The Golden Age of Silver
As I said I was recently shocked by how banal many of the mainstream comics in collection seemed. This prompted me to reexamine the comics in the superhero/action/science fiction genre that I still think are awesome, and what made them so.
Take for example the early Fantastic Four, and I don't know, maybe even the Byrne era FF (I do like Byrne quite a bit, or did when he was really on top of his game). The FF drew as much on early pulp traditions of scientific adventure and exploration like Jules Verne and Alan Quatermain. They were discovering new civilizations, new dimensions, rare elements and fighting monsters. There was a sense of wonder and discovery to these stories, much as found in Dr. Who or Star Trek. Plus, they were a family as much as a team; their relationships were intensified by the dynamic. They weren't just in it for the glory or the paycheck, they were in it together.
Early Spider-Man was also unique. He was weird looking, with the red and blue spider pajamas that covered his head completely, jumping around and cracking jokes. Not to mention the unique abstraction of even the most pedestrian Ditko pages. Spider-Man was also Everyman; struggling, poor, rarely got the girl, lived with his Aunt. He was no playboy with a secret lab and unlimited bankroll for his war on crime, nor did he have a satellite or a secret station beneath the North Pole.
There are other books through out history that bring us these fresh approaches to the genre, often reinventing what worked before, often coming up with something completely unheard of before; The Authority, Planetary, The Invisibles, The Atomics. There have even been, in my opinion, some really great mainstream books by Marvel and DC in the last 10 or so years; X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, JLA, X-Factor/X-Static, which is why I don't dismiss the genre completely.
However, I must admit, one doesn't have to look far or hard to see a great frothy sea full of deadwood, detritus, algae-slicked lumps of putrid waste, and vast chunks of tepid, banal clumps, all floating listlessly about in fetid green water, chocked of all it's refreshing or nurturing qualities, the air shimmering with the repugnant odor of stagnation.
posted by C. Clark-Praxis @ 3:09 PM
2 Comments:
Ah! The complete and beautiful description of the crap that is bogging down comics today as we know them.
I have found recently that since I have not been collecting many books at all for a couple years because of lack of money, the few books I do pick up I tend to enjoy more. Just a month ago I bought the New Age of Apocalypse trade from Marvel. While I mostly only bought it for the art work, I found the story to be entertaining enough. But, looking at it objectively it was just a continuation of an "elseworlds" type story from a few years past. The story itself was more enjoyable than the first time round I think because it was contained within one book as opposed to being washed out across 5 different books.
Regardless of this, there is nothing "new" or exotic about this book at all. Yet it captured my interest and made me want to read it. Is it just because of my time away from the genre? Or could it possibly be that it was the creative team involved in telling a good story?
I myself am always at odds as to the state of the medium in modern times. I struggle with the idea that we should be trying to pioneer a new era in story telling or concept. But at the same time I just want to write/draw and also to READ a well told story.
Peterb,
I really think there is compelling momentum that keeps us buying certain books. I bought all those Alpha Flights out of habit. I think the genre is fine and we seek out books of a certain kind, but we don't use discernment. We just buy reflexively. I think.
Next time your in the mood for something in the "superhero" genre, check out Planetary, Tom Strong, Top 10, or even the Seven Soliders stuff from Grant Morrisson.
Post a Comment
<< Home