Everything I draw ends up wearing a bow-tie

Anonymous asked: hey so THANK YOU for getting me into duck comics, they are so good! except, is it just me or have the recent IDW comics been uh... really boring? I know you don't like talking negatively about stuff it just feels like, the stories you write are so much more energetic and like the older ones which tackled more interesting subjects

modmad:

you caught me- I’ve been hesitating on commenting on it bc of personal reasons but, you know? when you’re right you’re right. The writing has had a significant drop in quality, and looking into it there’s a clear change in who the writing/editing team was before and is now- not to say the new writers are to blame, where the pressure and direction for the stories is coming from is always hard to say, but it’s clear that something has happened. It feels like whoever is writing now is targeting a much younger (maybe preschool) audience, but the reason the stories always appealed to me and everyone else is because they didn’t talk down to me as a child, and don’t dull down characters or story topics based off who is ‘expected’ to read them.

Much as with the best ‘children’s’ books, they are universally beloved and successful because they’re just damned good books! It’s a shame to see it, and bizarre, when you see how the European comics still strive to push boundaries and make things that are explorative as well as compelling in a narrative sense. I’m not sure who should be held to account or who needs to hear the feedback, but I think at this point the only way to get the stories back to the quality they used to be is to talk about it. Not unkindly, no raging hoards with pitch forks, but just, make it known that it’s disappointing for the people who have always loved them and off-putting to new would-be readers.

wow, interesting and sad to see how others are feeling the same way; I’d really like to have somewhere specific to send this feedback, but until then it’s all I can do to share this sentiment. If you have similar opinions on this phenomenon or know someone who does, maybe tell them to reply to this post? I’ll see if I can’t collect some voices while I’m looking where best to send them.