Tuesday, February 12, 2013

I Believe In Comic Books

I believe in comic books.
When most people hear "comic books," the immediate thought is mor than likely of some capes and tights and some muscle-y dudes or muscle-y ladies slamming each other into buildings or punching a battleship. Y'know -- books like the ones those corporate suits produce over at the two big companies... or like the other book I do, Invincible.
You see, I'm a comic fan; I love that stuff.
But comic books, as a whole, are so much more. The good news is this isn't news. Comics have been much more from the very beginning, actually. And lately we've had things like Sin City and Hellboy, Cerebus, the fine crime comics from the likes of Brubaker and Phillips, classics like Minimum Wage or Love and Rockets, modern comics like Casanova, Morning Glories, Hack/Slash, Elephantmen, Chew, Preacher, Y: The Last Man, The Walking Dead (whatever that book is) or the upcoming Saga.
So non-super hero comics are nothing new... and whoo boy is that a good thing.
Still, though... the vast majority of comics feature superheroes, and the vast majority of those comics feature old superheroes, stale musty ideas from the middle of the last century or later. Around 60 to 70% of the comics produced each month fit that bill, so we've got a long way to go.
- Robert Kirkman