I wasn't shocked to see that the majority of our class hasn't read comic books before, or are not interested in them. It seems that in our generation, comics are not as important to us. Maybe this is due to the fact that we can read everything online. Or maybe our generation just does not like to read as much. Or maybe its just a fad in itself that died out awhile ago. But whatever the case, it was very important to my dad's generation. The comic book changed drastically during the 1970s-1980s. This was due to (according to Stephen Weiner's article): the creation of a direct market, and other factors. Which a direct market, publishers could sell comic books directly to comic stores, whereas before, they were sold to newsstands and news agents. With this, customers could buy and sell back comics, a cycle of sale-or-return. They were also a lot cheaper at comic stores, which would naturally lead to greater sales. This also led to the sales of comic related merchandise, such as t shirts and posters. With all of this promotion of comics, it only seems practical that future generations were so into comics. As for my dad, this was all happening during his teenage years- the 70's.
So although I am not a fan of comics, I do have to say that so far I am kind of enjoying The Sandman. I do find it hard to follow, however, since I don't always know how to read the page, and find myself jumping around the panels a lot. I do like how kinetic comics are, though. Like we were talking about in class, when you read comics, the story just flows. It isn't just one picture with words, after another, like a kid's story book. The pictures are so detailed and are truly art forms. I never really looked at a comic before this one, so it is an interesting experience! It is much more interesting than just reading a novel. However, it does take away from the imagination of the reader, which I am not sure if I like yet. I am not a big super hero person (except for Spiderman. I LOVE Spiderman), which may play into the reason why I am not a huge fan of comic books. Maybe this is even a female thing. Even though there are girl comics, it just seems like a guy stereotype to read comic books. Maybe it is not a big part of our culture today due to the fact that it isn't look at as "cool". Or maybe our generation just genuinely do not like comics. Who knows?
I do think that comic book culture has not fully gone away. Since technology has advanced so much in the last few generations, there is almost no need to read a comic book anymore. Instead, we have batman, spiderman, the avengers, superman, etc. all in movie form. There are even TV series about comic characters. So, why would any young boy want to read a comic when they could just watch it on TV? This is kind of sad in a way, since it is clear that older generations loved comics so much, and future generations most likely will not get to experience this. I guess thats the way society works, though.
 |
| Spiderman, just cause he's awesome |
List of movies based on comic books: http://www.imdb.com/list/4dJnAsPmHzw/
I was the same way. I never had an interest in comics other than the funnies in the Sunday newspaper, but I am finding that I am actually enjoying the sandman. I like having the pictures to go along with the words that are on the page. I did have a hard time following the pannels at first, but I think that is because it is a new form of reading to me. Maybe this is why our generation doesn't read comics as much as our parents. They grew up with them and we didn't, so it is hard for us to get into. It is funny though how our parents didnt pass their comic love onto us. I wonder if maybe they saw flaws and reason to shelter us from comics. Personally I don't believe comics are necessarily for children because of their content, so it is possible that our parents didn't expose us to them as kids to protect our innocence and now we have this notion that comics are for kids. So young adults today don't pick up comic books to read for their own pleasure.
ReplyDeleteOur fathers are one in the same and I suppose our moms are too the way she nags him about getting rid of his old comics as well! Like you said, reading is not exactly a top priority for our generation. When my friends ask what I'm doing and I say reading they ask me if I'm kidding. Think about it though, how many people do you know who don't even buy the textbook for college courses because they know they won't ever read it. The internet has made students much less likely to read when we can get a pretty detailed summary of our readings from the interent on Sparknotes or something. Do you think this has a lot to do with why people have lost interest? I think comics and reading in general have decreased as well because bookstores are closing. I know of two in my area that have closed down due to e-readers that have made getting books much easier. Back when bookstores started selling comics they were in demand but not that a big outlet for them is being forced to shut down it could be a reason they haven't kept their momentum. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteThere've been comics for women and girls from the earliest days. The readership of Sandman was 50% women. I'm glad you're starting to like Sandman--though I'd like some specifics about what it is exactly you see, what it is you like, and what's going on in the story. How does it connect to some of what we've been talking about in the last few weeks?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I really think that you should talk to your dad about what he likes and why he likes it, maybe in a different way than you have before. Also, you can tell him your professor said that you and your mom should leave his damn comics alone :-)