What About Comics?

John Guillen40 Comments

I realized recently that I’ve never written about comics on here. Not once. I guess I must be discriminating against them. Ha. But really, comics can tell a story too. They can have characters people relate to. And they can be just as popular as anything else.

But I have to first acknowledge that I’ve never even had a comic in my hand. Nor have I ever seen one, except in movies or on TV. But when I was thinking of writing this post, I realized that Barnes and Noble has a manga section. Aren’t those comics? But I’ve never seen any other comics at the largest brick and mortar bookstore in the US. I wonder why that is. Do they not sell very many? Or…I don’t know.

I only know of one comic book store in my area. And the only reason I even know it exists is because I’ve seen people randomly check-in on Facebook. I’m not saying it’s the only one around here, but they do seem to be few and far between. Perhaps I’m not the only one who’s never had his hands on a comic?

I don’t really have a negative view of comics, I’d call it indifference. Because one can’t really form an opinion about something he knows nothing about. But I will say that I’m not big on all the comic book movie adaptations that keep coming out. I understand that they make money, but I can’t be the only person who doesn’t want to see remake after remake of the same characters.

What about you? What do you think of comic books?

40 thoughts on “What About Comics?”

  1. I’m indifferent to comic books. I always enjoyed reading the comics in the paper, but that’s not what you’re talking about. Those kind of comics I like. But comic books? I can’t say as I’ve ever read one. And I’m also not a fan of all the comic movies recently. I’ve only seen one or two. Maybe? I couldn’t even tell you which ones. Just not my thing, I guess. But I know a ton of people love them.

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    • And I’ve also never read comics in the paper. Whoops. You know, the movies aren’t really any worse than any other adaptations being released. I think The Avengers was over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, and I myself thought it was very good. And Age of Ultron looks intense.

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  2. My homeschooled daughter was late learning to read. I use to read to her a LOT. For a period of time the Archie Comics were our go-to literary indulgence. I was surprised at what you can learn from a comic. We read the digests, which are a mixture of old and new strips thrown together in apparently random order. That means we’d see things like telephone booths and typewriters in some of the stories. That would spark discussion. I also learned a lot about how the books are put together by finding errors. Sometimes the dialogue bubble would point to the wrong person, and once the person doing the coloring made Veronica black (and she was supposed to be white) so apparently different people do the drawing and the coloring and the scripting and the lettering. Then there’s punctuation. I wrote a post on my own blog about how my having mentioned the prevalence of exclamation points in comic strips where a simple period would do in any other form had impressed my daughter. She finally learned to read when she wanted to write. She began by dictating. At one point she asked me the name of that mark I’d mentioned months earlier that showed that something was exciting, because she wanted me to use that. Next she asked me to teach her all the punctuation marks, and eventually she took over the writing. I haven’t read many other comics, but I LOVE the Archies.

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  3. For the most part I learned to read because of comics. Spiderman was also a great escape from a life that was pretty harsh. Peter Parker was my first lesson in how a hero could be flawed, and being a good person in the face of adversity is hard, but possible. I don’t really read comics any more but they sure got me through some hard times.

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  4. I love comics! I just finished year three of Injustice: Gods Among Us. My current favorite story lines are Locke and Key and the latest Serenity/Firefly. Not all comics are worth the time, but you owe it to yourself to give them a shot 🙂

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  5. Are comic books and manga the same thing? That’s something I’ve wondered, too. I’ve read some Naruto that I really enjoyed. And I hear that Neil Gaiman’s comics (or graphic novels) are supposed to be among the best.

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  6. I have actually read only one comic book. V for Vendetta. Obviously it’s way better than the movie. To be honest, comics are really great, especially for passive readers, or people who would rather have it simple. But im someone who appreviates reading. Comics can be difficult on language, but you get over it 2 minutes later when the pictures tell a story words can’t express all the times. It’s pretty creative. It is a great experience, but i think u need to know how to pick those comics.

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      • of course a book is so much better than a comic because it allows you a wider sets of plot twists, and a freedom of creativity and imagination! Just like books, if you don’t like a certain genre, you’re going to hate that comic because it’s not just words, but pictures as well, and they aren’t always easy to read. The texts are rough and limited, so it would be twice the pain to go through it.

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  7. I love comic books and graphic novels. For children with reading disabilities, a comic book helps them to gain skills that will eventually lead them into reading books. However, I like to read them for their own sake as well, because the story telling can be magnificent.

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    • Hm. I think at least one other commenter said that it helps children learn to read when they aren’t necessarily ready to read books. I never thought of that. And yes, I don’t doubt the storytelling can be great.

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      • People have to understand that – like books – there are graphic novels and comics aimed at adult audiences as well as at children and young adults. Here in Australia, I spend a lot of time trying to educate people to the idea that a comics aren’t purile and are a valid art form in their own right.

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  8. My son is a bit behind on reading…. but he lives the Sonic Comics and Megaman. So right now I love them lol. But I always seem to find them in the supermarket, with the magazines….

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  9. This is actually a medium I really want to dive into. I love drawings, and all.kinds of different artistic styles, plus great writing? Awesome!

    I’m more into graphic novels and Manga, mainly because they tend to be less episodic and more story driven. And usually a bit darker. Once I’ve read a few, I’ll let you know what I think!

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      • Manga is a Japanese illustration style. They’re printed and read differently. Instead of front to back, left to right, you read back to front, right to left.

        As far as content, there’s not a subject that sticks out with manga. There are stories of all kinds. Comics are an American style, usually meant to be funny. We think of marvel and DC mainly because they’ve been around forever. Dark Horse comics are doing some awesome things too.

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  10. I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a good bit of comic book movies (although Sony has already effed up Spiderman twice, Warner Brothers is halfway to ruining DC, and Fox is getting risky with Deadpool and the Fantastic Four reboot). I also grew up watching Spiderman and X-Men cartoons.

    But I never picked up a comic book either. After sixty years of comic history and storylines, where would you even start? So, the only comic series or graphic novels I’ve considered reading are limited run/single book stuff like Watchmen, Sandman, Lucifer, League of Extraordinary Gentleman, etc. Or maybe new offshoot stuff like Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye series. As much as I love the Avengers, there’s just no way I have the time, money, or resources to hunt down the original comics and read them from start to finish.

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    • Hm. That’s where I am now. Where to start. But I’m thinking I might just pick something random and read it. I don’t even know anything about Watchmen, Sandman, Lucifer, or those other ones. 😞

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