Tag Archives: comics

More Storytelling and Less Politics Please

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The comic book industry has a massive reader base. From the “big two” to the smaller indie publishers, there’s a comic to suit every age. Superheroes, horror, romance, crime, fantasy, teenage, young children. You name it, they produce them. However, I feel the past year has been nothing more than a political arena to me.

It’s not about telling a story anymore. It’s about WHO is going to be in the story. Diversity in comics. You have some yelling, “There’s not enough minorities in comics.” Others are screaming, “There needs to be gays in comics.”

I got back into reading comics shortly before DC Comics released The New 52 titles. A few of those titles were minority-led. Static Shock, Mr. Terrific, Blue Beetle and Voodoo to name a few. Then we saw Marvel Comics Miles Morales, or black Spider-Man. I thought, “Good, more minorities are taking leading roles in comics.” For a moment I even thought everyone would be happy and forget about the politics. That didn’t happen. There’s always someone who has to oppose the situation. Not many people were happy about the changes being made to their “favorite” character. “Why kill Peter Parker and replace him with someone black?” I didn’t feel like getting caught up in that web, and not just because I’m terrified of spiders. So I kept my mouth shut (well I did run it a little bit. Okay okay I ran it like a faucet) and patiently waited to see what would happen next.

I really don’t know what happened next, or if anything happened at all with the above situations. I do know that nearly all the minority-led DC titles were canceled. Miles Morales? I don’t know. That’s wasn’t a title I was reading so it didn’t matter to me at all.

All is well right? WRONG. More politics. Now there are people kicking and screaming, “There needs to be gays in comics.” Gays in comics. Okay. What does that have to do with comics? Call me gay bashing if you want, I don’t care. I’m just telling it like it is. Some of the comics I’ve read are so overrated it’s sickening. There’s the X-Men story where there’s a gay couple. I haven’t (and don’t plan to) read it. I recall seeing an issue where the cover page is the wedding. It looked as if the entire Marvel Universe was there. Everyone looked happy and okay with it. I even saw Wolverine standing near the front. I was like, “What the f— is this sh-t? Harlequin Romance?”

Then there’s Young Avengers. Issue one was released last week. I REALLY don’t feel like talking about it. So I’ll have to refer you to my review of it. I almost ripped that book in half.

Why am I so mad? I’m not mad about the lack of minorities in comics. Or the lack of gays in comics. I’m mad because this political arena has gotten out of hand. It’s overrated. These comics are getting published with a lack of good storytelling. They throw a black character in this one, and a gay in that one. Then everyone (well almost everyone because I’m not a part of it) is okay with it. Remember that Marvel cover I mentioned above? About everyone being all happy at that wedding? Well that’s how it is in reality right now.

I’ve read so many reviews, blogs and comments from people giving high praises to this political bull. I have to question the validity of some of those reviews. I won’t name any in particular. I’m just saying that I wonder if these people are giving false praises, trying to please the LGBT community. Trying to win follows, likes, mentions or awards. Do they not realize that throwing homosexuals in a story just to say they’re in there is taking away from the story?

So what was all my ranting about in this post? It’s about the comic industry losing focus. It’s not about having a lack of minorities in comics, or a lack of gays in comics. It’s about a lack of focus in comics. Don’t mess up a good story trying to please everyone because I haven’t met or read about anyone yet that has been able to please everyone. It doesn’t matter what color the character is, just make and keep him/her strong in the story. It’s okay to have gays in comics but if it’s a superhero comic, then let there be some butt kicking. You know, superheroes vs. super villains. Like how comics used to be. How comics are supposed to be.

KABOOM! IT’S ADVENTURE TIME

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advtimeAdventure Time.  Crazy and silly, yet funny.  When I learned it was going to be a comic book, my first thought was, “Awww man.  The kids are going to be fighting over who gets to read it first.”  When I bought the first issue, it wasn’t just the kids that wanted to read it.  My husband and I wanted to read it as well.  That’s because Adventure Time is loved by all ages.

Finn and Jake, Bubblegum Princess, Marceline, Lumpy Space Princess, Beemo and the Ice King were all strange and funny as always.  I’ll briefly review the first story arc which consists of issues 1-4.

The Lich has escaped and returned to seek revenge on everyone.  He has a magic bag that when opened, everything is swallowed into it.  His plan was to get everyone into the bag and throw it to the sun.  Once inside, the characters all land in different parts of the world inside the bag.  Finn and Jake landed in the same spot because they landed as a team.  They were in the Jakesuit.  The Ice King landed nearby.  Bubblegum Princess and Marceline landed on an island.  The entire Land of Ooo was swallowed.

The Desert Princess is a character I found to be very funny.  Although she’s made out of desserts, she claims to be the Desert Princess because of all the things she can do and make with sand.  She also had a crush on Finn.  The Ice King was looking for a wife and proposed to the Desert Princess.  Lumpy Space Princess was hilarious.  She was talking on the phone the entire time she was being swallowed into Lich’s bag.

Everyone worked together as a team to defeat Lich.  Finn, Jake and Marceline used battle burns against Lich.  Battle burns is a way of using words to fight instead of getting physical.  Finn and Jake learned to battle burn at the beginning of the story from Beemo.

The story is very well written.  The art (Shelli Paroline, Braden Lamb) is great.  There are comments from the writer, Ryan North, at the bottom of some of the pages.  They’re either references or just plain old funny remarks.  There’s also a mini comic at the end of the issues that are funny as well.

VERDICT (drum roll please)

Adventure Time is a must read comic.

WHERE DO I BEGIN?

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I observed a guy walking around, looking lost at the comic shop yesterday.  My first guess was that he was a newbie.  A few minutes later I learned that he had not visited a comic shop in years.  He wanted to get back into reading comic books, but didn’t know where to start.  This guy was trying to decide whether to read a new title or pick a familiar one and wait for a point to jump in.  I know that feeling all too well because I was in his shoes a little over a year ago.

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Reading is easy.  Deciding WHAT to read is not.  A few things to consider to if you are a new reader of comic books or coming off a hiatus.

  1. Genre – Do you like crime, horror, mythology, romance, superhero?  What about kid friendly?
  2. Single issues vs trade paperbacks – Single issues are released monthly and bi-monthly.  A trade paperback (tpb or trade) is a collection of stories usually containing one story arc.  Some, like myself, like to have both on hand to keep the singles from being handled too much.  I can’t stand smudges, bends, creases and dents.
  3. Resources – If you have family or friends that read comics, get recommendations from them.  Visit your local comic shop, they’ll be glad to give you a rundown of hot sellers.  Social media is a great source to keep you up-to-date on current events in the comic industry.

The list is almost endless.  I like to visit my comic shop and rummage through back issues because I occasionally come across a character, while reading my current titles, whose history I want to learn about.  Back issues are also nicely discounted, depending on the retailer.

If you live far from a comic shop, try to order from an online shop or go digital.  Or hop in the car and take that drive to the nearest store.  You’ll get personal attention and a chance to network.  Popular and anticipated top-selling titles go fast.  So you may want to consider pre-ordering your comics online or have your local comic shop pull the book(s) for you.  Good luck and have fun!