Comic Palace Clip Causes Stir! Why Do Self Inserts Keep Happening? My Professional Thoughts... 

It is a rare talent for someone to speak on these topics without immediate offense or seeming bias, you Swag are one of the few with this talent 👍

When their only response to his video is to either call him ugly or racist you know they have no argument and just want you to ignore their terrible behavior.

Big fan of the CBP channel. These guys dont worry about combing their hair or looking their best they unapologetically talk comics. Plus the odds are stacked against a small business comic owner especially with the crap marvel and DC put out. Glenn is an absolute throw back, I love ittt .

This guy has been selling comics for 30 years so he has the right to complain!

I think people get upset when certain beloved characters are rebooted, rewritten or gender/race swapped bc it goes against the nostalgia that is built up for these characters. When you gender or race swap your saying that element was not essential to the character and can be easily changed. That’s much easier for smaller background characters but much harder for big well established characters. Black Panthers character includes being black and Steve Rogers character (though not necessarily Captain America) involves being white.

In Reddit collectors complain of lack of dialogue, and say it’s just a bunch of splash pages, that makes them finish the new issue within five minutes.

This sort of commentary is why I tune in to Swag's channel: his takes are insightful, he's actually put thought into the topics before speaking, and it's always fair-minded.

You beat me to this video! 😂. I’ve been watching Glenn and the comic palace since the beginning. He’s such an old school comic guy which absolutely draws me to him, his shop, and his RU-vid channel. With that said he is 100% right that the writing in modern day comics have gone way down hill. They ruined many iconic characters to the point they’re not the same characters anymore. That’s why I don’t read many modern issues. It sucks. Great vid as always.

Fandom is slowly but surely turning away from mainstream comics! Once they are fully gone and committed to other creators and areas of interest they will never come back! Great topic Swag!

Great informational video full of insight. I think you nailed it and the only way things can change is if enough people talk about what's wrong with the industry. Thanks and keep up the great work

I watched the the video all the way to the end (lol). Collector, lawyer and former NYU film school grad and film industry worker (briefly) here, and like you, I could go on about this topic for hours precisely because --to keep it short (short attention spans)--it goes far beyond comic books to the broader culture. Your video is spot on in taking that route. Glen(?)'s rant is one voice in a sea of voices from all sectors including but not only entertainment seeking to swing things back a bit to the so-called "right" (not all the way right, all I mean is, away from where "the left" is becoming or already is so left that it is authoritarian)--that's what in the air right now (see, e.g., college presidents getting grilled on capitol hill, etc.). It is possible (just possible) that, as in the 1950s and to some extent the 1980s (look at who was president--look at who might be president!), a lot of mainstream pop culture (of course the underground will always exist) including entertainment generally and comics specifically will turn to the Simple and the Straightforward, and Glen will get what he seeks. The ultimate irony here is that all Glen seemed to want was a return to good old "true character" driven stories devoid of woke or writer-personal world views, and yet here we are blowing up that issue to cultural political proportions.

I'm baffled by people saying that comics are too political now. Comics have always been overtly political and reflected the times they were made in. Just look at your example, Captain America. He was created so Jack Kirby could metaphorically punch Hitler in the face before we were even in the war. Then in the 50s he beat up commies because that's what people were worried about. In the 60s he teamed up with a black guy which probably evoked a stronger word than "woke" from a lot of readers at the time. In the 70s he literally quit being Captain America because he was so disgusted by his government after the Marvel Universe version of Watergate. He quit again in the 80s because he didn't trust the government that wanted to control him. That's just one example. Frank Miller's been injecting his politics in comics for decades. Same with Alan Moore. Denny O'Neill's run on Green Lantern was way more "woke" than anything coming out today. Marvel launched a whole wave of female led comics in the 70s when feminism was in the news. Comics got pretty darn political after 9/11. The Punisher has been a one man argument for the death penalty for his entire existence. Wonder Woman's creator injected his feelings about feminism (and his bondage fetish) into pretty much every story he ever wrote. Politics are nothing new in comics, there's just a hyper-sensitivity to it now and a platform. I guarantee that the outrage would be just as loud back in the 60s and 70s if the internet existed back then. Anyway, good video, I appreciate the thoughtful delivery even if I disagree with some of the points.

Excellent video. I am very interested in your personal point of view on topics that are relevant even if controversial. Any time you can give us a peek behind the curtain and provide us a perspective that we don’t have, I am in. A lot of what we are seeing is driven by the pressure by companies to embed ESG into their business objectives. Thus, writers have to conform or be left in the dust. We as consumers have the ultimate power to stop this by not buying what they are selling. Or not paying attention to what they want us to see. As an example, Disney is now starting to feel the pain.

The problem here is that you have characters with 1000s of stories already under their belts. There’s no easy way to keep them fresh. If every Spider Man comic was still being done by Lee and Romita you’d have people complaining that the title has gotten “stale”. There’s no easy answer here.

I’m on board with his thoughts 100% Creatively bankrupt, self absorbed (self crowned) “creators” plagiarize time tested characters and themes and insert (THEIR) subjective, personal views into the story, writing from a perspective of inside out to an audience that reads from the outside in. We enjoy Steve Rogers, Luke Skywalker, Tony Stark et al based on the foundations that were laid long before these folks came along. I deem it lazy, arrogant, and highly disrespectful for anyone to insert themselves into those narratives, fundamentally changing the core of the character. It’s pathetic, and it cost the brand irreparable damage.. 🙏

There's the concept of "we don't talk about it because no one will listen", which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Your mention of Ghost Rider is the first time I've heard you talk about the actual on-going story. Now, I know your channel isn't about the content of the comics, but the value. But if you talked about the content, and viewers started/continued showing up, would you change the focus of the channel from value to content? Do you focus on value because that's what gets the clicks? If everyone is trying to maximize clicks, it's a race for the shiny-new. These is clear in television and movie media, as well as a lot of aspects of the entertainment industry. I respect the creators that do what they do based on passion and interest, not in pursuing clicks and chasing whatever one else is blabbing about. Keep in mind, this is a comment on a reaction to some viral blah-blah, so tongue-in-cheek. But I love your content for the original takes and charisma. Keep on truckin'.

Thanks for covering, Swag. I’ve been watching your videos since you’ve started and shopping and subbed at the Comic Book Palace for 25 years. Your commentary is appreciated, nuanced and well done. Thank you.

I've been an avid comic reader for over sixty years and, yes, there have been changes - both for the better and the worse. Characters do evolve but I agree with your assessment that they should remain true to their core "truths" and practice. Thanks for being willing to share your thoughts on this topic. Enjoy your channel.

Your videos are the ONLY ones I can honestly say that I always watch until the end. Thanks for always even tone without taking potshots at the easy targets and low hanging fruit.

Glenn comments finally went viral! No surprise there! Hahahaha! I love Glennss customers take (as well as his) feelings on the comic industry. Btw I applaud you on your input and insight on this topic concerning maintaining character integrity and storyline writing. Excellent commentary and very transparent how you recognize what’s going on social media today! I guess shock value is the rule now. You explain your thoughts without attacking anyone but bringing to light what’s going on in the media industry today with the upmost humility from your own perspective and personal experiences. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

I think its no secret that I've had an appreciation for your content since your channels inception. I dont always agree with you but I appreciate your efforts and professionalism. I have to say, this has been my favorite video you shared, by far. I appreciate the openness and I hope to hear more about this in the future. Hopefully a deeper dive. Great job Swaggle, hard to troll anything in this one.

I can see both sides to writing content. What I do remember is Stan Lee who had very specific guidelines for his writers at the time, ( The Marvel Bullpen ), that if they created a character to live as that character and become that character to better understand the personality that they created. This level of depth is why the Marvel Silver Age was and will always be the greatest era in comic book history. These new writers simply don’t have what Lee and the Bullpen had.

Its taken on a life of its own because it rings true!

Gotta agree with Glenn on this one. Agreed, I'm one of those "Get off my lawn" guys, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong.

I appreciate your insight on the changing priorities you noticed in your corner of the entertainment industry. I think the data has shown that the attention economy is a distraction and a trap. Those comic titles that have garnered the most media attention in the last decade have not seen a corresponding increase in sales. In fact, most of them ended up quickly losing sales and being cancelled. The same goes for many movies that appeared to pursue the attention economy crowd. That same crowd did not translate into box office ticket revenue. At some point, those running these companies will need to remember that they are a business, and that means they need to be making decisions that ultimately result in real profits.

On one hand, characters should have core tenants that are essential to that character. As you mentioned, great power and responsibility for Spider-Man, and truth, justice, and the American way for Superman. When a reader picks up one of those stories the actions and stories of the character should be at largely consistent with the character that we are familiar with. On the other hand...is that it? Does Batman punch the Joker for 100 years? Those "good" stories already exist, but we have to keep writing the same "good" stories? Do these characters, and the writers who write them, not exist in the same world as the reader? Batman punched the Joker for decades until The Killing Joke came along and the comic world holds that story up as an example of the power of the literary graphic novel and a powerful examination of the Batman character. In fact the 80s are all about the deconstruction and examination of legacy characters, largely driven by the state of the world and public opinions in the 1980s. Are the stories of today that different? Are we different as readers? Are we different as a society? Maybe so. Obviously there is nuance here and there is a big difference between putting a character in a contemporary setting with contemporary issues that make sense for the character to address, and a writing just sticking their thumb in a story, but that line is difficulty to find (imagine wanting to change the color of Spider-Man's suit to black. Are you kidding? That suit is ICONIC? Get out of my office!). I think writers should take chances with characters at times because I find those stories to be interesting, and ideally those story choices should line up with the character's internal belief system. Maybe there is room for all kinds of stories for all kinds of readers and we should be better about reading what we like and ignoring the rest. Maybe we don't like Moon Girl, but you know who does? All those kids at the Scholastic book fair.

You know your in the twilight zone when good is called bad and bad is called good.

I miss those day when you used to buy a comic book and it was good because of the story now it has to be a key issue and the first question is is it gonna have value they don’t care about stories anymore

This whole video is spot on. Hope we can all shift from negativity bias and give the stories worth recognizing their day in the sun.

Great video! You have a very well balanced approach to a very in-depth topic. Thank you for putting out your content!

Comics are (sadly) dying. Collect more Silver & Bronze. Those are true relics that built this culture and now serve as its tombstone.

Awesome video! Great topic and remained respectful, which is more of what we need in these divisive times.

Can I just say that the current wisdom that legacy characters must be encased in amber in order to create "good stories" is a little mystifying considering what the past has shown us. If you take characters like Superman or Batman it has been the case that every couple of decades the editors at DC made a determination to evolve their major characters. In Batman's case we began with a vigilante who was seen by the police as a nuisance before transforming into the GCPD's prize detective. He then evolved into the 50's sci-fi version then the 60's BAM POW version before being reimagined by Denny O'Neil. Each iteration was directed by the major talent who were given their head to create new lore. In fact there have also been times when continuity has been thrown out the door in order to play into the strengths of the creator. For example the Haneyverse years of Brave and the Bold when Bob Haney completely ignored Detective Comics and Batman continuity in writing his crazy, wonderful Batman stories. When you disallow a writer/artist/editor the ability to bring their point of view into their work you may as well stop making comics altogether and just just print archives. Cheers, Andrew

I watch comic palace on occasion- I’d like the content even more if he showed more Golden Age and even Silver Age books. Agree about the writers…

Thank you for the video man. Fantastic points and it takes a lot of courage these days to speak frankly about this. Appreciate you

Amazing video Swagglehaus! Really well said and very interesting. Thanks for your genuine perspective and insight on this industry we live in today. There's a lot of clarity on how you broke it down and it's something that makes a lot of sense on how we sell IP in the entertainment landscape these days. Also, the current run of Ghost Rider is amazing! Thank you for saying that!

Great video! Very insightful. In my opinion I dont see us ever bein able to pull ourselves out of this downward spiral. The desire for change just isn't there.

Great video and insights. Especially the question of “why make this now?” Wld love to hear more thoughts from you

I greatly appreciate your experienced based PoV and the carefully thought out balanced way you present it! Nice break from negative trend line or "collector disillusion" content. ^_^

Tactful and honest take on this issue. Great job Swag!

well done, very insightful presentation

The fact that you can put a very emotional (almost hateful) statement and talk about it in a very respectful and objective way, makes me very happy. I really enjoyed your thoughts on the topic and I would be glad to see more of that. Thx for being who you are.

I don't completely agree with the incentivization angle though it has merit. There is a push for representation in mainstream comics, but that's mainly to broaden the audience which is understandable as it's a business. But comics have always been political. And comics like any art will always reflect the times they are created in so as the world gets more political and more polarized, it only makes sense that comics will naturally reflect that. And it also makes sense that as characters and comics adapt to new times and new ideas, they will leave people behind like Glen. You can't ask writers to leave themselves out of what they're writing, that's ludicrous. These characters have been around for decades upon decades. You can't keep telling the same old story. Every artist wants to be creative and put something out there no one has seen before. That's what makes good art. Whether they are successful or not is another question. And indie comics are far more political or "woke" than Marvel and DC.

I am starfire, Spider-Gwen, Kamala Khan, America Fererra. This is more what he’s talking about. The writers avatars basically or men creating female avatars for women they’re smiling for in the industry. Stan Lee said when creating Tony Stark that bug business men weren’t liked in the 60’s so he wanted to take a billionaire tycoon and make you like him. Not a self-insert.

Some interesting commentary. I think its a good point that many of the employees are there for 3-5 years and need results now. I heard these same complaints back in the early 90s about comics being bad (Punisher, X-force, Deadpool).

Lol I love your ramblings on current events in the comics industry. Also, yes, Hulk is REALLY GOOD right now! Mostly just Hulk being Hulk and fighting a rogue’s gallery of monsters. Also Image and Boom are putting out great reads.

This is a very insightful video. I wonder, have you seen the video that Mark Millar posted on his channel interviewing Glen?

I love that you INTELLIGENTLY respond! You aren't a negative click RU-vid Channel Which is why I watch consistently. BUT WAIT there's more! LOL! I'd like to know how in the heck the orginal writers even found the clip of Glenn's rant. Is what he says true? Yup. But to make a bigger point what he said was HIS OPINION! AND he didn't even name names! Funny how only a mintue later he and his customer said Spawn is trash... Did McFarlent take to Twitter in outrage? NOPE. WHY? Because he's probably visited a living breathing friendly local comic store where people have opinions. I love the responses from the creators saying that what they write can't be compared to ordering food on a menu. LOL! What? Writers are so untouchable that we can criticize their work??? That is silly. Rock on Swag and Rock on Glenn! We know what's up.

Definitely a good video. Your insights are valuable and interesting. I would watch more like this. I watch the Comic Book Palace weekly and I got really nervous when G blew up like that, but I think it turned out ok for him. I think there is room in the world for all types of comic book creators, but for some readers comic book heroes are like Hamlet: You can do a new take on Hamlet, but you don't change the story or the character. Watched the episode to the end.

I agree with the take, and though books nowadays kinda depend on variant covers to sell, I can't necessarily be too mad because books gotta move and shops gotta make their money to stay in business. I just don't like it when the variant covers have a whole different character on it than the book series title because it makes no sense, but I'll appreciate the cover art.

Great take on it Swagster! Reminds me of just how bad James Bond movies had gotten around the time of Timothy Dalton. Then there was the pull back and nothing for so long until Casino Royale. Ghost Rider, Hulk, Moon Knight, Detective Comics, SIKTC all are just great reads right now. We still going to the moon with Spyder Boyz in the Hood. But you already know that.😅

Great video! Interesting to hear your insight. Thank you!

Very insightful. I enjoyed the content. It was good you indirectly advocated for Glen.

Thanks Swag for doing this one. I like Glenn and I think he's right in what he said. I would love more content like this !

I actually disagree with your initial assumption, that Glenn agrees that all creatives put themselves into their work - I think he thinks that writers should just be AI robots who spit out stories. The other element is that when these characters were created, the writers were limited in what they could create. The characters need to evolve with the times. I also agree that the books that are telling "good stories" don't get attention, but it's because it's just repeating the same stuff as the past. I think some fans expect writers to somehow find new ways for Spider-Man to just fight Green Goblin every month, without changing anything else, and that's utterly boring for modern writers, and a lot of readers. And I do agree that stories have to do more than just be "good" to cut through. Not that stories with diversity et al are mutually exclusive from being "good". I think people also need to remember that writing for corporate publishers where you're not going to own anything you create is not attractive to many good writers, and so putting FURTHER limits on what they can do will just make it that much harder.

Great overview. I agree; Glen has some good points. Thanks for covering it!

Great video. I emailed Marvel a couple times over the last few years offering to write for them. I am a writer of fiction (not particularly well known, but pretty good, if I do say so myself). I explained how as a lifelong X-Men and ASM fan I have found the titles virtually unreadable, juvenile, and rather chaotic (meaning, disorderly). I never heard a peep from them. Not to disagree. Not to thank me for the offer. Nothing. I think you are very correct when you say that they don't particularly care about strong storytelling these days. At the very least my writing would be thoughtful and cohesive, but the interest was zero.

Thanks for sharing. I watched the whole vid!

And this, gentlemen, is why Japanese manga is exploding - more popular now than ever before. Lil American comics with 23 pages for $ 5.99 or a manga digest of 120+ pages for 9.99... with no dumb gender swapping or Social Justice non-sense in the stories. My kids; age 19 and 16 both love manga and read it consistently over anything that Marvel and DC are creating - by a wide margin ! It's only me - the dad at age 52 - still enjoying one current Marvel title every month...so I'm a dying breed in this hobby.

This was a fascinating video with some great food for thought. For what it's worth, I was watching the whole thing. Feel free to do an hour long rant on this topic if you feel inclined.

100% 👍🏽 Well positioned and expressed.

There have been numerous stories about how GOOD "Big Game" is, and it is great.

You made good points that it isn't just a writer having the autonomy to change things; it's the zeitgheist and business dictating direction. “Its called show business, not show art.”

I really enjoyed this conent. Thank you for being so genuine. Thank you for leaning on life experience when you get in front of the camera. I would love to see and hear more like this from you.

Great insights. And I agree. There's a simple rule in marketing that has been ignored in comics for years: You sell what people want to buy, not what you want to sell. I owned a comic shop from 2010-2018 in a high foot traffic area, and it was frustrating to see Marvel and DC pushing away many of their Gen X and older Millennial customers. Which are the customers that had disposable income to drop $100+/week on new comics. This culture of negativity just sucks lol. Hopefully it's starting to turn around..

I just wanted to say, out of all the nonsense that has been going on since someone watched 30 seconds out of scores of hours of content on the channel, this has been the most grounded in reality commentary on Glenn's rant. Your views were well founded and I'm sending Glenn a link to get him to watch it as well. Thanks.

Awesome video thank you

Such a great topic, and I appreciate your thoughts - intelligent and on point as always. 👍👍👊

Great video! Well said!

great video, only commenting so replyguy dan has something to respond to 😂

This is a well thought video. You should expand on this. I think your take on this subject will carry the most weight given your insid knowledge.

His message is on point but how he delivered this message could have been better! I get his anger as these characters are beloved and the storytelling with new comics lately has been sub-par to say the least. The new writers generally don't know (and seem to not care) about the history of the character as well as the character's crucibles that make them who they are. In the old days, the Editor kept all writers in check with story, continuity and character traits but it doesn't seem to be that way nowadays. As always, thanks for sharing Swagg!

Ghost Rider is amazing! Benjamin Percy keeps his personal views in check and writes good yarns. In fact, he's so good, I cannot discern his political ideology at all. That's how it should be.

You’re doing the Lord’s work!

Interesting take. I never thought of it like that..good video🙂

Ramble on, all great points. He is correct and your context only broadened my understanding. I would definitely watch more videos on the topic. I wonder how the antihero craze plays into it all? Personally I've never needed to identify with a super heroe but, look for attributes I want to aspire to. So much just feels like the culmination of generations, of people being raised and told they are perfect and nothing they do is wrong.

Very interesting observation re "why does this need to be made now"

I appreciate your insights.

This is why I subbed to swagg I haven’t seen the swag yet but at least he keeps it 100% I had to leave a comment of Reggie page cause he is giving excuses instead of keeping it 100!

R.i.p punisher

Thank you for this, it felt like therapy.....

Nothing is going back. These people drew a line in the sand that people like me will not forget any time soon.

I agree with the exception of the Nightcrawler/two moms story. This is the original origin story Claremont wanted to tell, but they wouldn’t let him put it into print. A wrong made right.

I enjoy watching your channel because you bring a calm sensibility to whatever you are saying. Plus, you are very funny! When I watch that clip of Glenn, all I saw was a rager. This is the only time I've seen his channel. So, that puts me off. I've read many great comics and I keep them close to my heart. These days, if I want to read a good story, I'll buy a graphic novel or a manga. I'm in a different place in my life now, and superhero stories just don't fit into what I want to read. There are so many other different genres in the market right now for readers. All this anger about the big two comic companies seem like a waste of time. Maybe a hero's story should end after 60 years? Many good Indie stories are one and done, or limited series. And all the great stories of the past are still there. You can still buy them, share them, take him out of your box, and read them as if they were old friends.

Thanks for the thoughtful commentary! My concern is for the future of our hobby. Who is going to buy and trade the current crop of comics that are not classics in anyway. We treasure the silver age for the thoughtful stories supported by superior art. That’s why be buy and trade these books. Variants can only support the industry in the short term but the underlying storyline is what keeps our interest. The character development, the pathos, the conflict, man vs man, nature, his (her, they) demons. Without that our hobby will collapse because the aren’t stories we want to invest in. Sorry for the long soliloquy but I fear for the long term health of comics.

Yes absolutely talk more about it!

It’s almost like you take a guy that has all the hope in the world in the goodness that still is in his father. That he can be redeemed. Then you write him where he has lost all hope in redemption and he throws his lightsaber over his shoulders like it is a piece of trash.

I don't always agree with you but you nailed it

Amen, fantastic clip

There have always been complaints about comics in every decade I’ve been reading since the 80’s. We just have a platform to broadcast our unsolicited opinion. People say same thing every time music changes, any kind of change sets old people off. Just like you said there are books out that play into the older style of storytelling so people should buy those and shut the fawk up. Don’t like it don’t buy it, but unless you’re a creator yourself our complaints mean nothing. Support the old style comic books and the sales will drive what’s put out not online complaints from a loud minority

Yup was a good post watched it all..and I'm a fan of both of you....enjoyed it..

Well said. Right now, 2 of the bigger writers working for DC are doing just what you said, using our beloved characters. I'm talking about the two Toms. You know who.

Just goes back to telling good stories. Not everyone is going to agree on the political, or socioeconomic spectrum. People do not like change, however, if you can think of a story that you want to tell, I can guarantee you will have an audience. You just cannot take a beloved character and force your particular story or narrative onto them without facing backlash or consequences if it goes against their character. Write your story. Publish it, film it, let it reach the people through whatever platform of your choosing, just do it with your own characters or it may not vibe with the audience of whatever character you choose as your vessel for story telling.

More content like this 🔥🙏

Smart, insightful, and balanced take.

I watched till the end, I think this kind of conversation is important.

I think comics have traditionally been progressive compared to public opinion at their time. Compared to today yeah it seems radical but they are trying to appeal to younger folks than me. I like when modern shows the pitfalls of different moral code. Frank millers Batman returns did a great job of showing how Superman’s overly “altruist” morality vs Batman’s overly practical approach. Neither approach seemed superior and each has fundamental flaws. Civil war also showed a similar message. Really, Batman under some context is a bad guy to Superman . Captain America may be bad to Ironman and spider man. I think you have good arguments Swag.

Unfortunately, I think it is all about managing the readers' expectations. When you damage the image of the most popular characters, it damages the image of the brand itself. Old fans don't identify Marvel/DC by the good stories that may still exist because they are lost in the slog of slice-of-life tumblr stuff going on with the flagship characters.

Interesting video

What was your emmy award for? Just curious. Great topic and very well said. Great insight I never thought of before. Thanks.