Greetings, we present to your attention the first part of a series of articles devoted to comics, which will examine many both superficial and deeper aspects of the comics industry.
In our country, the attitude towards “picture books” is very ambiguous. This is a relatively new phenomenon, without a rich history. In Russia, the popularization of comics is primarily the responsibility of their film adaptations, and, to a much lesser extent, bloggers of varying degrees of incompetence. So, many people’s acquaintance with this type of art is limited only to individual works? published by Marvel and DC. No, I didn’t misspoke. Comics are an art form comparable to literature and cinema, and only slightly younger than the latter. It’s just another way to tell a story. The expression “comics for children” makes as much sense as the fact that games are for children, books are for those who want to escape from reality and do not know life. And in general, go work at a factory, stop sitting on these Internets of yours.
It is necessary to understand that, as in any art form, there are many genres in comics. And, based on genre preferences, you should begin to get acquainted with this or that work. Of course, you should never think that all comics are about superheroes. Understanding this seemingly obvious thing is still inaccessible to many.
Love simple, but at the same time touching stories about life? Here’s Li’l Depressed Boy
Archie, both in the old and in the new incarnation
As a last resort, there’s always Brian O’Malley’s old Scott Pilgrim, bloated with cultural references
Or something more touching – Lost at sea, Seconds from the same author
Do you prefer trash, violence and dismemberment?? All this and more can be found in Crossed. And in almost any comic from Avatar Press. (For the faint of heart, don’t look under the spoiler. I’m serious, 18+.)
We need a deep fairytale story, at times frightening, at times making you laugh heartily? Bone.
A truly adult story, with a fundamentally new vision of characters familiar from childhood? Fables.
Something parody-hilarious, exaggerated? I Hate Fairyland.
If you decide to plunge into the world of superheroics, then here’s Invincible from the author of Walking Dead
Stunning both in terms of https://winzter-casino.net/login/ art and plot Kingdom come
Funny Superior Foes of Spider-man
Featuring all versions of the DC Multiverse, the Multiversity comic (yes, the same comic with Nazi Superman)
We need mysticism, more mature, juicier? The cynic John Constantine peeks out from around the corner in a dirty yellow raincoat (only published in Vertigo, John began to feel very bad after moving to DC)
takes out a pack of Silk Cut and shares it with Spider Jerusalem, who is writing another caustic article from the future (Transmetropolitan)
They are reluctantly joined by Jesse Custer, who is trying to forget his obsession with a divine entity (Preacher).
Sandman looks at all this sadly (this Eternal will never understand the human soul) and, obeying the will of Neil Gaiman
goes to visit Lucifer in order to philosophize and discuss the fate of the Universe.
And how many fascinating stories are hidden in the independent publishing house Image. Fantasy space opera (somewhat overrated, but wonderful) Saga
Insanely vulgar and funny Sex-criminals
Noir works by the Brubaker-Phillips duo
And if you need a different kind of noir, more interesting, more original, you should go to another publishing house – here is Zootopia of a Healthy Man, Blacksad.
There are a great variety of comics and everyone can find something of their own.
The second point that should be understood: there are no bad or good publishing houses, interesting or uninteresting characters, there are only authors who can write both well and poorly. There are artists whose drawings make the eyes begin to flow out of their sockets in a thin stream
and there are those whose art can be framed, hung on the wall and admired like a painting.
Of course, there are people who will not read comics under any circumstances. It is very stupid to deny yourself the pleasure of getting acquainted with a huge layer of culture because of ridiculous prejudices, but this is a personal matter for everyone. It’s always difficult to take the first step and to the uninitiated, comics seem like something immense. This is understandable – the history of many well-known characters goes back more than a decade. But this does not mean at all that you should start reading Spider-Man, Batman, from the very first issues. It’s better to start with something relevant. Moreover, publishing houses restart their universes with some frequency, allowing the reader to get acquainted with a new incarnation of an old character. Of course, in a good way, in order to trace all the milestones of development, evolution, of your favorite hero, you should start reading from the very first issue of the very first comic book about the character. But it’s worth doing something like this with experience, an understanding that comics were completely different in the past, and at least some English language skills. It is also important to take into account that reading ongoings that were carried out by more than one author entails many problems. In particular, many “creators” believe that only their vision of the character is the only correct one, so after brilliant plots with detailed character development, a large number of exciting events, something often follows that will make you hate your previously favorite comic book.
With this I say goodbye to you. I understand that the chances of convincing someone to overcome their own prejudices tend to zero, but you never know. Thanks for reading.
And yes, I understand that
Best comments
Somehow it turned out one-sided. Instead of telling you that comics are a medium that is neither 5 nor 10 years old, and judging it by the criteria of “pictures with text” is akin to throwing out statements so beloved by gamers that games are supposedly for children (or, on the contrary, cause exceptional cruelty and bloodthirstiness), you just take and throw in that there is a Chew comic, a delicacy, there is a Saga comic – a space fantasy, there is “Chances”, “Lost at Sea” and “Scott Pilgrim” from a cool author, etc. At the same time, not a single comic is revealed at all. I started to tell you – they drank like that. Explain why the notorious detective Tony Zhui deserves the reader’s attention. Why Sex Criminals is not a comic for pubescent teenagers who hope for an abundance of tits and pussies, which, as it seems to them, the title implies, but a completely rich work that digs into the simple, everyday feelings of people. And so on. And in general, talking about the “seriousness” of comics without sticking to Alan Moore with his hyper-layered “Watchmen”, without “Sculptor” and without “Mouse” is… very doubtful. Something like this.
There’s so much text, but essentially it’s just water, the whole meaning can be contained in a sentence: “Comics can be serious, for every taste, and not only about superheroes.”. Why make this list of types of comics so long?? Why, as Ivan said above, not dwell on something in more detail?? Don’t give a little historical excursion into the history of comics, since this is an introductory topic? Moreover, this is a conclusion with an attempt to convince someone and a characteristic picture… this is the first part, the topic is not covered, who will you convince of what??) In short, a very strange first part, maybe it will be better later.
These are not reviews of specific comics, to begin with. Because everything is just in name order. McCloud has much more significant works than the Sculptor, so why was he cited as an example?? Due to the fact that it was published in Russian? From the point of view of significance, the trilogy of the author’s work on comics is of much greater interest. I pointed out various genres, giving examples, some guidelines that those interested can familiarize themselves with. And he noted that there is a publishing house that is very diverse in terms of genres. Or rather, it does not adhere to any framework at all. All this was done to point out the diversity of comics, that everyone, if desired, will find a story to their liking. And the text says so. This is not a top 10 list. 20 or as many comics as you like, the Internet is pretty full of such garbage. That’s why there are no Moore, Spiegelman, Miller (even though I can’t stand him, but he also has a couple of monumental works), Wade, Tom King, Lemire, Vaughn, Jones, the Luna brothers, Azzarello, Snyder (you can argue about the significance of this or that author for a very long time, this is how things are with all creativity, so who should be mentioned and who should not?) Oh yes, I didn’t mention Eisner, the man after whom the most prestigious award in the industry was named, and for a reason. The list of worthy authors is very large, and even those who are not very capable, no, no, and something worthy of attention will come out. Therefore, a simple listing, indicating the synopsis of each work important for the industry and its remarkable features, is dangerously close in volume to a full-fledged book. And we were talking mainly about US publishing houses. But what about the products of domestic manufacturers that rise from your knees?? There are also European comics, even though Blacksad was mentioned, but how can you forget about Tintin? More than one page could be dirty describing how this character partly inspired the Lucas-Spielberg duo to create Jones, and therefore Croft and Drake. And since Stopgame is dedicated, first of all, to games, then we need to talk about this too, shouldn’t we?? A discussion about the relationship between superheroics and myths and other verbiage on related topics can also be a very fruitful topic. But all of the above cannot, and does not make sense, fit into one post. There is a time and place for everything. The purpose of this particular article is to lay the basis for something more specific, to note points, aspects, based on which, the thought will spread along the tree. Something like this.