Nursing My Sundays: Random Thoughts
Sorry, Thor was a stronger concept when a Viking God learned from a average looking gimp the concept of not feeling sorry for oneself by helping those who can't help themselves.
Weren’t we all non-comic book fans at some point?
This summer marks the biggest blitz of Comic book adaptations to date. As the adaptations continue to be a mixed bag of source material and modernization, I keep hearing the excuse, “Well this was for the non-comic book fan demographic to make it more accessible.” by critics, random posts, and movie crowds. I’ve collected comic books for the last 25 years and believe it or not, I wasn’t born a comic book fan. What attracted me to comic books was the fact, I was born in downtown Detroit where art was a luxury item. It had no place in a concrete jungle. The local library branch had an art section that was literally one book shelf long. My parents couldn’t afford $50 for one art book. Comic books were the Picasso paintings for the poor. It was less than a $1 but for the uneducated it was more imaginative and accessible than any work of art after the Renaissance. Thanks to the internet, we all have our own updated Encyclopedia Britainnica. So why do we still have to cater to the lowest common denominator?
Believe it or not, the geek community was up in arms before Andrew Glover appeared in that funny show of random pop culture references.
At one point, Nathan Fillion became the random internet guy answer to every comic book casting call.
Comic book super heroes might just be the last vestige of American originality. For anyone who doesn’t believe America has its own culture needs to look no further than the Smithsonian and Comic Cons. If it seems possible Americans have culture shock within their own country. We erect Ferris wheels and over priced steak houses at baseball stadiums. Giants stadium in New Jersey has a mall. Super Heroes have problems like ordinary people to make them more relatable so when Wolverine puts on the butt tight spandex and cerulean blue go-go dancer boots we take him more seriously. Really people?
Knowledge has been replaced by looks at Comic Cons, as who is a comic book enthusiast.
Who are you, Karim Garcia?
On April 14th, Midtown Comics held an open Q&A with the Marvel publishers where a young woman asked the pompous question, “What are you doing to retain your female readers?” Marvel Comics Executive Editor Tom Brevoort replied, “I like to believe we are all comic book fans and don’t subscribe to this race, culture, or sex demographic.” The irony was this young woman had only started reading comic books a few months ago and was passing out her card to her website prior. So if modern story-telling and adaptations are skewed toward the non-comic book fan, how seriously should we take anyone who complained about Wonder Woman’s costume, a black Spider-man, or the absence of secret identities?
Kurt Vonnegut was right. The information age was billed as making things more accessible but it almost seems more exclusive and expensive.
Allegedly the movie adaptations of these comic book characters were supposed to expand readership, meanwhile the cost has escalated to almost $4 for 22 pages. Doesn’t sound to me like Marvel or DC are worried about readership drop off. Ok, so every one seems to think digital was the answer. At 2010 NY Comic Con, DC’s Town Hall meeting an intimate Q&A bitchfest with the fans Jim Lee explained the overly convoluted process to getting comic books digital on time. If you thought print had too many middle men, digital process was so convoluted writers and artists had to finish their story 2 weeks sooner than they would through print. In essence, digital does not save time or money but it is cheaper to the consumer for now. In the long run, it may ruin the market. Now that netflix and itunes has killed off your local record store and video rental spot, you’re their bitch to pay their prices.
Who knew reading 22 pages would be a chore right now? The problem isn't in creativity, it's acuity.
Awaiting the one who will bring balance to the Force
Whether readers like it or not, we have to become smarter consumers but we have to challenge ourselves to be more experimental with story-telling. Learning didn’t end once you left school, it just began. Take a look at Marvel and DC comics, you’ll find a ridiculous amount of Spider-man, Wolverine, Deadpool, Batman, Green Lantern crammed into as many titles as possible. How many titles of the same character do you need to collect? How many of the same regurgitated remakes do you need to pay $14 when you could rent the original for less than half the price? Who cares about updates, we can do that in our minds. What happened to not being afraid to try something new?
See you next Sunday,
Ron
