In his book, “Reading and Writing Along the Borderlands,” Michael Chabon includes an insightful essay on the state of contemporary comic books. He finds that comics are essentially painting themselves into a corner of extinction. His theory makes sense. For the past couple decades, the majority of comic book readers have been adults. Gone are the days when a kid would run with his allowance to buy comic books. The kids who once spent their allowances buying comic books are now adults using a portion of their paychecks’ disposable income to buy comic books. Most kids don’t read comic books for many reasons — everything from video games and the Internet to the fact most comic books aren’t exactly geared toward new readers. Comic book companies and creators know few kids read comics and that their chief audience is adults, so they create storylines designed for adult readers who can cite issues and titles from decades past, which alienates kids even more. What Chabon suggests is that the majority of adults reading comic books got hooked when they were children. Unless, comic book companies and creators do something to attract young readers now, the comic book industry will cease to exist when today’s adult readers stop reading or die. Chabon urges comic book creators to insert more youngsters in the storyline to attract younger readers. This is not a new concept. It is the reason Batman has Robin, why Superman once had a younger version named Superboy, why Captain America had Bucky, etc. The sidekick was a kid who could share directly with the main hero’s adventures. A kid reading a comic book may enjoy Batman’s adventures but may not necessarily identify with being an adult crimefighter; a kid could, however, identify with being a kid hanging out with Batman, a la Robin. Yet, the sidekick isn’t always the best route these days. Many readers, young and old, malign the kid sidekick. Twenty-plus years ago, readers voted to kill Robin. Still, DC has rejuvenated the sidekick format with its new “Batman & Robin” title, featuring the original Robin Dick Grayson as the new Batman and Bruce Wayne’s young son Damian as the latest Robin. Past comics have found other ways to insert young people into the storyline or characters. In “Shazam,” a boy named Billy Batson became the super-powered adult Captain Marvel by saying the magic word. Originally, Peter Parker was a teen having to balance being Spider-Man with homework and schoolyard bullies. Chabon notes that adolescent fiction has the right idea. Adolescent fiction remains popular with young people because its creators remember to make adolescents the primary characters. “Harry Potter” isn’t just a series of books originally intended for kids but a series of kids books featuring a bunch of magical kids — which also attracted adults. If comic books want to survive past the current generation of readers, their creators would do well to attract newer, younger readers now.
Comic Books
- Comic Books
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A GOD SOMEWHERE
Writer John Arcudi with artists Peter Snejbjerg and Bjarne Hansen create a tragic take on the traditional superhero tale with “A God Somewhere.” A young man named Eric awakens one day with miraculous powers. At first, he does the expected. He saves people. He enjoys his powers of flight, strength, invulnerability. He is impressed by the people he meets through his powers. But power changes him.
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JONAH HEX: NO WAY BACK
With Hollywood on the verge of releasing a Jonah Hex movie starring Josh Brolin this summer, DC Comics may have wanted to bank a little ahead of the curve by offering something of an origin for its disfigured Western renegade in comics form prior to the film’s release. Sort of like Marvel Comics finally offering an origin for Wolverine once Hollywood came sniffing around. Jonah Hex has always been a character akin to Clint Eastwood’s Josey Wales, a Confederate rebel without a cause in the post-Civil War West, with the difference being that bounty-hunter Hex doesn’t have Eastwood’s looks.
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- VIMANARAMA When the first issue of this limited series was released in February, this column noted, "I'm not sure exactly what this title is about but that's OK.
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