Who should have more say in the storyline?

[TOM 002]

You know that it happens. There will be a time in which a series seems to be going smoothly, and then WHAM... out of nowhere the creator pulls a huge twist in the storyline or character...

...and the fans are in flames.

This brings up an interesting question. When a storyline goes, who should have more say in what happens next, the creator or the fans? I cannot tell you how many times I have seen a writer pull something weird and rabid fans protesting because of it. Hell, I've seen some fans that memorize so much stuff about a comic that they would probably know more about the character then the creator himself, and that's just not right. For example, the decision to ressurect Magneto after getting his head lobbed off by Logan. Yes it makes no continuity sense and yes it does cheapen the value of death, but that was the writer's decision, wasn't it? They must have thought that Magneto was just too much of a staple X-Men character to kill off, so they brought him back. Sure the fans are in an uproar right now, but what if they kept Magneto dead? There'd be fans in an uproar too. It's a no-win situation.

A rather indirect example would be the recent outpour of Marvel movies and Stan Lee. Aside from Punisher, all the Marvel movies (X-Men, Spidey, Hulk, Daredevil, Electra, and Fantastic 4) got the "Stan Lee" approval. You'd think that if a comic was bastardized as much as the fans had put it, the original creator wouldn't have any part of it and would slam it to kingdom come. But no...Stan Lee was rather flattered that a movie would be made about his creations, so much so that he was willing to cameo in many of these films. If it's good enough for the original creator, then shouldn't it be good enough for the fans? Or is there really a point in which the fans actually know more than the creator himself?

Ultimately, I would like to know your opinions on this. Is there a point in which the adoring fans should have more say in a comic book, or should it be up to the will of the creator alone? Sure the heroes are made for the fans, but shouldn't the creator know the most about his character, and thus have the authority to choose said hero's fate? Is the creator bound to the will of the fans, or are the fans just there to enjoy the ride that the creator has given them?

Check the poll, and tell us why. Thank you.

[ArtificialIdiot]

At the end of the day, it really depends on the writer behind the story. We can all see a writer who is uncomfortable with what he is writing, or just plain bad. Those people would probably benefit from listening to fans. But then, that's hard as well. Comics are written months before they are actually published, so before the fans even get a chance to read and moan about it, there could be what? 2-3 storylines in the running from that writer? At the end of the day, even if the writer did listen to the fans, it wouldn't have any imediate effect on the work published directly after.

However, if you have an experianced writer, or indeed somebody who actually *did* create the character and has spent years of his life writing them, then it's fair to say that the fans play a much more minor role. At the end of the day, these people know what they're doing, they know the character and world inside out.But even then, if the fans hate the story... you're in trouble.

I think it's a delicate balence of fan imput, creator imput and of couse, publisher/editor imput at the end of the day.