer (prior to Millennials of course): |
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Post by arfetto on Apr 8, 2023 16:37:36 GMT -5
I read sports comics all the time, though they are usually manga.
Slam Dunk has 170 million copies in circulation according to google (I am guessing that includes worldwide copies) and is an exciting basketball comic. The writer/artist of Slam Dunk also does the wonderful manga Real, about wheelchair-basketball.
A baseball manga I like is Major. It follows a character from his days playing elementary ball in Japan to his time in the Majors (in America). It is a grounded story but thrilling regardless. I also like Touch (well, Mitsuru Adachi does a lot of good sports comics, but Major has a bit more focus on the actual ball games than Touch).
There's Yowamushi Pedal for bike racing, Eyeshield 21 for American football, Hajime no Ippo for boxing (Ippo is over 1400 chapters long and I've read through it twice in addition to watching its animated adaptations, to give an example of the addictive nature of the "sports formula" that exists in these manga), etc.
I'd love to read some good Western-made sports comics, regardless of what sport it is.
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Post by commond on Apr 8, 2023 17:07:22 GMT -5
I absolutely adore sports manga and anime. Some of my favorites include Touch (baseball), Ace wo Nerae (tennis), Slam Dunk (basketball), Ashita no Joe (boxing), Yawara (judo), and Attack No.1 (volleyball.) There's no doubt in mind that sports comics can be done successfully as it's a fairly large genre in Japan. Having said that, Japanese creators typically use sports to tell coming of age stories, and I think Japan does coming of age stories far better than American comics (largely due to Japan's obsession with youth.) Whether you're interested in sports or not, I still feel American comics have a long way to go to match the diversity of genres of foreign comics. The reason that a large percentage of the Japanese population read manga is because there's something for everyone. I've been reading Eisner and Harvey nominated comics from 2013 and it's 90% sci-fi.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2023 17:28:08 GMT -5
These days? None. Too much politics, kneeling and gender-related controversies especially on women's teams.
They were better 50 years ago
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 8, 2023 17:41:40 GMT -5
Both boxing and wrestling have made for compelling comics. For boxing, you have Ashita no Joe and Joe Palooka; for wrestling it's more the Japanese manga, particularly Tiger Mask, as both the WWF and WCW comics were pretty mediocre. Lucha comics were big in Mexico, with El Santo and Blue Demon.
I'm not a big sports fan; but, enjoy several sport-based movies. What makes them compelling is the same with any series: characters with depth and a universal story. Even though I don't watch sports as an adult, I watched ABC's Wide World of Sport faithfully, each week. Why? because Roone Arledge's team made it compelling storytelling, by making the athletes real people, not just names and numbers. When they broadcastthe Olympics, they did in-depth profiles about athletes from around the globe, not just the US. You got to know people like Soviet weightlifter Vasili Alexi or the pairs figure skating team of Rodrina and Zaitsev, as well as skier Franz Klammer or Katerina Wit or the Jamaican Bobsled Team. You cheered them on because you got to know them and identify with them. That's what good sports comics do. They give you identifiable characters and put them in dramatic situations. That's why so many comic book attempts have failed in the US, because they have been about playing the sport, not about a character or group of characters, who just happen to be athletes. Tiger Mask was about a pro wrestler who faced off against new threats from the Tiger Cave Organization, the stable that he quit. They try to force him to return (and fork over their large percentage of his winnings). meanwhile, he wrestles to fund the orphanage where he grew up and help a new generation of kids grow up to be good people. The threats get more and more vicious, each opponent is deadlier than the last, until his final battle.
Look at Rocky: an underdog club fighter gets a shot at the title because the champion needs a fight to keep his organization flowing with money, until his next opponent is ready. He figures he will play around with this pug, but he forgot what it was like to be hungry for something. Rocky figures out what he wants in life: Adrian and a chance to show he is a good fighter and can stand toe to toe with the champ, to the end, even if he doesn't win. Just to prove he can hang on. After that, it becomes about Rocky building a family and a rematch of an oh so close fight, to prove he can beat the champ and the champ wants to prove Rocky got lucky. The third film is about getting the gold, but losing sight of what got you there and rediscovering that fighters instinct, the one that would give their all, not jut try to hang onto the title because it means money.. You can do that kind of story with any sport, in a comic book.
Then, you have your protagonist fight a Russian, and bring about world peace.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2023 17:42:54 GMT -5
gorilla baseball?  in general, not interested in sports comics per se. It would need to be a creative team that grabbed me, or be more about the characters than the actual sport, and I would have to become invested in those characters. One such comic I have heard a lot of positive buzz about but haven't gotten around to checking out is Fence (about fencing students)  I do have a few biographical comics about athletes (21 the Roberto Clemente OGN comes to mind) and I would snap up any issues of the Jackie Robinson comics from the 50s if I found affordable copies, but again, those that interest me are exceptions, not the rule. -M |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Apr 8, 2023 18:03:32 GMT -5
I'm with Cei-U.. no interest at all. I'd much rather read about the actual sport than a pretend, always predictable fictional story.
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Post by arfetto on Apr 8, 2023 18:10:36 GMT -5
I'm with Cei-U.. no interest at all. I'd much rather read about the actual sport than a pretend, always predictable fictional story.
If it is not too much trouble, could you expand on what you mean by "predictable"?
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