Comic books have been around for forever, but I haven’t been, so it was a pleasant surprise when Laurell K. Hamilton’s Guilty Pleasures was adapted into comic book form. I am a total geek now, because I weave my way through the library to the comic book section before I head for the fantasy section. It’s one of those things that makes guys look at a chick with respect. (Just another reason to love comic books.)
I recently went on a Neil Gaiman binge, and discovered that he had written a comic book series before he wrote novels. Pleasant surprise. I slowly collected them from the library and when I read them I realized that comic books weren’t dorky like many people had said, even in the movies. Yeah, guys of all kinds read them, but I know a lot of people who attribute comics to nerds. I think people should read more comic books–it might change the way people felt about reading.
You read them left to right, top to bottom, just like any other piece of literature (unless you’re reading manga; I can’t say I actually like manga) so why not read it? While there’s more pictures that you study than words that you read, it is all the same. Instead of pages of descriptions, you have a small section that contains the picture of the girl in the jacket with the disillusioned look. Instead of five pages of narrative, you have yellow clips of the characters thoughts as they walk down the street, allowing the writer to simultaneously communicate the settings and then the characters thoughts without having to jumble things so they fit.
I think that you get more of the story from these comics, this colorful descriptions of the world that don’t use words to confuse or smudge the true image. They are so rich in detail that you can’t help but pay attention as you turn each glossy page until you are finally done and you go to find a new comic.
5 Comments
March 30, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Hello Curbxstomp
When I was in 9th grade, we read V for Vendetta a comic for my English class. Those kinds of comics had lots of meanings and it was worth reading, as valuable as George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
(but my personal problem with american comics is that all the characters look the same…=[)
Comic is Literature!
And about Japanese manga’s I think you’re just getting there. Some are just meaningless craps, i know, but some ARE as philosophical and insightful like the comics you’re reading.
I wrote a few posts about them, or just used them to back up my points: http://tinyurl.com/32kl6b http://tinyurl.com/3d23hp and http://tinyurl.com/ys5h3h
I personally am a addict to Japanese manga. I read entire 316 chapters of Bleach, 494 chapters of One Piece, and and 395 chapters of Naruto, and I read countless other completed ones.
Weren’t you writing about mystery? (or that’s what I saw somewhere in your blog) I recommend you Death Note (http://tinyurl.com/2u725h ). Best brain teaser, best murder mystery ever.
Well yeah. As long as we control ourselves and not get addicted ‘too much’ comics/mangas are good for our mental health… chyeahh..
March 31, 2008 at 1:25 am
Nice site and nice focus. I’m taking a break from a power struggle with my new bride, whom I love but who has not done her share of the housework today, to drop this bit of info:
Research has shown that reading comics – at least on the level of the Marvel Comics of the ’80s and 90s – improves vocab and reading fluency and rate as much as reading books. See Stephen Krashen, The Power of Reading.
Schools are wrong-headed to diss them.
I read nothing but comics from age 6 to 16, with a few exceptions. In high school, I branched out into a Tolkein, Herbert, and Khalil Ghibran binge, but still, comics were my mainstay. The graphics only helped make me want to keep reading. They also helped me figure out the very complex diction in many of these titles. I’m thinking Warlock, Killraven, Captain Marvel, even the Fantastic Four.
Awesome stuff. Thanks for the blast from the past.
March 31, 2008 at 9:31 pm
@Soojin: Was the V for Vendetta comic good? I see it all the time, but I’ve never picked it up. I might try it. I don’t hate all manga, because I adore Midori Days. I just find it so entertaining and it’s really sweet. Manga is such a fad though that I kind of avoid it. Comics are literature, dude! Some people, however, don’t agree. I think I mentioned an attempt at mystery, but it probably failed…or I forgot about it, as I am prone to do. I gasp at your theory that all American characters look the same…because I know you are partially right.
I don’t doubt that comics do that. I think kids are more likely to pay attention if they aren’t stuck with 400 pages of text. While they’re not groaning about the length of the novel, now they can focus on the story and pick up stuff. Or, they could be like me and look up a word every time they don’t know what it is. Because I’m a dork. Yeah, comics used to be THE big thing, and I don’t understand why they’re not, because I’ve read comic books that kick some novel butt. Gotta love the Fantastic Four.
@Clay: Sounds like you’re having fun.
April 15, 2008 at 12:46 am
Had to drop by to give you some love for giving comics the credit they deserve and especially the Sandman bit.
April 15, 2008 at 10:31 pm
@Penelope: Isn’t Sandman amazing? Comics don’t get much credit, and it’s one of my pet peeves. I love comic books.