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Thousands of people pack a giant hall where the San Diego Comic Book Convention, one of the largest industry events of its kind, is held each year. Among those in attendance, many stroll from booth to booth, catching up with the latest books from the newest companies. Others spend hours waiting in line for a chance to meet famous writers or artists. There are even those who have come dressed up as their favorite characters. To a vast majority of the American public, this scene seems like the ideal fulfillment of childhood fantasy. In reality, an overwhelming number of these convention-goers, from the casual browser to the most die-hard fan, are adults. It has been a pervading conception since its creation that "comics are for kids," as the saying goes.
The fact stands, however, that since the 1940's, this is not the case. In contrast to the popular stereotypes, comic books are not exclusively a children's media.
Perhaps the initial association of comic books with children stems from their intended purpose during its earliest evolutions as far back as the 16th and 17th centuries. Published drawings were utilized mainly as tools for satirizing politicians or other public figures. During the 1890's, the first definitive forms of comic strips appeared in the form of caricatures and visual hyperbole, focusing on everything from presidents to trade unions. The few strips which did not address the socio-political sphere were seen as a collection of exaggerated figures with no meaningful message to bear. Such material was nonsense, except perhaps to children. Thus the cartoon-to-children connotation was born. The comic book in its modern format was soon introduced and by the 1930's many titles had reached cult status. The fifties brought sharp criticism to the comic book industry for allegedly corrupting America's youth. Comics survived and continued to attract many fans while creating new trends and genres. To this day, the comic book business is a multi-billion dollar industry, expanding its hold into action figures, movies, video games and countless other merchandise.
The most lasting trend, as well as the most evident fact supporting the claim that comic books are not simply children's reading material, is the emergence of adult-targeted comic books. 1968 saw the beginning of underground comics, those comic books inscribed with the words "For Adults Only" and, more often than not, privately published. This genre, which was deemed "obscene, anarchistic, sophomoric, subversive" (Fuchs 219) in its early years, found its first large audiences on the streets of San Francisco via Robert Crumb's Zap Comix and later at the University of Texas through Rip-Off Press, the authors' publishing house of Gilbert Shelton. Much like political satires of the old, the underground comic in its heyday expressed a "reactionary subculture" and "resentment of the establishment" (Fuchs 222). Today, such attitudes are by no means the prevailing focus of comic books for adults, as they range from dramas to pornography, few of which carry any heavy social overtones. DC Comics produces a lineup of titles under the Vertigo sub-heading, which targets the adult market. Its most recent best-seller, Transmetropolitan, tells the story of a life-beaten, political journalist on a crusade to make people aware of the atrocities of the technoligically crazed alternate universe they live in. Another book called Astro City, the brainchild of writer Kurt Busiek, is a unique look into the intricate lives of superhuman characters, as told by various narrators. The noir genre garnered new standing in the comic world with Frank Miller's portrayal of Batman in The Dark Knight Returns, a redefining look at Batman not simply as a costumed crimefighter, but also as a deeply tortured, and even disturbed soul.
Comic books are not generally known as a source of great works of literature, but many of today's books exhibit classiscal literary themes. In looking at comics since the 1970's, many writers have recreated legends and folklore in a unique genre called revisionist fiction. Comics have been based on classic works ranging from Homer's Iliad to Dante's Inferno. Perhaps the most well known title of revisionist fiction is Thor, which follows the mythical god of thunder in his adventures as protectorate of Earth. Many details are taken from Norse mythology such as the structure and hierarchy of Asgard, the equivalent of the Greek Olympus. Author Dan Jurgens even uses the rhetoric (albeit partly invented) of ancient Norsemen when writing dialogue for the Asgardian gods. In chase of one particular enemy, Thor proclaims, "Still will I pursue thee beyond e'en the bounds of Valhalla itself! In the name of Asgard and omnipotent Odin, so speaketh Thor!" (8). Such attention to the detail and substance of a book attracts many adults as well as children. Combined with the acclaim comic books have received for writing, they also have much noted artistic merit. 1969 saw the declaration of comics to be considered "art." This came out of a court decision when Mort Walker wanted to have his donation of original Beetle Bailey drawings to Syracuse University exempted from tax, and needed to distinguish his strips from trade products (Fuchs 223). Comic book art is considered by some to be the most difficult to master because of the need to fuse technical skill with storytelling ability through the use of images. Comic artists use a vast array of mediums. Alex Ross, for example, is well known throughout the industry for his photo-realistic paintings. Independent author Brian Michael Bendis combines pen and ink with photography to create his distinctive graphic style. Many scholars have seen past the stereotype of comics as children's entertainment and give artistic credibility to everything from Superman to The Silver Surfer.
Many audiences have enjoyed reading comic books purely for their social relevance. This was apparent during World War II and during the Korean and Vietnam wars, when a slew of patriotic titles were released. The mid 60's brought to life the indomitable spirit of Nick Fury in Sergeant Fury and his Howling Commandos. Fury's platoon was comprised of nearly every ethnic minority possible, each of whom were portrayed as 100% American loyalists. This comic rather dutifully addressed issues of wartime sentiments and domestic issues such as racial equality. No title in history, however, is known for its patriotic symbolism as much as Captain America. Out of the unprecedented nationalism stemming from Hitler's advance across Europe came this shield-wielding, Nazi-fighting super soldier who dons the stars and stripes and "incorporated American ideology and the establishment-perpetuating principle expressed by all the super heroes" (Fuchs 110). Many have debated whether Captain America was, at the time, a truly unique hero or simply American propaganda. In truth, many early superheroes have been said to carry certain social messages which stress the ideal. Batman, who happens to be a quite wealthy person, has been pictured by some as an aristocrat "motivated by a sense of noblesse oblige to labor for mankind" (Berger 162) in addition to revenge for his parents. This reflects the common bourgeois sentiment that it is the duty of the nation's master class to right all of the world's wrongs. Much like the affluent, Batman's superior skill and character_without the aid of supernatural powers_reminded lower classes of the heroic labors of aristocrats and functioned to portray himself as "a macabre manifestation of our collective sense of inadequacy and guilt" (Berger 168). In other words, it put the working people in their place.
On the subject of social relevance, there is no other place in which comics are intertwined with society more than in Japan. While most comic book readers in the United States are under 17 years old, the majority in Japan is under 30. Known as "manga," Japanese comic books are "the dominant force in Japanese pop culture, the way television is in the U.S." (qtd. in Darlin 1), according to Yoshiya Soeda, a manga scholar at the University of Tsukuba. In a relatively inhibition-restricted country, manga serves as a "window on Japanese society_revealing fantasies and fears of the Japanese concerning work, the sexes and the outside world" (Darlin 1). Such fantasies have found western audiences as well, evidenced by the surging popularity of both the comic book and animated versions of series such as Sailor Moon, Dragonball, and Pokemon. While these titles attract mostly children, many manga titles imported to the U.S. are decidedly adult-targeted. These include Sho Fumimura's Sanctuary, a foray into the world of Yakuza-influenced Japanese politics, and Blade of the Immortal, Hiroaki Simura's stylistic and gritty samurai saga reminiscent of the work of famed film director Akira Kurosawa. Although the role of comic books in Japan and the U.S. diverge because of their contrasting origins and history, perhaps the western world may find an enlarged importance of comics as a socially significant medium in the future.
There are those, however, who will undermine these efforts. Cheered by fundamentalist moral puritans and despised by comic book aficionados, Fredrick Wertham is undoubtedly the industry's greatest enemy of all time. Wertham, a senior physician at the New York Department of Hospitals, led a revolt against comic books, citing what he saw as their negative impact on America's youth. Drawing upon his book, Seduction of the Innocent, Wertham instigated the EC Comics senate hearings of 1954 which explored the impropriety of comic books, especially that of the crime and horror genre which was popular at the time. The result was the institution of a self-censoring comic book code of ethics, which would become the unofficial responsibility of every member of the Comics Magazine Association of America (CMAA) to adhere to. During "Wertham's Crusade," as it has come to be known, delivered a myriad of scrutinization, from accusations that Batman and Robin were homosexual partners to the allegation that Wonder Woman's lasso was a vaginal symbol (Fuchs 132). Such ridiculous attempts to undermine the real entertainment value of comics showed a recurrent preconception of who the comics' audience is. In reality, Wertham's popularity was in part spawned by the "McCarthy era, that heyday of the blindly hysterical" (Fuchs 133). The mainstream comics of the following years were unable to print the slightest hints of immorality or unapproved subject material. Comic books never gained much freedom until a breakthrough stance taken by Marvel Comics in the May 1971 issue of Spiderman, when industry legend Stan Lee addressed the problem of drugs in society and published the issue without CMAA approval, which had never been done before. The Code Authority became hard-pressed by Marvel, among others, to bring "an end to unconditional restrictions in the sphere of narcotics" (Fuchs 246). By that fall, CMAA adopted drug provisions for the Comics Code and a statement was made. It proclaimed that comic books would no longer by dictated by close-minded moral evangelists. Comic books had proved themselves as a medium to be reckoned with and had "adapted to current trends and been liberalized" (Fuchs 246).
Still, there is the classic train of thought which depicts comics as children's material. The rationale is that comic books are saturated with unfathomable situations, hormonal fantasies, overblown rhetoric, hyperbolic characters and bizarre superpowers, to skim the surface. However, fantasy and the distortion of reality is by no means a trend unique to the comic book industry. Reading a comic is no different than reading a science fiction or romance novel. It provides a meaningful distraction from the dull mediocrity of everyday existence. Comics are not just picture books, they are a socially relevant, expressive art form which can "certainly no longer by regarded as a medium purely for children; in fact, they never really were in any case" (Fuchs 247). The importance of accepting comics as an adult medium goes far beyond offering satisfaction to comic book readers worldwide. It also gives validity to art itself, ensuring that its bounds cannot be demarcated by historical precedent, pious laws, popular opinions, nor by the imaginative deficiencies of a cynical world.
Works Cited:
- Berger, Arthur Asa. The Comic-Stripped American. New York: Walker and Company, 1973.
- Darlin, Damon. "Grown Men in Japan Still Read Comics and Have Fantasies." The Wall Street Journal. July, 1987: 1.
- Fuchs, Wolfgang and Reinhold Reitberger. Comics: Anatomy of a Mass Media. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1972.
- Jurgens, Dan and John Romita, Jr. The Mighty Thor. New York: Marvel Comics, November 1999.
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