Obviously comics today are not written for children as they largely were when I was growing up in the Silver Age back in the 60's. The classic comics back then may have had kids as their target audience but they did not talk down to us. Quite the contrary they introduced science fiction concepts; language; morality; and even social issues that have stayed with us into our adult lives. It's a different ball game today to be sure. With so many different mediums able to provide kids with the instant gratification of constant stimulation to keep their attention, comics are having a tough go of it.
Comics look very slick today and most of them cost 3 or 4 bucks a piece. Even as slick as they look they aren't as slick looking as a Blu-Ray DVD...so there you are. What they are doing, though; is becoming as dark, violent, and gory as the computer games they compete against. Right now throughout the summer Marvel has it's "Dark Reign" crossing over in it's titles and DC has "Blackest Night".
I decided to check out was going with DC's "Blackest Night" and have read Green Lantern #43 and Blackest Night #1. All I can say is...UGH! Basically in these two books an old GL villain called "Black Hand" falls under the control of some dark devilish force in space sector 666. We see Black Hand eviscerate, disembowel, and flay his mother, father, and two brothers. Then for the piece de resistance he blows his brains out; all in stomach churning graphic detail. Yum! Torture porn comes to comics. BH is brought back by the sinister dark and malevolent force in space sector 666 and then proceeds to go about raising deceased super-heroes. As you can guess they don't return as the good guys they were when they died. They are zombies or something worse bashing heads to a bloody pulp for their demonic master in space sector 666.
When I finished reading I didn't feel entertained. I felt bad. Movies like Saw and Hostel have the same affect. They aren't entertainment, they are an all out assault. My opinion is that if comics are to survive they need to be more like Brian K Vaughn's "Runaways" and Grant Morrison's "All Star Superman" which are everything that has been and will be great about comic books. In the mean time I will be happy to re-read my Silver Age comics.
2 comments:
I am with ya. There definitely is a need for more comic books for young readers. I think a lot of people would enjoy all-ages comics, ones that adults can enjoy just as much as kids. It works for animated movies,(Hooray for "Up"!) so why not comics?
Great question Jacque. Somebody should give positive, bright, stories and art for kids an extended try.
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