Michael Deeley has been reading comics since he was 12 years old. His first book was an issue of Silver Surfer by Jim Starlin, leading him to see all comics as ideological conflicts with big-ass fight scenes. At the very least, he expects a comic to be entertaining in some fashion, which is why he thinks Secret Wars II is better than Dark Knight Strikes Back. He has never work in the comics field, but he does have a belligerent attitude and a lot of free time.
During his brief intervals in the real world, Michael looks for a paying job that should, (theoretically) lead to a better life involving more comics, privacy, and women.
He currently lives between Pittsburgh, PA, and the Pittsburgh International Airport, in a suburb so new, it only has one McDonalds.
“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.”
-Leslie Poles Hartley, The Go-Between, prologue, (By way of ‘Starman: Times Past’ TPB)
I’ve been reading a lot of old comics lately. I mean, really old; stuff that was published before me and my father were born! And while reading these old stories, I couldn’t help but compare them to today’s comics. I began to notice sharp differences in content, style, art, and packaging. After reviewing these comics, I’ve come to the following conclusion:
Older comics are better than modern comics in some ways, but worse in others.
Hardly a revelation but there is a tendency among people to be prejudiced towards certain time periods. There are those who will think “now” is the best of times. They believe all of history has led up to this decade, generation, century, etc. “The End of History” by Francis Fukuyama, written in 1993, asserts that history has an endpoint; that endpoint being a capitalist liberal democracy, a.k.a. Bill Clinton’s America. 10 years later, history has moved on. Others, usually older people, wistfully recall a “golden age” when times were simpler or just plain “better”. Times like the 1950s, when strictly enforced racism and sexism divided society. Or the 1960s when teenagers and 20-somethings rejected the values of their parents without defining any of their own. And then there are the futurists, the people who steadfastly believe that all of society’s ills will be solved in some distant Utopian tomorrow while forgetting to build the foundations of that future today.
Of course I’m being sarcastic. History is continuous and cyclic. The forces that shape society and individuals (greed, hunger, fear, and money) have always existed and will always exist. No single time period or generation is isolated from another. The events that led to WWI had roots as far back as Medieval Europe. Conversely, the Iraqi War will have consequences upon future generations of Iraqis and Americans for decades to come. That is why the study and understanding of history is so vital. By recognizing the pattern of events from the past, we can recognize them in the present and prepare for them in the future. By seeing what others have done before, we can then do something different or take their work in another direction.
And that’s why you should read old comic books.
Whenever I have the extra cash, I’ll buy an old DC 100-page Super Spectacular. Published in the 1970s, the comics featured new and reprinted material. The format was used on several regular series including ‘Detective Comics’ and ‘Superman Family’. All told, DC published over 100 Super Spectaculars in the early 1970s. Why DC published books in this format is often attributed to having a “fill-in” comic to ship when the newest story was late. I suspect DC might also have wanted to renew the copyrights on some of the stories and characters featured in those books.
Reading those comics is like digging up artifacts from a lost civilization. Imagine if you will a time when there were only three TV networks, and they all had cartoons on Saturday Mornings. A time when “Planet of the Apes” had more fans than “Star Wars”. A time when O.J. Simpson was a spokesman and a role-model! A time when kids bought comics from local grocery stores, drug stores, and other mass media outlets.
And the stories they read! War stories about young men being cut down without mercy, while older men are driven by revenge. Heroes who wielded powers so mightily and creatively, they seemed like gods. And horror stories that relied less on gore and more on suspense and atmosphere. Artwork ranged from the clear, clean lines of George Tuska and Carmine Infantino to the gritty realism of Joe Kubert and Irv Novak. There were wild, escapist fantasy stories by Gardner Fox, enlightening stories by Robert Kanigher, and thrilling adventures by Archie Goodwin. And let’s not forget the hundreds of other writers, pencilers, inkers, and other “assistants” who have contributed to the lore and history of comics. Nameless, their work is still remembered.
Marvel was no slouch either. In the 1960s and 70s, Marvel was literally breaking all the rules of comic books. Their heroes were more complicated than those seen before. Their villains were evil, yet human, even pitiable. Marvel books addressed real-world issues in ways no one else ever had before. But most of all was the energy! Marvel comics, especially those drawn by Jack Kirby, had an energy, an excitement to them that few have ever matched. Read an old ‘Fantastic Four’, and you fell like you’re holding a living thing. Kirby infused his art with so much power than even an ordinary man standing still commands your attention and fills the panel with his presence. Stan Lee packed every issue with as many ideas has he could fit. A single story had enough plot points and throwaway lines to fuel a year’s worth of stories.
And that’s the biggest difference between yesterday’s comics and today’s. Comics back then were short, stand-alone stories. One comic had one story, if not two. Rarely did the story continue into another issue. And if it did, it was a major event. Continuing stories became more frequent in the late 60s and early 70s. At about the same time, Marvel had firmly established its continuity, direct-sales shops were proliferating, and an older audience that grew up reading comics was looking for more challenging fare.
I wonder if publishers didn’t have a higher opinion of its readers in the Golden and Silver Ages than they do now. Although these older books were written for a pre-teen audience, they’re just as thoughtful as today’s books, if not more so. Obscure science facts are scattered about Silver Age comics, teaching a generation of readers how you could warp space and time just be moving really, really, fast. While content was strictly G-rated, the drama and intensity of these stories is equal to many works of “adult” fiction. The horrors of war are depicted simply and evocatively with almost no bloodshed or visible wounds.
The best examples of this are two stories from ‘Shazam’ #15. In one, Mary Marvel meets a girl so unhappy with her appearance she takes a formula to change her looks. This causes so many problems, that when it wears off she’s learned to appreciate who she really is. Now isn’t that a positive message for young girls to learn in today’s image-conscious society? Another story sees the Marvel family fight off the invasion of Zoltan, the King of All Time. (I’m sure Alan Moore read this one before writing ‘Miracleman’ #1.) Zoltan was exiled from the year 1,000,000 A.D. to the 20th Century. Using his future knowledge, he builds an armory of mind-altering weapons to conquer this and every century. No one is killed, but everyone bombed welcomes Zoltan’s rule. As Zoltan puts it, “Why wipe out people you wish to rule when all you need do is win their minds?” (Sound familiar, neo-cons?) The Marvels visit old Shazam for advice. He explains how all physical weapons of the future will be/were replaced by mental ones. “All wars are really fought over ideas, ideals and ideologies”, he says. “And a thousand atom bombs are as nothing compared to one mighty idea, good or evil, invading human minds!”
Now THAT’S wisdom of the ages! Why can’t we have comics like that for today’s youth? Oh yeah, everyone thinks kids are stupid and violent. That might explain why so many heroes are the same way.
Take Batman, for instance. The Batman stories from the 70s are the best Batman stories I’ve ever seen. 3 reasons for this: One, Batman is a detective! These stories have him solving crimes and mysteries using his intellect and cunning! Two, Batman often had to find creative solutions to seemingly impossible situations. He was an escape artist, strategist, and master of disguise. All these skills, and more, saved his life and others’ on numerous occasions. And three, Batman never brooded. If his life ever got him depressed, it only lasted one issue. Then he was up and fighting crime again next month. Compare that to today’s navel-gazing, suspect-beating, man-child who needs a crippled girl to do all his research, and it’s no wonder DC has reprinted so few Batman stories from the 70s.
Don’t believe me? Remember “Bruce Wayne: Murderer”, when Bats let himself be framed for murder for 6 months so he’d have an excuse to stop being Bruce Wayne? Compare that to a similar story in ‘Detective Comics’ #444-#446 (and possibly beyond). Batman is seen shooting a woman in the back. I mean you, the reader, see Batman, with the gun in his hand, shooting a woman, who turned out to be Talia, his greatest love. Claiming his innocence, Batman runs from the law to clear his name. Turns out he was set up very nicely by Ra’s Al Ghul, who kills himself and frames Batman for his “murder”! Our hero is on the run, his every thought and move dedicated to solving this crime! Sadly, I don’t have the concluding chapter to this story, but I can safely guess Batman does eventually prove his innocence. So to recap. Old Batman: Accused of murder, got off his ass, and proved his innocence in about 4 issues and 4 months. Drawn by Jim Aparo. New Batman: Accused of murder, runs away, lets former sidekicks do all the detective work, comes back, pulls answer out of a hat. 40+ comics in 8 months. Drawn (partly) by Scott McDaniel.
If you think the latter really is better than the former, you are an idiot. Sorry to be the one to tell you this, but you clearly have no taste. There’s no middle ground or debate on this point. Aparo is a better artist than McDaniel, and Batman is better when he’s doing his damn job solving crimes! You disagree? Stop reading comics. Just stop it right now. You’re making us look bad.
Now, having praised the Silver Age of Comics for its artwork and general quality, having admitted that many of today’s heroes are dumb violent thugs, and having insulted everyone who likes the Modern Batman more than the 70s Batman, I will now say without irony that today’s comics books are generally more sophisticated and complex than books published at any other time.
I believe the factors I mentioned before, continuity, comic shops, and an older audience, contributed to changes in which comics were written. The average age of comic book readers is now in the mid-20s. This means comics can be more permissive with their content and themes. Sex, violence, and language are more explicit today then they were 30 years ago. Once taboo themes like sexuality, drug use, and even relative morality are address with greater frequency and depth. An older audience also means a more patient audience. Today’s readers have grown up with books that often took two or more issues to tell a story. And plot threads can be left hanging for years before their resolution. The presence of the back issue market and trade paperback collections enable readers to explore the history of their favorite books”. Such series include Claremont’s ‘X-Men’, Marv Wolfman’s ‘New Teen Titans’, and of course, ‘The Legion of Superheroes’.
These changes to comics tend to encourage themselves. Comics tell longer stories that make it less appealing to new readers. The new readers could buy the trade books, if they’re cheap enough, but that encourages them to buy the TPBs and not the series. Consequently, the series’ creators do stories with the intention (or belief) that it will one day be collected in a book. This leads to longer, more complex stories that are best understood when read in one sitting, or in conjunction with other TPBs. The comic book goes from a magazine-type reading material, to serialized chapters of a graphic novel, to pages from a series of graphic novels.
If you think I’m overstating things, consider ‘Powers’. If you can, read the individual comics. Then read the TPBs. Now tell me whether ‘Powers’ is a comic series collected into books, or a series of books first published as comics. I believe that if Bendis was writing comics in the 1950s and 1960s, they would not be the comics he writes today. His natural, personal dialogue would take up too much room and distract from the art. Rarely does he write a complete story in one issue. And if he were to “compress” his works into shorter books, he’d have to sacrifice much of the character depth, phraseology, and subtle emotions he’s become famous for. And Bendis isn’t the only such writer; Mark Waid, James Robinson, and JMS would also have been different writers in earlier times. Many of today’s best writers are at their best when their stories are not confined to a single issue.
While comics have grown more sophisticated over the last 20 years, their image has not. The general public still has the impression that comic books are superhero fantasies aimed at young boys. And in many ways, they still are. Marvel and DC continue to promote their hero books as though the main audience isn’t over 18. Non-hero books are often ignored, despite critical acclaim from fans and the mainstream press. Many great novels and comics from alternative and independent creators are often ignored because they’re only available in comic shops. And as the number of shops has been dwindling, too many shop owners ignore anything no published by the “big 2”. And let’s not get into the issue of promotion; shop owners don’t, so why should we?
Once upon a time, Marvel and DC comics had a high opinion of their readers. They tried their best to put out comics they’d be proud of. While comics and readers have matured, publishers and shop owners have not. The changing content and format of comics have brought the medium to a creative highpoint, while the industry inches closer to its own dead end. My advice? Get a book published by Drawn & Quarterly, give it to a random stranger, along with the web address for Mile High or Midtown comics, and pray to God.
(This has got to be the third column where I start off with some grandiose, universal concept, tie it into comics, and predict the demise of the industry if Marvel and DC don’t wake up and hear the bell tolling. Maybe it’s me.)
A light Wednesday this week. Only two of my series came in.
Daredevil #54 -
Echo and Wolverine fight. Then he says he knew Echo’s shaman and begins the story of two dogs fighting. Does Wolverine know everybody in the Marvel universe? It’s like that old joke: A guy’s got a friend named Bob who claims to know everybody in the world. To prove it, they both go to the Vatican to meet the Pope. The two get separated in the crowd in St. Peter’s square. Suddenly, the Pope appears at a balcony with Bob. The guy is amazed! He turns to a fellow next to him and says, “Do you know who that is?” Fellow says, “Of course! That’s Bob! But who’s that old guy with him?”
Seriously, Wolverine knows a lot of people for a guy who’s played the “dangerous loner” for so long.
Captain Marvel #16 -
Genis doesn’t believe the woman claiming to be his mother really is his mother. She doesn’t “show up” on his cosmic consciousness. He decides to bring Rick back to life to get new perspective, (after banging Epiphany, naturally). Rick figures the answers lay on Titan, Genis’ old home. Little does he know there’s another family member waiting there for him: His sister.
You know, just when I was thinking of dropping this book, it gets incredibly good. Wait, have I said that? Well it’s worth repeating. ‘Captain Marvel’ is a very good book. My only complaint is with the art. This all-pencil, no-ink style worked for Chris Sotomayer, but not for Paul Azaceta. Too often, people’s features are blurred or muddied over. Lighting also seems inconsistent. It’s a minor distraction, but present nonetheless.
Al those Image comics I reviewed last week were read this week. Also read this week:
Checkmate #5; Kid Eternity mini-series #31; Kid Eternity monthly series #2, 4 and 5; Mystique #2-6; and the following DC 100-Page Super Spectaculars: DC-16, DC-17, DC-22, Shazam #15, and Detective #444.
Next week, my thoughts and feelings at reading full runs of comic books, including how an artist’s talent improves and flounders over time, and just how much work it takes to read 10 comics in one sitting.
Until then, I am not Uncle Cheeks, the Toy Wonder/Silver Age advocate.
