The state of comics bothers me because most people I don't think truly love the medium. If they did, then there would be more quest for to dive into the history of comics. Everyone knows Stan Lee, most people love him and don't know why. But where is the Kirby and Ditko love from the Marvel fans? Kirby and Ditko never pimped themselves, so those who read only Marvel for the character, only know Stan Lee. Similar with DC Comcis, a lot of people read comics to see what their favorite characters are up too, this is why Grant Morrison gets a backlash for having to much Metaphysics in his comics.
Comics are more then just pictures and words. Guys like Will Eisner changed the pamphlet to great the Original Graphic Novel. Guys like Alan Moore and Grant Morrison write unfilmable works on purpose because they write "comics" not storyboards. Many comic writers write storyboards because they failed to get into film, I am not saying that this approach in comics are bad, a good story is a good story. I am saying that there are a lot happening in comics that people don't realize, I feel comfortable saying that because a few of my favorite reviews I wrote here on the comicvine were to inspire. Inspire because the greats I feel have thought me how to see comics as a limitless medium of expressing information. A picture tells a thousand words and sentences can help make the pictures make more sense with the message they are providing, we just need to train ourselves to do it.
This is why I love the actual comic in my hand, I feel I can read it like a book. Stop at certain pages to really digest what information is there. In the digital format I can't do that, since the comics where not meant to be read in that fashion. This is there the trend to technology is hurting industry. There is so much tech and so much information, that it becomes an overload. Most people just follow trends and never really know why they like it. It happens with music, like why did any of us enjoy akon? His voice is far from strong, his music content really is not ground-breaking, yet because he is "Cool" he is put on the latest Michael Jackson album. Technology is good if it does not control the masses, but that is what is happening. Most people let just follow the flow. So with digital comics the status quo will be kept, but its the status quo that is static. Like how often has Spider-Man felt like it was a waste of money. The money wasted on things we know already are a waste, could be better spend on better comics, but we don't gamble enough. This is why the industry is hurting. I once wrote a blog about Alan Moore being Underrated and I still mean it to this day. Everyone knows he is acclaimed and praise by his peers as the greatest, but we as readers don't do our own research to understand why. We either accept or reject. This bothered me because Neil Gaiman is a huge name, I like Neil a lot and harbor no hatred whatsoever to him, but all he really did for comics was write Sandman and he would not have had the chance to write comics at all if it was not for Alan Moore. Gaiman's Sandman outsells, Moore's Swamp Thing way too much for anyone to ever dare say that the masses know their comic history.
The problem with comics is the lack of care of the history. Most reader care about "continuity", but they don't care about the actual substance. It is easy to say, I like or don't like something. But to really get into why is the hard part, and I mean this because I feel not enough people can maturely about comics. From techniques used to plot devices, most comic conversation is very Shallow: "What! One of the Fantastic Four is really going to die?" I really hope I'll hear people say: "Man I hate Joe Q, his M.O. is to kill off wives, yes the kids lost their mom, but could they be more original"... I'll keep with just my prediction of Invisible Woman. History repeats itself, I write about it all the time in my reviews. So if history repeats itself, why do little care about history at all? I was chatting with Liberty a few days ago when he read my Nat Turner review and I was amazed he liked history so much. Being Canadian I didn't realize, till after reading Nat Turner, that we are very lucky people. Education is accessible to everyone now, in the past the blacks were not allow to read in the states, but were allowed in Canada. Reading comics is still reading. Because of that there are levels of maturity in reading comics, those who want shallow fights. Those who want drama. Those who want a good story. Those who really want a good story can careless who the characters are because, the characters are really avatars filling archetypes. It doesn't matter if its Moby Dick or Namor, Sub-Mariner: The Depths is a good story. What I mean by this, is that a guy like Peter Milligan could of tossed any sea monster in the roll Namor played, but it is the visual cues and the pacing of the story that made it really good... if you are willing to READ the details and not just the words.
I ranted on long enough. But I rant to inspire, comics are more then just pictures and words. Like Alan Moore's Tomorrow Stories, comics can be told in may styles and directions. We can choose to stick to what we know, or we can dig deeper into the past.
Cheers!
- Silkcuts
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