Superheroes resurge with popular movie franchises
Despite humble beginnings in comics, superheroes become a staple of 21st century culture.
Tag Archive for: comic books
Comics provide space for social commentary
Comics are the funny books, the home of people in tights fighting each other, yet they are a great medium for social commentary and protest. Since their inception, comic books have challenged the established system and worked to highlight injustice around the world. Comics created the space for activism because they were the underdog of […]
Internet offers new medium for comics
Even if you think you don’t think you read comics, there’s a pretty good chance that you do. Have you ever read xkcd or Dinosaur Comics? Those are comics, even if they don’t feature superheroes or come in the regular format. Comic books have been around since the 1930s, but the industry began experimenting with […]
Single issues are not dying, but evolving
What’s the best way to tell a story? Last week, an article in the AV Club by Ryan McGee questioned if the rise in serialized television dramas had killed off the singular episode as a way of telling the story. McGee said that as longer storylines emerged, the basic episode stopped being its own story, […]
Cultural stigmas limit comic book audience
When people think of comics, most unfortunately hold very dated and cliché views of the medium. That’s why so many articles and superhero movie reviews have the trite words “Pow!” “Wham!” “Bam!” headlines. This has some unfortunate consequences: Parents taking their kids to very mature films like The Dark Knight or Watchmen, for example, because […]
Horror genre makes comeback within mainstream comics
It might seem like superheroes are dominating comic books more than ever. DC and Marvel are benefitting from big-budget adaptations, and DC just had a fresh relaunch of its main superhero-focused line, New 52, and Dynamite Comics is focusing on classic pulp stars like The Shadow and Zorro. The genre that has truly been reborn […]
Extensive series limit reader opportunities
I often hear from non-comic book readers that they don’t read comics not out of a lack of interest, but out of intimidation over where to begin. This complaint isn’t completely unwarranted. Narrative arcs within various series can be complex and many people don’t want to just jump into the middle of a story. After all, […]
Graphic artist suggests innovative career path
It’s difficult to rise to fame in the comic book industry with hundreds of writers, artists, designers and editors trying to break in and hit the big time, even when the ultimate success rate isn’t that high. There’s a perception that a graphic artist can just shop around some work, get on a smaller title […]
Comics adapt to revolutionary digital age
Like many other old school mediums, comic books are being forced to adapt to the digital age. In the last year, comics have jumped onto the digital bandwagon rather than just awkwardly putting one foot in. The major companies have adopted day and date digital releases, meaning all readers get their issues at the same […]
World of comic books continues to expand
Our culture seems to be built around barriers. For the past few decades, these barriers have divided entertainment media. Television was television; film was film. The barriers divided people, too. There were geeks, there were jocks, there were rebels and there wasn’t any crossover. Things are changing. These barriers are breaking down and different media […]