Comic Books...The Only Original American Art Form

Anyone out there love this so called "dying" art form?

My personal opinion is that comics are now in the best age yet. When i read comics like

Lucifer
American Century
Rising Stars

they are better than any other work of fiction out there today

any thoughts or comments?

 

I agree that comic books are a very important part of American culture. They kept kids active in their own way during World War 2, offered escapist fantasies during the clean-cut 50s and yes, after the early years of the Silver Age, they deteriorated. BUT, 1986 changed all that...for a while. Then people mimicked the wonders done in such titles as Watchmen, Ronin, Dark Knight Returns. It took Marvel quite a while before it finally caught up and began publishing good stuff again (about two years ago, to give you an estimate). Now, comics offer real world views of superheros, true escapism, post-modernism, and just about anything else you can think of.

I read:

Transmetropolitan
The Filth
The Establishment
The Authority (dammit, bring it back!)
X-Static (formerly X-Force, but not as you may remember it)
New X-Men
Uncanny X-Men
Soldier-X (formerly Cable, but not even close to the gun toting grim-grit of the early 90s)
Wildcats 3.0 (August)
JLA
JSA
GI Joe (nostaligia purposes)
Mage: The Hero Denied (when it comes out)
Planetary
Top 10
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (vol. 1, soon to be vol. 2 as well)
The Earth X Saga (Earth X, Universe X, Paradise X)

I also pick up odds and ends here and there, American Century, starting the Invisibles, Sandman and Neil Gaiman's Death series, Powers, Rising Stars, Bendis' True Crime Graphic Novels.

Good stuff - even the mainstream reads are turning around.

 

The art form is anything but dying. The level of talent in terms of both writing and art is getting better every day. Guys with big guns and shoulder pads and girls with big...things...do not a good comic make. The early 90s were some of the darkest days for comics though. Everyone was ripping off everyone else and there was a horrid lack of originality. That same void still exists to some degree, but there are many quality books being published these days.

On a monthly basis, I pick up:

New X-Men
Uncanny X-Men
X-Statix
Amazing Spider-Man
Peter Parker: Spider-Man
Ultimate Spider-Man
The Ultimates
Avengers
Daredevil
Thor: Lord of Asgard
Captain America
Green Lantern
Green Arrow
JSA
JLA
Flash
Transformers

But some of the quality work I've had the pleasure of reading includes:

Watchmen
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Planetary
The Authority

 

i agree that comics are far from dying and i get so sick of hearing people claim they are.

My god, i buy so many comics:

All Crossgen Titles
All Wildstorm titles
FF (I have from #237-present)

Numerous, numerous others

i absolutely LOVE American Century. By far the best comic out there. Lucifer is close behind. Planetary was awesome but comes out so irregulary. ABC by Alan Moore is just OK for Moore. He could do so much better if he tried.

 

I'm a big comic fan. My all time favourite is Preacher. I really think in 10 years, it'll be considered a classic on the level of The Watchmen(also a favourite of mine.

I'd have to say my favourite mainstream comic is Batman, and related books. Batman is a cultural icon, and IMO one of the deepest characters in any form of literature. There's been os many interpratations of the Dark Knight. One of my favourite episodes of Batman:TAS featured 2 very different versions of the Bat. The first part was in the style of the 60's TV series, very campy. The second segment was adapted for Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns. There was even a mention of the movie version of Batman(some line about the Batmobile driving up walls )

I don't get any comics monthly though, I prefer to wait for the TPB so it can go on my bookshelf. So I'm a bit behind on current events, the latest Batman story I've read being Outlaws

The thing I love about comics, is there's so much that can be done that just isn't possible in film and novels. The way the pictures are arranged, the placement of the word bubbles, etc. Alan Moore(author of the classic Watchmen) calls this the "under-language" of comics.

From an interview with Alan Moore in Comic Book Rebels: Conversations with the Creators of the New Comics. Stanley Wiater and Stephen R. Bissette:

"What it comes down to in comics is that you have complete control of both the verbal track and the image track, which you don't have in any other medium, including film. So a lot of effects are possible which simply can't be achieved anywhere else. You control the words and the pictures -- and more importantly -- you control the interplay between those two elements in a way which not even film can achieve. There's a sort of 'under-language' at work there, that is neither the 'visuals' nor the 'verbals,' but a unique effect caused by a combination of the two.

A picture can be set against text ironically, or it can be used to support the text, or it can be completely disjointed from the text - which forces the reader into looking at the scene in a new way. You can do this to some extent in film, in terms of striking interesting juxtapositions between the imagery and what the intent of the characters may be, but you cannot do it anywhere near as precisely as you can in comics. Here the reader has the ability to stop and linger over one particular 'frame' and work out all of the meaning in that frame or panel, as opposed to having it flash by you ar twenty-four frames per second in a cinema."

Moore makes wonderful use of this under-language in The Watchmen.

 

Comic Books...The Only Original American Art Form

The only original American art form? I don't know about that. I mean, what about jazz??

 

Comic books, I don't know if it is an American original art form, but I do agree that it is a very important source of fantasy, adventure, insight, and socio/political influences.
The ones I read are:
Amazing and Peter Parker Spider-Man
Rising Stars
Transformers G1
G.I. Joe
Powers
Mage: Discovered, Defined, and hopefully Denied
Sandman
Watchmen is good but...meh

Does anyone know if there are any books written on the influences of comic books in society, or suggest any? I believe that comics are a very good source of entertainment, but also of the stuff I mentioned previously. I used to be so into this answer, but I can't remember it exactly. Suffice it to say that comics are underrated by the rest of society and are blind to their importance.

Ciou-See the Sig

 

Radiohead:

Do you like comics? Or do you just disagree and think that jazz is also an american form of "art".

 

Ummm, I would also like to hear why anyone would refer to comics as the "only original American Art Form." Before you question someone that questions you, you need to explain your position. The problem is two fold, "only" and "original." I fail to see why comics, something quite popular in many cultures, is considered an original American art form. And even if it is, I agree with Radiohead, I fail to see why it's the ONLY original American art form. Please enlighten us.

 

Do you like comics? Or do you just disagree and think that jazz is also an american form of "art".

I do like comics. I read them when I was younger and enjoyed my experiences with them. In fact, I used to read anything created by Frank Miller, Alan Moore, Jim Lee, and several others. What I disagree with is the term "only original American art form."

Yes, comic books did gain it's popularity and took its form in America. I agree that America popularized the comic book; the rest of the world would not know the artform of comic books if it weren't for Americans like Stan Lee, Schuster & Siegel, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Bob Kane, etc.

BUT, I wouldn't call it simply the "only original American art form". There are other forms of art that can be identified as genuinely "American". I mentioned Jazz as one example.

So, basically, these are just semantics getting in the way of further discussion.

 

Suffice it to say that comics are underrated by the rest of society and are blind to their importance.

Moriarte, I hope you got to see The Tonight Show tonight. Kevin Smith was on, and while he didn't get to spend much time discussing it, the sole purpose of his visit was to promote his new Spider-Man/Black Cat mini-series. That's a big step for the comic community, getting such mainstream television time.

There was also a lot of media coverage of all the Sept. 11-related comics material, most notably Marvel's Heroes book. Joe Quesada and Adam Kubert appeared on The Today Show, among other places.

Comics also got some notice early last month when Amazing Spider-Man artist John Romita Jr. pencilled Spider-Man head sketches in New York for 3 days straight, setting a new Guinness world record. He charged $25 per sketch, and the proceeds went to his niece, who has brain cancer. Several media outlets devoted airtime to his cause, most notably MTV.

Then there are the movies. Thanks to X-Men, Spider-Man, and upcoming films like Hulk and Daredevil, comics are getting much more mainstream notice.



Does anyone know if there are any books written on the influences of comic books in society, or suggest any?

I have bought, but have not yet read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. It takes place in the 1930s-40s and details the relationship between two cousins who create some of the most popular comic characters of their generation.


As for the title of the thread...I suppose it is something of a misnomer. But I think DarthSikle's point was that comic books are an art form whose roots are nearly entirely American.

 

I think that comic books deserve much more recognition than they get. Actually, i think the good ones deserve more recognition than they get, but tend to be swamped out by the silly ones. I only read Star Wars comics and am working on the Sandman series; I have enough collections that I really don't have money to really get into comics.

 

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay spans, oh 3 decades or so, won the Pulitzer, was nominated for both the National and the Pen Falkner awards.

And it was all about comics and their creators.

 

Not to mention, it kicked ass. Kavalier and Clay should be read by everyone.

 

It was a monumental read, a truly great novel. I agree. But this is a thread about comics, not K&C.

 

Mastage:

All joking aside, i would be more than happy to share some of my comic trades with you. nI could ship them to you and then you can shipthem back to me when done. Media mail is cheap. let em know

 

Oh my god, how could i forget my favorite comic like this. Strangers in Paradise.

has anyone read this?

 

I haven't read any of Strangers in Paradise, but I know it comes highly recommended. In the latest issue of Wizard: The Guide to Comics, the editors name their picks for the top 100 graphic novels. #55 is Strangers in Paradise vol. 2: I Dream of You.

 

that is an awful ranking for strangers in paradise volume #2

i would rank it in the top 10, along with

Dark Knight Returns (of course)
Watchmen (Of Course)
Rising Stars Vol. 1
Alan Moore Man of Steel ending
First ALan Moore Swamp Thing Trade
One of the Sandman ones (can't remember which now)

 

You're actually on the money with a few of those.

• I'm assuming the Alan Moore story you're referring to is Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? It came in at #9.



• Alan Moore's first Swamp Thing trade clocked in at #13.



• Sandman Volume 4: Season of Mists is #4. I don't know if that's the one you're referring to or not.



• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns 10th Anniversary Edition is #3.



• Watchmen is #2.

The #1 spot went to Maus: A Survivor's Tale. As someone who owns both Maus volumes, I can tell you it's well deserving of that honor.

Here's how Wizard based their choices:

"We chose the best version of each. The criteria of this list is based on the overall quality of 1) the original stories, 2) extra material (i.e., new covers, CD-roms, sketchbooks, creator commentary, reprinted scripts, etc.), and 3) the presentation (i.e., paper stock, coloring, size, etc.). Some TPBs are one volume of a much larger story. We selected our favorite, but listed the others for easy reference."

 

I received Wizard but for some reason I must have skipped that article.

Where is your signature from? Is it from Buffy?

 

My post is apparently invisible.

 

If it's any consolation, I agree with Moore's comment and your assessment of said comment.

 

Oh, I'm sorry, Saint of Killers (Obvious comic book name ) (I do not have time to read long posts while i am at work) you and Moore are absolutely on the money. No other form of art gives you as much control as a comic book.

Alan Moore is by far my utmost favorite comic book writer.

His ABC line, if it was done by anyone else would be phenomenal. However, coming from him, i give it a B+

Artists claim he is a fanatic about word placement. His scripts are very very detailed on character and word placement. Top Ten by Moore is full of easter eggs all placed by him.

I've loved Moore since his days on Swamp Thing and buy everything by him no matter if i can understand it or not. Promethea is an example, i have NO IDEA what the heck is going on.

 

How could I forget another great read that I enjoy each and every month:

Black Panther