You've Never Read A Comic Book?
The NY Times Magazine yesterday covered the growing sales and sobriety of graphic novels.
"-- and if the highbrows are right, they're a form perfectly suited to our dumbed-down culture and collective attention deficit."
It was well timed; the subject of comic books had recently (cough) come up. I've always been exuberant about them since my formative years would have been a depressing consistency of boredome without Spiderman.
When we moved back to Kenya, my comic book world was turned upside down. I will never forget picking up The Black Island at the small guest house we stayed in the first few days. I fell in love with the style and humor of Tintin, drawn by the Belgian illustrator/author, Herge. Published in the same format were the stories of Asterix and Obelix, the stand out Gauls who defied the Roman Empire.
My dreams grew with my comics; Tintin was true to life detective stories. Although Asterix and Obelix were as fantastic a conception as any super hero, the subtle humor of the comics were devastating and adult.
There was room for even more humor - we discovered British comics could be as funny. Because none of the comics could really be store bought in Nairobi, a single copy circulated from student to student. Perhaps this was good for school unity - we all got each other's jokes.
A kid that lived with us, Jonah, collected Namor (the Sub-Mariner), a comic from Marvel. There was a used bookstore near our bus stop with a perpetually irritated Indian store clerk. He had bins of comic books in the back of his store. We had to talk a little bit (we have American accents, we have money!) and then he'd soften up and let us look at their covers. He never had anything in order consistently and those who know comics know that a single issue is nearly useless.
My freshman year at Biola, I became enamored with the idea that I made enough money to buy my own comic books at I'm Comics, a local geek store. By that time I was too old though and my high moments came from thinking of how much I would have enjoyed something rather than enjoying it as an end to itself.
I will be looking into a few of the so called graphic novels next time I find myself at Barnes & Noble. Apparently Randomhouse has an partner, Pantheon(most of the NY Times article referenced this publisher's books), carrying much in the way of a graphic novel. The latest issue of McSweeny's Quarterly is also devoted to the graphic novel. Perhaps in this form I won't feel so old. Or maybe they will be cool just because they were in the New York Times.
2:38:30 PM 
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