095 Thoughts on the Perceived Inaccessibility of Mainstream Comics
The cynicism of the comics fan isn’t confined to the blog and message board crowd. Case in point: while having a conversation with my friend Chelsea, a newly converted comics fan, I couldn’t help but feel her frustration when discussing the ins and outs of comics continuity, and how inaccessible a lot of mainstream comics really are.
Certainly over the past few years we’ve heard Joe Quesada and Dan DiDio (head honchos of Marvel and DC, respectively) spout things like “jumping on point” and “new reader friendly” when talking about their event books– but what do those things mean? Are they truly accurate statements, or just platitudes? At this late in the game, with 50-60 years of continuity (or even, um, not continuity), is there such thing as a “new reader friendly” comic?
Chelsea brought up the story of Hal Jordan as Parallax, from Green Lantern. She’s recently read the “Sinestro Corps War” storyline and had noticed that plot point brought up often, so where, she wondered, would she be able to read that story? Where, indeed. Does she start at Zero Hour? Well, if so, I’d probably need to explain “Emerald Twilight”, right? But then, that wouldn’t make sense without first explaining Coast City, would it? And what lead up to Coast City’s destruction? Why, the Death and Return of Superman!
Confused? I realize that when looking at the world of mainstream comics from that angle– an unending tapestry of weird characters and stories– it becomes a little overbearing. Why care about a character that’s already been developed? Can you ever truly grasp a story if it started years before you ever started reading comics? To put it simply: if we’re being told that the corruption of Hal Jordan made such a large impact in the DC universe, then not being able to learn or read about that story (Wikipedia not withstanding) creates a sort of distance from the characters.
And that’s true, if you look at it from a certain perspective. Chelsea has no real reason to give a shit about Hal Jordan being blown away by Sinestro if she hasn’t read, like, every issue of Green Lantern since 1993. I get that. That’s why you have to look at it differently.
Mainstream comics, at least the good ones, deal with certain themes and archetypes that occur over and over again throughout the span of a book’s run. So while, yes, it’s almost impossible to get character development from “day one” of the book it’s almost a moot point since A) these books are written by different creative teams, with different views and perspective on the characters, as well as re-writes and “retroactive continuity” that make previous stories almost worthless, and B) the reoccurring themes in the story create a sort of “roaming characterization” anyway, in which you’re constantly being reintroduced to the characters. There’s a reason Geoff Johns starts every GL story with the “My name is Hal Jordan” narration; it serves as a sort of reintroduction to the character each time. So don’t assume that since you haven’t read the entire history of Green Lantern that you’re somehow “missing something”; that isn’t really the point. Each story provides the character development needed for that specific story, or at least it should, since that’s how the genre really works: reoccurring themes and motifs (though admittedly, some titles are more accessible than others.) And I feel that even as a long-time reader I’ve benefited from that repetition.
And really, what is the theme of Sinestro Corps War? Willpower vs. fear. How do they present that? With a very distinct dichotomy, setting up the Sinestro Corps as the anti-Green Lanterns. How does this effect our heroes? Well, as is explained, at one point Hal Jordan overcame corruption by great fear, the kind of fear that grips some of the other corpsmen (specifics? Not important to the story.) It is with his leadership that they learn to overcome fear. Now, read any other story arc. It’s essentially the same themes repeated over and over again in every Green Lantern story: overcoming fear.
Is that too shallow? I don’t think so. It’s just how stories grow. If you’re interested in that one story, if you like it enough to keep reading, that’s when you start to learn more. That’s when you start to discover the history of the characters, the stuff that gets you attached to the story on a personal level. That’s when it becomes more engaging. Sure, I can tell you the moral of the story in thirty seconds, but why should you care, right?
Why do you watch TV shows for six, seven, eight seasons? Why do you sit through two and three hour movies? Why do you spend weeks reading a five hundred page book? Just stick with it. If you want to really care about the characters read more about them– but don’t backtrack. Don’t worry yourself too much about their past, because if you read the book long enough it’ll begin to come together.
038 NYCC: Elvis Schmelvis! How Comic Books Spawned the Rock and Roll Era
The following entry was written by non-comic book fan and friend of the blog Chelsea Bahr.
David Hajdu, a soft-spoken man wearing wire-rimmed glasses and a tweed sports coat stood before all of ten people (myself included) to explain the development of comic books in the 40s and 50s and their cultural influence over America’s youth. Like listening to my grandpa talk about his “days of the past”, Hajdu steered us through the change in comic book content from the late 1940s to the early 1950s where comics began to distance themselves from “crime fighting” and towards “crime doing”. It was a time where “virtue didn’t have to triumph over evil”, he said, going on to example an issue of The Haunt of Fear where subversive ideas of the 1950s came to fruition. The spouse in this particular comic was the monster, equating marriage with torture (how cute). Creator William Gaines is quoted as having said: “We got a lot of mileage out of the ‘scheming wife’. The true graveyard is in the living room of the American home.” An interesting juxtaposition to the 1950′s Pleasantville model.
An image was projected onto the screen before us. It was the cover of a 1944 magazine, where an image of Satan led a pack of innocent-looking children underneath a headline: Parents Must Control the Comics. Hajdu segued into a story about a 1957 planning meeting between Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Berstein, who were discussing the opening scene of West Side Story. Sondheim decided that when introducing The Jets, all they needed to do is “communicate their interest in comics and the audience will understand that they are the delinquents.” The opening scene was to involve members of The Jets carrying boxes of comics, trading comics with each other, looking at each others comics to convey this “juvenile delinquency” associated with comic books at that time. It was The Comic Book Threat and the first, according to Hajdu, generational divide of the cultural world. Comics instilled in youth the idea of value, where the “value” was rooted in the fact that adults saw no value in them. In being able to buy an issue with a couple earned pennies, a kid could open the pages into a world of adventure, danger, and graphic excitement. As illustrated in the film Hajdu presented, kids would buy one comic and then trade for another and another and another and…. etc. This, Hajdu points out, is quite similar to the phenomenon that happened later with Rock ‘n Roll—where kids would go out to buy the latest record only to invite all their friends over to listen to it. Trading comics was the reason the notion of the “badass” assimilated into pop culture with such speed, and why parents felt so helpless to stop it.
Overall, I’d give the panel 3 out of 5 stars. As informative and well-prepared as Hajdu was, the presentation erred slightly on the side of “long and dry” and lacked the informal, relaxed air many of the other panels exhibited. However, what it lacked in familiarity, it made up for in scholarly charm, and either way, it was an hour I felt privileged to be a part of.
034 The Multicultural Mask
The following entry was written by non-comic book fan and friend of the blog Chelsea Bahr.
I can’t say enough good things about the Multicultural Mask panel. Easily my favorite of the ones I went to this weekend. Not only was Greg Pak adorable, but all the panelists– moderator Jeff Yang (Asian Pop columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and editor of Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology), Jann Jones, (DC Comics coordinating editor), Stuart Moore (writer and founding Vertigo editor), Perry Moore (Hero), Robert J. Walker (Delete, O+Men) and Danielle O’Brien– were very intelligent and interesting to listen to. Discussing the issue of diversification in comics and comic book characters, Greg Pak right out the gate made an interesting point regarding characters that portray race stereotypes (Fu Manchu, anyone?). He stated that regardless of whether a character’s first appearance in a comic is “dated”, the fact that that character is even available– to be developed, expanded, etc.– is incredibly significant. The problem I have with this, however, is how long does it take for those characters to be developed from the “Fu Manchu” stereotype? I mean, I suppose that without that introduction, the token Asian nerd that inevitably pops up in every television show and box-office hit might not exist, and sure they always make you laugh and are always incredibly endearing, but does that make it ok?
Editor’s note: going along with that same point, I wonder how much the token Asian nerd is an expansion or development, helping break stereotypes rather than reinforce them? I’d say not much of one. -P.D.
The panel moved on to talk about how comics are really the last medium to break through the “true diversification wall”, and that even the diverse characters that do exist are nowhere near being on par with existing lead characters– think Falcon vs. Thor. Perry Moore, creator of Hero (the story whose lead character is not only an Asian American, but a gay Asian American) pointed out that people tend to write from experience, and the comic book industry is an industry full of white guys. He went on to say that the fact that there are no original black superheroes isn’t a racist thing (although, I think that’s kind of ignoring the fact that racism probably did at one time exist in Marvel and DC offices, if it doesn’t still), it’s simply a “write what you know” thing.
Moore went on to talk about identity, and made the point that people sometimes tend to get caught up in equating a character’s race, gender, sexual preference, etc. with who the character is. Someone asked if any of the panelists thought a big, flagship character (like Captain America) could ever be in an issue and be like, “Hey, guess what? I’m gay!” Moore responded: “You have to stay true to the character. The character’s identity isn’t made up of ‘being gay’ or ‘being heterosexual’- they’re made up of a lot of different things, and if they’re gay, that’s only one small piece of who they are.” Jann Jones went on to talk about the incessant hate mail received for the creation of a lesbian Batwoman (who is apparently becoming a lead in Detective Comics): “You’re not going to make everyone happy, but you have to put it out there. And there’s a challenge in not making it too inclusive or exclusive.”
“The bigger question than the inclusion of these representatives, then,” Yang stated, “is how these representatives are portrayed.” The hour ended, and I ran home to add Hero to my Amazon wish list.
033 The Representation of Women in Comics panel: Chelsea thought it was dumb and then I agreed with her.
The following entry was written by non-comic book fan and friend of the blog Chelsea Bahr.
Perhaps the most irritating thing about the gender argument is the fact that the people that always seem to be doing the arguing are either a) extremely irritating b) misinformed c) extreme and entirely unwilling to even consider anything outside their argument (Editor’s Note: Wednesday’s Child feels that he is none of these things.) Unlucky for me, the Representation of Women in Comics panelists were all of the above. Moderated by Abby Denson, Chris Butzer of Rabid Rabbit, cousins Jillian and Mariko Tamaki of Skim fame, Robin Furth, who adapted Stephen King’s Dark Tower for Marvel, and a couple others not only decided to use the hour for their own self-promotion, but danced around the already vague and predictable questions Denson posed. Sorry guys, but the fact that some women find a 36-24-36 blonde bombshell in skin tight latex offensive is nothing new.
As Denson asked questions like, “What comes to mind when you think of ‘the representation of women in comics’?” and “Do you think the portrayal of women has progressed?” I watched as audience members became (if they weren’t already) totally uninterested. I couldn’t help but feel like these shallow, unaffecting questions had been scrawled out onto a napkin on the hike over from the food court. Not only did they fail to establish any sort of dialogue from the panelists, but they also didn’t allow any room for audience members to open up a discussion of their own.
Most irritating about the panel (aside from the complete lethargy) was the hypocrisy found therein. The driving point reiterated over and over throughout the hour by each of the panelists was that females have progressed in comics because of the shift in their positions of power. ORLY? Denson mentioned- several times- her current project centered around Aunt May stealing Peter Parker’s Spidey Suit to go fight crime, unbeknownst to him. She emphasized how she felt the character of Aunt May has always been so “dated”, wearing “unfashionable clothes” and “staying at home all day twiddling her thumbs”. Denson said she felt compelled to transform Aunt May’s character into a strong, modern woman. This really made me raise my eyebrows. So the only way Aunt May is able to be “strong” is by putting on a male character’s suit and going out to “fight crime”- the traditional male “action role”? So older women who “sit at home” and exhibit any sort of femininity can’t be strong, since strength is apparently still being equated with stereotypical masculinity? So not only are you perpetuating gender stereotypes, but you are recreating gender boundaries? Well that’s great. Thanks so much Denson! I’ll be sure to wipe off my nailpolish the next time I decide to shotgun a beer.
A response, by Paul DeBenedetto:
While I did not attend this panel I agree with Chelsea here, insofar as a lot of argument regarding strong women protagonists is that it’s important to prove that women can do what men can do; the problem with this is that you’re making men the barometer. By saying “I’m just as tough as that guy; see?”, you’re basically setting yourself up to fail, because essentially saying this perpetuates the idea that, overall, men are “better” than women- that is, if there’s such a struggle for women to prove themselves to men the implication is that men are something women should aspire to be like.
Ultimately, rather than try to “masculize” women in comics, why not accentuate their inherent femininity? It’s like my friend Thimali once said to me; she’s a woman, and she knows there are clear differences between her and a man. Not weaknesses or strengths, just differences.If she were in Aunt May’s shoes, for example, she wouldn’t need to dress in that Spider Suit to prove she can “hang with the boys”. Yes, generally men are hopped up on testosterone, but aren’t women more emotional animals? Paraphrasing her (probably butchering her real comments, actually): “once a month my emotions are thrown for a loop. I am happy, I am sad, I am angry, I am moody. And thus by definition I am more in touch with my emotions than a man is.” And this is true. Men and women experience different things, are built differently, and thus act differently.
This is not to say that female characters CAN’T be traditionally strong or tough. Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Powergirl, Batgirl, Batwoman, Echo, Ms. Marvel, Elektra; all of these characters are physically strong, and it’s in character. Aunt May? Not so much. Incidentally, you know who else is “dated” and wears “unfashionable clothes”? My grandmother.
Yes, throughout history masculinity and the “Alpha Male” have been dominant, whether it be on television, in literature, or even in the workplace. But isn’t the answer to rebel against and reject THAT idea, rather than to ostensibly play into it?
029 An Outsider like Metamorpho: Chelsea blogs DC Nation (and doesn’t understand the reference in this subject line)
The following entry was written by non-comic book fan and friend of the blog Chelsea Bahr.
After an afternoon of $5 pretzels and observing the textbook definition of “The Nerd”, I found myself ending the day at the DC Nation panel. Now, let it be known that to go even so far as to call myself a “comic book n00b” would be a lie, as my comics exposure has been limited to a borrowed copy of Maus (thanks Paul), a gifted Black Hole (thanks Paul), and free Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? leaflets from my Dentist’s office. So to be, as Paul so graciously assigned the title, “the outsider” at an event such as this was both intriguing and well, laughable. And as the panelists began to enter, I watched as the audience, spilling into the aisles and perched on tip-toes to see over the crowd in the back, broke into applause. When DC executive editor, Dan Didio took the stage, the room erupted, and as quickly as I had sat down moments ago, I found myself standing up, applauding too.
To start the hour, Didio asked select audience members to give brief summaries of what’s been happening recently–you know, to bring light to that whole Final Crisis thing.
Didio, pointing to some guy near the front: “You sir! Batman RIP! GO!”
Startled audience member: “I… have no idea what happened in that story.”
Laughter ensues. Didio moves on to Final Crisis #3:
A voice from the back of the room: “Morrison’s peyote started working.”
After going through all the issues, Didio asks, “So. Does that help everyone?!” and in an all-too scripted unanimity, the audience shouts, “NO!”
Didio throws up his hands. The panel laughs.
Over the next hour, I watched Didio take off layers of shirts: going from green to yellow to orange to purple to ultimately black (Editor’s Note: Dan was wearing all of the colors of the Lanterns from Blackest Night), and had the pleasure of being a part of a very engaging question-answer session between audience members–young and old, male and female–and panelists James Robinson, Sterling Gates, George Perez, Eddie Berganza, and others. I listened to the arguments for and against overlapping themes, crossover characters, and the scale of the newer stories. I heard the complaints of the lack of more iconic characters and the passing comments romanticizing past issues. A group to my left bonded over their shared interest in Starman. And as Trinity themes and Milestone characters all went way over my head, I surprisingly didn’t feel like “the outsider” I am. Sure I later had to ask Paul what a trade paperback is, and no, I have no idea who the Justice League is comprised of, but it was almost like the energy of the group completely eradicated that. And I could relate in my own way: the level of camaraderie, the amount of laughter–I couldn’t help but equate it to a group of my friends sitting around coming up with LOST explanations. The loyalty I saw in that room to specific characters and storylines is no different than the loyalty I have to my favorite television characters or episodes. Anyone who knows me well knows my embarrassing interest in Chuck Bass, so why should someone’s fascination in Flash or Starman or anyone else be less acceptable?
Perhaps the funniest part of the comic book to TV comparison is the guy that happened to sit behind me, who always seemed to have a smug retort for every innocent “When is Justice League going to be Justice League” and “Why isn’t Tiny Titans introduced to newsstands” question asked. Because even when you are just sitting around, having a good time with friends, there’s always got to be that asshole.
Before going to this specific panel, I was pretty indifferent to comic books/ comic book culture–you know, the shrug-the-shoulders attitude. And while I’m certainly not going to be first in line to Free Comic Book Day for my free issue of The Blackest Night, I no longer feel like comic books are that foreign a subject. I mean, superficially. The commonality of character interest, plot development predictions, and the bond formed through sharing each other’s excitement about these things is something even someone as far out of the comic book world as I am can recognize, appreciate, and identify with.
I’ll end with the best quote of the day: “It felt like… I felt like, ‘it’s a crisis, it’s final’. I loved it.”
028 Early Saturday Con update from Chelsea and Jen
Chelsea says the Representation of Women in Comics panel was a big letdown. That’s a shame because it was one of the panels I was most looking forward to hearing about. She’s on her way to the Asian Americans and Super Heroes panel right now; hopefully that makes up for it.
Just got word from Jen; she’s gonna be on hand today with a camera, so we’re gonna get some pictures of people looking silly.
leave a comment