Comic Books
May 8th, 2011Comic books didn’t exist in my home when I was growing up in the sixties and seventies. I don’t remember if the exact reasoning was ever explained to me, but I definitely remember my mom’s sentiment that “smart kids” read books, not comic books–and wanting to be a smart kid, I don’t recall ever arguing about it. (We were free to read whatever sort of books we got our hands on. No one ever seemed to pay any attention to that.)
My own kids were allowed comic books, but they went in the direction of Star Wars and various manga.
As a result I grew up ignorant, and remain ignorant, of what seems to be the most common source of movie fodder these days: Marvel Comics.
For example, I just got back from seeing Thor. I had no idea Thor was a Marvel comic. I thought he was, you know, a Norse god. Right?
Reviewing a list of Marvel-based movies I can’t say I’m a fan. (Exception: I liked the first Men in Black & had no idea it was based on a comic). So anyway, I guess my Mom’s devious plan to get me to not read comics worked all-too-well.
Posted on: Sunday, May 8th, 2011 at 7:50 pm
Categories: General.
May 9th, 2011 at 1:30 pm
What do you think about “intelligent” graphic novels such as the works of Alan Moore or Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman” series?
May 9th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
I can’t claim much familiarity. In typical fashion for me, I have all Gaiman’s novels, but not his graphic novels. That said, I like the general idea and over the years I’ve been encouraging a few people with storytelling and drawing talent to do graphic novels. No one has listened to me yet, unfortunately! But there’s room–and, I think, a need–for different formats.
Over the years I’ve noticed that I’m not very “visually oriented.” Icons are often a foreign language to me. When I write, my character development usually has much more to do with the “feel” than the physical look of the character, and I don’t get nearly as excited about illustrations as I should.
But a lot of people–maybe a lot of younger people–are very visually oriented. For them, illustration brings a story to life. This may be an outgrowth of gaming, when the brain gets used to seeing and enjoying all the details a great artist adds to a scene–details that would be too tedious to describe in a narrative story. I think this is at least part of the reason for the popularity of “intelligent” graphic novels, as you put it.
As a writer of straight narrative fiction, I’m just hoping both forms can find success!