Not So "Comic" Books
Margaret Wright - September 3, 2004

I admit I never took comic books too seriously. They’re the type of reading dorky, awkward boys read in their musty basements on Friday night when they get can’t a date. They aren’t for grown-ups or any self-respecting English major. Or are they?

Maybe I’m growing down in college, but I find myself watching shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force on the Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” and reading, of all things, Batman for my by-application-only Honors Seminar. When buying my books for this upper level class I thought I might be picking up the wrong ones: I was holding Peanuts by Charles Shultz and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. How could this be? I nearly caved under the stress of getting into this program only to be reading comic books.

Was my 15-page research paper sample really necessary for this challenging class? I’ve always been a bit of literature snob. I normally scorn contemporary authors; if it isn’t a time-honored classic it’s not worth my time. In elementary school I was reading novels by the Brontës, none of that R.L. Stine crap. I wouldn’t give a comic book a chance to save my life. But maybe it’s time I gave the matter a second thought.

The face of your everyday bookstore is changing. Forget Stephen King, the buzz is all about graphic novels. Manga and Anime are everywhere, as well as comic books. Formerly a dirty word, what is a “comic” really? It’s a story told through sequential images. That doesn’t necessarily mean the X-Men or Superman. It also includes Maus by Art Spiegelman which won a Pulitzer Prize. I guess comic books aren’t just for kids anymore.

I’ve been pondering the question of high vs. low literature. Obviously comic books are the latter, right? I mean, they can’t possibly be in the same category as Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. A book so well studied and found in most literary canons must be more cultured than the “kid’s stuff” of comic books. Illustrations are usually reserved for children’s works. Of course, that makes sense given the level of literacy in younger readers. They need more pictures and easier text. But do the two have to be mutually exclusive?

Why not put illustrations into challenging, stimulating, or simply more mature works as well? Pictures don’t automatically mean the work is “dumbed down” or not up to par with “real literature” and high culture. I’m not trying to be the spokesperson for comic books, but I think to give them their due would make the world of literature a lot more interesting. It needs a breath of fresh air.

But it’s not just the bookstore that’s caught the comic book fever. In theatres not too long ago was the incredible movie American Splendor about Harvey Pekar’s underground comic series. That certainly counts as a “high-brow” movie. Then there is the influx of movies about comic book characters, like Spiderman, Cat Woman, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, etc. A new Batman movie is in the works, and if comic books can be acceptable for adults, why not cartoons? I’m not talking about Scooby Doo and the Care Bears, but those almost blasphemous cartoons like South Park. It’s a bit shocking to see such a cuddly medium turned into for-adult-only humor, but also refreshing.

The Simpsons tapped into this idea long ago, but now there is the sanctum for college students everywhere: Adult Swim on Cartoon Network, serving up delicious shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Family Guy. These shows might seem pretty asinine on the surface, but they are full of obscure and some not-so obscure references to pop culture, politics, literature, and other grown-up topics. If you get past Kyle and Stan’s potty mouths during the South Park movie, you’ll find songs modeled after Les Miserables and tongue-in-cheek humor you have to be pretty sharp to understand. You can tell these are cartoons for adults since the focus is more on the story than the drawing…well, besides the risqué content and colorful language.

Kids need flashier images and vibrant colors to catch their attention and keep their interest. An episode of Pokémon is going to be vastly different than Sealab 2021. Many of these shows have simple animation since the main attraction is the dialogue. Meatwad (ATHF) has maybe three or four facial expressions throughout the series, but that’s easily overlooked since the viewer is more concentrated on his biting remarks. All you’re really seeing is a minimally constructed milkshake, box of fries, and a meatball, but the shoddy animation belies the wit and often sophisticated humor. The show is already something of a cult classic, and will make a mark despite stuffy adults who still ask, “What the hell are you watching?”

The other day I was watching an episode of Sealab 2021 where the station’s power is out from the beginning of the episode. All you see is a single exterior view of the pods while listening to the crew bicker inside. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be funny if they kept this going the whole episode?” And that’s exactly what they did. I think it’s much harder to carry on an interesting dialogue for fifteen minutes without relying on any accompanying visual than otherwise. You have to keep it engaging enough for the viewer not to be bored of looking at the same image on the screen. The show is pretty experimental, and it’s nice to have something new to watch on TV.

Comics have even invaded the music scene. The innovative band Coheed and Cambria have released a comic book detailing the adventures of their song lyrics. The albums have been following the story of Coheed and Cambria (an evil married couple who attempt to murder their children), so without knowing the story the lyrics don’t always make too much sense. Now avid listeners can get the background they need to decipher the songs by way of a comic book. It’s sort of a mixed media project. Musically, the band has garnered a lot of respect, and so their latest venture might give the public pause rather than thinking they are just nuts. “The Second Stage Turbine Blade” is only the first installment in the band’s comic book series.

So what makes these shows and comic books so appealing? We don’t always have to be bored to tears while reading or watching a work of merit. We can feed on eye candy while our brains munch on valuable information. It seems like the general public has taken notice long before I finally came around; I find comics everywhere. While in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., my boyfriend picked up a comic book version of Nietzsche’s most important ideas. You can find a lot of illustrated philosophy or “textbook” sort of books of the kind that use comics to make such lofty ideas accessible.

Just because it’s illustrated doesn’t detract from the weight of the idea. Comic books have gained at least enough prestige to be seriously used as study aids or books of higher learning. To follow an episode of ATHF you have to be fairly up to speed, but you don’t notice that you’re busily using your brain since you’re still watching a cartoon. The time is ripe for Coheed and Cambria to release a comic book instead of a novel, as now more than geeky boys will be interesting in reading it.

It’s great that I can be a grown-up (well, almost) and still get to watch my favorite cartoons and read a good old comic book some of the time instead of always Applied Logic and Critical Terms for Literary Study. I can be assigned The Smartest Kid on Earth by Jimmy Corrigan as well as Aristotle’s Poetics and still feel I’m learning something. So maybe comics aren’t such a joke after all – nowadays I think I’m getting the better end of the deal.