Why Comics???
gragnee
Posts: 1
So my wife has gractiously agreed to accompany me to Wizard World Chicago in a few weeks. Bless her heart, she's going just to be with me and because comics mean so much to me but honestly has very little interest in the medium. In her defense I've never done a very good job of sharing many details about my hobby with her because I've honestly never shared the hobby with anyone that wasn't already a fan.
Which gets me to my question. There is a lot of discussion about "What book(s) got you into comics..." or "what is a good comic to give to a first time reader", etc. However, I've decided (specifically because I'll be bringing someone not familiar to comics to a Con) to start exploring WHY I love comics so much. Honestly, I don't know that I have a good reason.
First, I think I love the world-building aspect of superhero comics. Marvel and DC history is so vast that there's always new characters to explore. Which then leads to the collector mentality.
Second, I love the fact that comics feel like they're mine. No matter how big The Walking Dead TV show gets, I will always know that I discovered that story with issue#1 and I know more than the general public. I get all the Easter Eggs provided in the superhero movies even though people treat the characters in the new Avengers movie like they're new brand new. I completely understand and embrace the fact that this is the geek in me lashing out. I get that. But I think this sums it up for me. Comics got me through some difficult times when I needed an escape and loved the fact that I could embrace characters in worlds that most people had no knowledge of.
I guess I now have a follow question as well: Why does it feel like comics fandom is so much different than people that are fans of video games, books, sports, etc? Does anyone feel like it's still a "secret hobby"? I guess I'm just trying to figure out the passion that people feel for comics that, in my opinion, is much stonger than the passion that people feel for other hobbies.
I would love to know everyone's thoughts. And I do apologize if this is a re-hashed topic.
Which gets me to my question. There is a lot of discussion about "What book(s) got you into comics..." or "what is a good comic to give to a first time reader", etc. However, I've decided (specifically because I'll be bringing someone not familiar to comics to a Con) to start exploring WHY I love comics so much. Honestly, I don't know that I have a good reason.
First, I think I love the world-building aspect of superhero comics. Marvel and DC history is so vast that there's always new characters to explore. Which then leads to the collector mentality.
Second, I love the fact that comics feel like they're mine. No matter how big The Walking Dead TV show gets, I will always know that I discovered that story with issue#1 and I know more than the general public. I get all the Easter Eggs provided in the superhero movies even though people treat the characters in the new Avengers movie like they're new brand new. I completely understand and embrace the fact that this is the geek in me lashing out. I get that. But I think this sums it up for me. Comics got me through some difficult times when I needed an escape and loved the fact that I could embrace characters in worlds that most people had no knowledge of.
I guess I now have a follow question as well: Why does it feel like comics fandom is so much different than people that are fans of video games, books, sports, etc? Does anyone feel like it's still a "secret hobby"? I guess I'm just trying to figure out the passion that people feel for comics that, in my opinion, is much stonger than the passion that people feel for other hobbies.
I would love to know everyone's thoughts. And I do apologize if this is a re-hashed topic.
Comments
(Sorry. Couldn't help a joke answer. But I think it is an interesting question and will give some a real answer after I get more work done.)
That's it.
When I was a kid it was wishing I could leap across rooftops like Batman.
When I was a gawky teenager it was wishing Starfire was my girlfriend.
In my twenties it was discovering other types of stories that fell under the comics umbrella, not just guys in tights and women in stripperware.
In my thirties it was enjoying that I could get all the manga a growing boy could possibly get and not have to rely on just a couple companies or importers to get it.
In my forties (now) it's finding I have my own stories to share and still kinda wishing Starfire was my girlfriend! :) (Don't tell my wife!)
I never had a rough childhood in comparison to about 99% of the world out there, but I had my share of bullying (I was the fat kid), and comics were there as an alternative to crappy suburban world I had to endure before I could break free. As an adult, they're still there as an alternative to (sing it with me) "...mortgages and home, I got stiffness in my bones..." :)
Plus, like gragnee mentioned...the world building. When I was a kid, I loved WWF wrestling. The drama, the suspense, the crossover type matches, the cameos when you least expected them. It is all very similar to Marvel Comics, and comics in general; especially the X-Men universe where I started heavily reading in the mid-nineties.
Regarding the hobby of it. I think people can be geeks about many different things. I think there are wrestling geeks that follow that stuff just as voraciously as I follow the Marvel Universe.
I also think it is finally OK for people to admit that they like something A LOT. Extreme love for things used to be viewed as weird (for adults), but now I think most everyone is comfortable sharing their interest, however extreme, with their friends and family.
And yes, when friends who don't read comics see "that guy in space" during the Avengers movie credits...who do you think they consult to learn who he is?!? B-)
It's in my blood now, and I appreciate it as an art form. I really care nothing for the related merch (figures, cartoons, etc), although I have a few action figures in my studio. Just the comics.
As for my wife, I just try to remember she didn't grow up with a fondness for those things but she did like stuff like Pound Puppies, My Little Pony, Smurfs, Snorks, Disney films, etc. so I keep that in mind and when I come across a comic/book that I think would appeal to her (not just something I love) I have her check it out. The comics with action and violence even minimally tend to not interest her, most comics I love don't, but then I'll share something like Rust, or Scarygirl, or the Inkheart books and she is instantly in love. Finding those ones that cross both of our tastes is fun and rewarding. Also, I take her to the LCS every now and then and have her browse the walls and see what grabs her attention with no input from me. Usually she is drawn to covers to books that she'd never like though but occasionally she picks a good one.
Just don't have any expectations and let her come across some stuff she likes on her own just like we did way back when, we didn't have any guides or even the Internet and we all did OK. We bought crap too, that's how we settled on what we dug.
Classics Illustrated, Uncle Scrooge and Casper the Friendly Ghost were as much a part of my education as Dick and Jane.
One of my earliest memories is reading The Washington Post comic strips upside-down while my father sat across the breakfast table reading them upside-up.
The language of comics is hardwired into my brain. When I read Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, most of my reactions were variations of "Well, yeah."
Why comics? Might as well ask "why breathe?"
I'm an artist and writer now, and I know it's directly from reading comics that my imagination has been expanded and my vocabulary widened. If anyone were to question why I still read them I'd remind them it's how I got where I am today.
<:-P
The escapism is big part of it. Even as a kid, being able to escape into those stories was a big deal.
I love comic book art. Doesn't matter if it's an illustrated classic, a war story, superheroes...I love that art medium in all its styles and forms.
Starfire can still be your girlfriend.
Just ask your Missus to dress accordingly and ...
Hey Presto!!!
It's Starfire!!!
The super-hero stuff kept me a fanboy, but I love the potential of the medium. The horror comics from EC and Warren, the crime comics from Ms. Tree to now. The SF comics like American Flagg, Dalgoda and Transmetropolitan. The indy/personal stuff like Pekar, Seth and Crumb.
I read a lot. I mean a LOT. Comics are a part of my diet, but it's the super-hero universes that get to the shop every week. Just like how TCM is where I watch movies because I love THOSE stories, and so on.
I studied myths and legends in college, and it opened my mind up to how important stories and storytelling is to us as thinking beings and to us as a culture. That's why.
OK, that and the chicks with giant boobs.
I think comic book fans were just ahead of their time, now people "escape" in millions of different ways: hardcore TV fans (Dr Who, Lost, hell Castle and other more mainstream shows), voracious book (words, no pictures) readers, chronic movie-goers, and video-game enthusiasts, heck people who are on Facebook playing farmville are "escaping". Heck hunters, fishers, rec-league-basketball players, are all "escaping" their real life during their hobby...
I guess my point is, escapism is a level one answer to why, but level two is "why comics?" or "why need an escape?"
my answer to come....
So why comics, then, as opposed to any other form of escape? They're my "vice". I don't take drugs, drink to excess, smoke (occasionally a cigar, but that's it), buy a new car every other year, collect Faberge eggs, etc. Now granted, smoking crack is probably cheaper than buying comics right now, but I still get more of a rush from reading something like Locke & Key, so I plan on sticking with it for a good while yet. :)
Continuity... its not perfect, its not constant, heck its not even continuous! But comics have a history as long as I do (in fact much longer!). Like many other things that people hold onto over the years they get intertwined with memories and emotions.
Spider-man has been around longer than a TV show, a movie franchise, or quite a few sports teams, and his lineup hasn't changed (unlike the Mets).
Comics are also a conduit into a community of young and old, with a shared/similar experience, but enough variation and disagreement to keep it interesting.
I really appreciate all of the thoughts and I have to admit that I basically agree with everyone's comments!
I blame Larry Hama and Chris Claremont.