Beyond Flight and Tights
why comic books are not just for kids
Imagine yourself sitting next to someone on the bus, on the train, aboard a plane, in a fast food place, Cafe, Bistro or in the office. Perhaps he or she's in high school or in his/her twenties, perhaps, thirties, even forties, turning the pages, very carefully, very meticulously on what seemingly is a comic book beautifully crafted, artistically made. Upon closer scrutiny, surprise, surprise! You'd find that indeed, it is a comic book!
Now people find it odd for any sane human being to be wasting time, well reading and buying comic books that cost a minimum US$2.25 and others costing unimaginably more than that--- US$20, US$50, and one might think it rather exuberant to be shelling out US$100 per month on comics! People do.
And people from diverse backgrounds do shell out loads of money sometimes under the disapproving watchful eye from a parent, a sibling, worst girlfriend or wife. It's like being a smoker in this day and age.
People of course remember comic strips found in the Sunday funnies. They remember Dennis the Menace, Garfield, Peanuts and quite recently Dilbert. They also associate comic books with Archie. There are of course a host of other daily characters that find space on every major newspaper. We laughed at them at least once in our lives. They're benign characters that live in our pop culture-consciousness.
People also remember remarkably comic books of yesteryear--- campy characters that entertained them as kids through cartoons. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man twisted into slapstick or made funny for some reason. It was a different age back then.
So is it really hard to understand why people frown upon and find it seriously odd to be spending a great load of cash on comic books? With those reasons? It doesn't really.
Have you been to a specialty shop lately or chanced upon these characters? Have you not noticed or seen cartoons (e.g. Justice League Unlimited, Static Shock, Teen Titans) or movies (Batman Begins, Spiderman, Fantastic Four, Constantine) or TV shows (e.g. Smallville) based on these well loved characters and the maturity of their stories, the intricately well-developed stories and characterization? Because they all reflect to a great degree the magic the medium of comic books are in now. Today, comic books and the characters and worlds they depict are in their absolute best in over thirty years.
The comic books of today--- whether published by big shots like DC Comics or Marvel or by one of the smaller shops like Aspen or Devil's Due are well thought of, prepared with great precision in every aspect of their production from the art to the story, to the letters, to the colors and even the material in which it is printed and shipped.
There are even comics so painstakingly produced as to employ hand-painted art, and the story that it weaves makes us believe to be transported to an entirely different world. The magical world of Soulfire is an example.
Like all great literature, comic book stories are timeless and enduring when they tell something about us. And like all works of art handed down the years and centuries, can be appreciated by a whole new generation.
The Superhero Genre
Though there are many other stories being told, the most popular comic books of today are those about the superhero genre. They are about Avengers, Leagues, Legions, Titans, X-mens--- giants all with magical powers, with mesmerizing superhuman gifts, with amazing gadgets that defy the imagination! These stories are limited only by what our culture can craft with our minds and yet, turn their page and you will find the most successful of these characters are grounded in real life. It proves that the best lies (or in this case, fiction) have a touch of truth in them. That in comic books too, are a medium of literary and artistic nature, intertwined to bring out the best in humanity.
For example in “Kingdom Come” by Mark Waid and Alex Ross, the duo weaved a story about the future DC Universe. It is penned meticulously like any bestseller on a bookshelf. Its art is hand-painted by Ross that makes lifelike images of our favorite characters. On the surface, it's just like any other superhero tale. It's just like any other story of good and evil and it just so happened that the characters are well-loved icons Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman who have been around for decades.
Delve deeper and you will understand that its premise is subtlety hidden. Kingdom Come speaks of the duality between the metahumans (people with powers) and ordinary humans that reflect our fragmented society today. Beyond that, Elliot S. Maggin in his introduction to the softcover, tradepaper back edition of “Kingdom Come” described it more clearly. That this story is “what should be our proper response to the inexorable march of progress[1]”--- that we should not take the amazing feats each of us do everyday modestly rather, responsibly[2].
Timeless
These characters are timeless because for one reason or another, we relate to them. Characters like The Batman, Spider-Man, Superman, the X-Men--- and many others have lasted decades and they continue to evolve and their stories become new for the next generation to enjoy.
What makes them such timeless classics that they permeate our pop culture? Go beyond the flight and tights, go beyond the weapons, the powers, its the essence of the character, the possibility that it could be we standing in their shoes--- or boots (as the case may be) that make generation after generation want to read them. It is simply what make comic books special.
Sam Hamm wrote on the introduction to the trade paper back, “Tales of the Demon” that one of the requirement for a successful character is a tragic origin[3]— which when you think about it, the biggest of these characters have in common. The Batman lost his parents as an eight year old child. Superman is an orphan from a doomed planet, likewise Spider-man poor, orphaned and geeky and the X-men--- cursed by mutant powers and discriminated because of them. Sparkling examples that we could be in their shoes. Yet their tales are flexible enough generation after generation recreates them, and the story evolves.
One appropriate example is Detective Comics # 765, “Vacancies”. We see everything from Sasha Bordeaux's point of view. Sasha at that time was Bruce Wayne's bodyguard who discovered The Batman's secret identity. The story begins with the duo after a crook. What did this criminal do to irk Gotham's biggest baddest Bat? Sasha tells us: he robbed the wrong house. It belonged to retired Commissioner of Police, Jim Gordon who happened to be Batman's best friend.
It's really funny how she narrates it, and we see her face as Batman trashes place after place searching for the criminals involved. Then we find her worry and her thoughts were bordering on the suggestion that she secretly loves him.
Greg Rucka used Sasha to make us understand the complex character that is the Batman. At the end of the story she simply says, “Yes, he pushes people away. Yes he takes it all personally. But its not for revenge.[4]” She goes on saying, “It's not about righting the wrong done to him as a child.[5]” (The Batman's parents were shot right in front of him). Sasha realizes, “See, I should have seen it sooner. I am a bodyguard by trade after all. It's about protecting people.[6]”
As simple as that she makes us understand the essence of who Batman is. In every incarnation of the Batman, it is the tragic origin of the character Bruce Wayne that serves as impetus why he wears the cowl. Yet time and time again, we find that it is not the tragedy that defined him. It has never been about revenge. It is the choice--- his choice to use tragedy, to transcend it that makes the Batman a character we can relate and learn from and aspire to.
How easy would it be for someone like Bruce Wayne to give up. He has money, resources, to really act like a playboy or destroy himself--- yet he does what he does, he's the Batman who protects people. This above all else inspires not just the vigilantes of Gotham, but ourselves so that beyond the coolness of the gadgets, the Batman has survived this long because of his character, enduring, inspiring and can be related to by generation after generation.
Ordinary becomes the Extraordinary
Issue, after issue, what captivates people reading comic books is the ordinary is made extraordinary. The greatest stories are the human ones.
In Action Comics 792, August 2002, “Big City, Little Man”, we find Superman searching for a missing newspaper stand seller. The story starts with a simple premise, “if there were millions of people living in a city and you were a background player in their lives, if one day you simply weren't there... Who would notice?[7]”
So the story begins with Clark Kent passing by Valentin's newspaper stand every day and they chat about anything and everything under sun and nothing at all. Then one day the man goes missing and Clark is troubled by it. Kent goes to all the trouble of finding him, enlisting advice from The World's Greatest Detective and gets the aid of his wife, reporter Lois Lane on hot pursuit of the missing man. They eventually discover him dead after a bookie who had gone broke because Valentin cleaned him out. The bookie killed the aging man who only gambled to keep his pregnant daughter studying medicine in school.
At the end of story, narrator Lois Lane asks, Why had Superman taken time out to recover the body of a fifty-year old newspaper man who was not important? She answers, “Because not a single one of us is background noise. Because when one of us disappears... Someone should notice. Every person is a star. A Life. A Heart. A Voice. And when a voice is silenced by darkness... Another must rise to see that justice is done.[8]”
Deep down, don't these words make sense to you?
Why we relate
Comic books are many things to many people. A lot consider them a child's material--- or easy reading. Few can appreciate the subtle way comics can like any other medium express the very best and very worst in us.
As we've earlier stated, Kingdom Come mirrors our own real world. It reflects our fragmented world as well as the responsibility placed on our shoulders by the magical ability that we can do today--- the way we shape our world and even the greater potential our race aspires to every single moment.
Comic books can comment on the politics of our time--- from preemptive strikes on rogue nations or alien planets by the Justice League or the impact of AIDS on a superhero. Even, how having the most powerful weapon in the universe can not help a hero when a friend is beaten up just because he was a homosexual. Likewise how utterly powerless heroes are when one of their own is sexually assaulted.
Comic books sometime speak of the tragedies that heroes encounter especially when their loved ones are threatened, assaulted or killed. Is it not our weakness too, when our loved ones are threatened? Isn't that our Kryptonite? No matter how powerful they be, superheroes are likewise powerless to keep the people they love safe. Just as we each are at that moment of tragedy.
We relate with the stories of comic books because though these tragedies happen in our daily life, heroes are superhuman not because of their gifts but because they rise above the tragedy. We see ourselves having the power to transcend. We see ourselves in them as we beat back the darkness life places on us each day.
There are many varieties other than the superhero genre--- fantasy, science fiction, manga, adult, mature, children's, how to's--- just about anything can be a comic book people of diverse backgrounds care relate to.
Comic book stories are woven in such a way that the subtle meanings may be hidden under the guise of entertainment that young minds would hardly notice yet profound enough for those who have a more mature understanding to grasp and enjoy. In this way the Comic Book appeals to multiple strata of society and age groups.
Comic books have a way of entertaining us and more. They make us laugh. They make us escape our daily strife. They make us think. They inspire us. Just like any medium of expression, just like any literature, like any work of art, its how you take it, how you let it touch your life that makes comic books special. Isn't it magical? Isn't it engaging? Isn't it fun?
References:
[1-2] “The New Bards”, Elliot S. Maggin, Kingdom Come, 1997, page 5
[3] “Introduction”, Sam Hamm, Batman: Tales of the Demon, 1991, Page 6
[4-5] “Vacancies”, Greg Rucka, Detective Comics #765, February 2002, page 21
[6] “Vacancies”, Greg Rucka, Detective Comics #765, February 2002, page 22
[7] “Big City, Little Man”, Joe Kelly, Action Comics # 792, August 2002, DC Comics, page 4
[8] “Big City, Little Man”, Joe Kelly, Action Comics # 792, August 2002, DC Comics, page 22
Further Reading:
When is a Comic Book Not a Comic Book?
CBR
Comics Continuum
Superherohype
Aspen Comics
DC Comics
Devil's Due
Marvel Comics
Newsarama
PopCultureShock
Imagine yourself sitting next to someone on the bus, on the train, aboard a plane, in a fast food place, Cafe, Bistro or in the office. Perhaps he or she's in high school or in his/her twenties, perhaps, thirties, even forties, turning the pages, very carefully, very meticulously on what seemingly is a comic book beautifully crafted, artistically made. Upon closer scrutiny, surprise, surprise! You'd find that indeed, it is a comic book!
Now people find it odd for any sane human being to be wasting time, well reading and buying comic books that cost a minimum US$2.25 and others costing unimaginably more than that--- US$20, US$50, and one might think it rather exuberant to be shelling out US$100 per month on comics! People do.
And people from diverse backgrounds do shell out loads of money sometimes under the disapproving watchful eye from a parent, a sibling, worst girlfriend or wife. It's like being a smoker in this day and age.
People of course remember comic strips found in the Sunday funnies. They remember Dennis the Menace, Garfield, Peanuts and quite recently Dilbert. They also associate comic books with Archie. There are of course a host of other daily characters that find space on every major newspaper. We laughed at them at least once in our lives. They're benign characters that live in our pop culture-consciousness.
People also remember remarkably comic books of yesteryear--- campy characters that entertained them as kids through cartoons. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man twisted into slapstick or made funny for some reason. It was a different age back then.
So is it really hard to understand why people frown upon and find it seriously odd to be spending a great load of cash on comic books? With those reasons? It doesn't really.
Have you been to a specialty shop lately or chanced upon these characters? Have you not noticed or seen cartoons (e.g. Justice League Unlimited, Static Shock, Teen Titans) or movies (Batman Begins, Spiderman, Fantastic Four, Constantine) or TV shows (e.g. Smallville) based on these well loved characters and the maturity of their stories, the intricately well-developed stories and characterization? Because they all reflect to a great degree the magic the medium of comic books are in now. Today, comic books and the characters and worlds they depict are in their absolute best in over thirty years.
The comic books of today--- whether published by big shots like DC Comics or Marvel or by one of the smaller shops like Aspen or Devil's Due are well thought of, prepared with great precision in every aspect of their production from the art to the story, to the letters, to the colors and even the material in which it is printed and shipped.
There are even comics so painstakingly produced as to employ hand-painted art, and the story that it weaves makes us believe to be transported to an entirely different world. The magical world of Soulfire is an example.
Like all great literature, comic book stories are timeless and enduring when they tell something about us. And like all works of art handed down the years and centuries, can be appreciated by a whole new generation.
The Superhero Genre
Though there are many other stories being told, the most popular comic books of today are those about the superhero genre. They are about Avengers, Leagues, Legions, Titans, X-mens--- giants all with magical powers, with mesmerizing superhuman gifts, with amazing gadgets that defy the imagination! These stories are limited only by what our culture can craft with our minds and yet, turn their page and you will find the most successful of these characters are grounded in real life. It proves that the best lies (or in this case, fiction) have a touch of truth in them. That in comic books too, are a medium of literary and artistic nature, intertwined to bring out the best in humanity.
For example in “Kingdom Come” by Mark Waid and Alex Ross, the duo weaved a story about the future DC Universe. It is penned meticulously like any bestseller on a bookshelf. Its art is hand-painted by Ross that makes lifelike images of our favorite characters. On the surface, it's just like any other superhero tale. It's just like any other story of good and evil and it just so happened that the characters are well-loved icons Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman who have been around for decades.
Delve deeper and you will understand that its premise is subtlety hidden. Kingdom Come speaks of the duality between the metahumans (people with powers) and ordinary humans that reflect our fragmented society today. Beyond that, Elliot S. Maggin in his introduction to the softcover, tradepaper back edition of “Kingdom Come” described it more clearly. That this story is “what should be our proper response to the inexorable march of progress[1]”--- that we should not take the amazing feats each of us do everyday modestly rather, responsibly[2].
Timeless
These characters are timeless because for one reason or another, we relate to them. Characters like The Batman, Spider-Man, Superman, the X-Men--- and many others have lasted decades and they continue to evolve and their stories become new for the next generation to enjoy.
What makes them such timeless classics that they permeate our pop culture? Go beyond the flight and tights, go beyond the weapons, the powers, its the essence of the character, the possibility that it could be we standing in their shoes--- or boots (as the case may be) that make generation after generation want to read them. It is simply what make comic books special.
Sam Hamm wrote on the introduction to the trade paper back, “Tales of the Demon” that one of the requirement for a successful character is a tragic origin[3]— which when you think about it, the biggest of these characters have in common. The Batman lost his parents as an eight year old child. Superman is an orphan from a doomed planet, likewise Spider-man poor, orphaned and geeky and the X-men--- cursed by mutant powers and discriminated because of them. Sparkling examples that we could be in their shoes. Yet their tales are flexible enough generation after generation recreates them, and the story evolves.
One appropriate example is Detective Comics # 765, “Vacancies”. We see everything from Sasha Bordeaux's point of view. Sasha at that time was Bruce Wayne's bodyguard who discovered The Batman's secret identity. The story begins with the duo after a crook. What did this criminal do to irk Gotham's biggest baddest Bat? Sasha tells us: he robbed the wrong house. It belonged to retired Commissioner of Police, Jim Gordon who happened to be Batman's best friend.
It's really funny how she narrates it, and we see her face as Batman trashes place after place searching for the criminals involved. Then we find her worry and her thoughts were bordering on the suggestion that she secretly loves him.
Greg Rucka used Sasha to make us understand the complex character that is the Batman. At the end of the story she simply says, “Yes, he pushes people away. Yes he takes it all personally. But its not for revenge.[4]” She goes on saying, “It's not about righting the wrong done to him as a child.[5]” (The Batman's parents were shot right in front of him). Sasha realizes, “See, I should have seen it sooner. I am a bodyguard by trade after all. It's about protecting people.[6]”
As simple as that she makes us understand the essence of who Batman is. In every incarnation of the Batman, it is the tragic origin of the character Bruce Wayne that serves as impetus why he wears the cowl. Yet time and time again, we find that it is not the tragedy that defined him. It has never been about revenge. It is the choice--- his choice to use tragedy, to transcend it that makes the Batman a character we can relate and learn from and aspire to.
How easy would it be for someone like Bruce Wayne to give up. He has money, resources, to really act like a playboy or destroy himself--- yet he does what he does, he's the Batman who protects people. This above all else inspires not just the vigilantes of Gotham, but ourselves so that beyond the coolness of the gadgets, the Batman has survived this long because of his character, enduring, inspiring and can be related to by generation after generation.
Ordinary becomes the Extraordinary
Issue, after issue, what captivates people reading comic books is the ordinary is made extraordinary. The greatest stories are the human ones.
In Action Comics 792, August 2002, “Big City, Little Man”, we find Superman searching for a missing newspaper stand seller. The story starts with a simple premise, “if there were millions of people living in a city and you were a background player in their lives, if one day you simply weren't there... Who would notice?[7]”
So the story begins with Clark Kent passing by Valentin's newspaper stand every day and they chat about anything and everything under sun and nothing at all. Then one day the man goes missing and Clark is troubled by it. Kent goes to all the trouble of finding him, enlisting advice from The World's Greatest Detective and gets the aid of his wife, reporter Lois Lane on hot pursuit of the missing man. They eventually discover him dead after a bookie who had gone broke because Valentin cleaned him out. The bookie killed the aging man who only gambled to keep his pregnant daughter studying medicine in school.
At the end of story, narrator Lois Lane asks, Why had Superman taken time out to recover the body of a fifty-year old newspaper man who was not important? She answers, “Because not a single one of us is background noise. Because when one of us disappears... Someone should notice. Every person is a star. A Life. A Heart. A Voice. And when a voice is silenced by darkness... Another must rise to see that justice is done.[8]”
Deep down, don't these words make sense to you?
Why we relate
Comic books are many things to many people. A lot consider them a child's material--- or easy reading. Few can appreciate the subtle way comics can like any other medium express the very best and very worst in us.
As we've earlier stated, Kingdom Come mirrors our own real world. It reflects our fragmented world as well as the responsibility placed on our shoulders by the magical ability that we can do today--- the way we shape our world and even the greater potential our race aspires to every single moment.
Comic books can comment on the politics of our time--- from preemptive strikes on rogue nations or alien planets by the Justice League or the impact of AIDS on a superhero. Even, how having the most powerful weapon in the universe can not help a hero when a friend is beaten up just because he was a homosexual. Likewise how utterly powerless heroes are when one of their own is sexually assaulted.
Comic books sometime speak of the tragedies that heroes encounter especially when their loved ones are threatened, assaulted or killed. Is it not our weakness too, when our loved ones are threatened? Isn't that our Kryptonite? No matter how powerful they be, superheroes are likewise powerless to keep the people they love safe. Just as we each are at that moment of tragedy.
We relate with the stories of comic books because though these tragedies happen in our daily life, heroes are superhuman not because of their gifts but because they rise above the tragedy. We see ourselves having the power to transcend. We see ourselves in them as we beat back the darkness life places on us each day.
There are many varieties other than the superhero genre--- fantasy, science fiction, manga, adult, mature, children's, how to's--- just about anything can be a comic book people of diverse backgrounds care relate to.
Comic book stories are woven in such a way that the subtle meanings may be hidden under the guise of entertainment that young minds would hardly notice yet profound enough for those who have a more mature understanding to grasp and enjoy. In this way the Comic Book appeals to multiple strata of society and age groups.
Comic books have a way of entertaining us and more. They make us laugh. They make us escape our daily strife. They make us think. They inspire us. Just like any medium of expression, just like any literature, like any work of art, its how you take it, how you let it touch your life that makes comic books special. Isn't it magical? Isn't it engaging? Isn't it fun?
References:
[1-2] “The New Bards”, Elliot S. Maggin, Kingdom Come, 1997, page 5
[3] “Introduction”, Sam Hamm, Batman: Tales of the Demon, 1991, Page 6
[4-5] “Vacancies”, Greg Rucka, Detective Comics #765, February 2002, page 21
[6] “Vacancies”, Greg Rucka, Detective Comics #765, February 2002, page 22
[7] “Big City, Little Man”, Joe Kelly, Action Comics # 792, August 2002, DC Comics, page 4
[8] “Big City, Little Man”, Joe Kelly, Action Comics # 792, August 2002, DC Comics, page 22
Further Reading:
When is a Comic Book Not a Comic Book?
CBR
Comics Continuum
Superherohype
Aspen Comics
DC Comics
Devil's Due
Marvel Comics
Newsarama
PopCultureShock
posted by Cocoy at
Monday, February 21, 2005
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