TheFranciscos.Net

The State Of Comics

It’s really sad that the comics industry is still a “niche” market. The business has never had a better time, in terms of great stories and imaginative writers. Now, more than ever, comics are writer-driven. Gone are the days when comics would be popular because of the hot new artist or because of the character. Now comic fans follow WRITERS because they write damn-good stories. You’ll see comic fans eagerly awaiting for the next Frank Miller or Neil Gaiman book the same way that people look for the next Stephen King book.

There’s also never been as much variety of genres like today. Want crime stories? There are loads of good ones – 100 Bullets, Sin City, Powers, and Stray Bullets are just a few. Drama? Strangers In Paradise is for you. Mythology? Try out Joe Linsner’s Dawn. Epic with a cartoonish touch? Bone is definitely your thing. Horror? Preacher, John Constantine: Hellblazer and Swamp Thing are just a few of the great horror books that DC/Vertigo produces. If you like sci-fi and an apocalyptic view of the future, Transmetropolitan may be the perfect fit.

And then there’s the superhero line, which in recent years have been given an energetic kick by the great writers that are on them. Grant Morrison on New X-Men, Brian Michael Bendis on Ultimate Spider-Man and Daredevil, Garth Ennis on The Punisher, Jeph Loeb on Batman, Frank Miller on The Dark Knight Strikes Again and Peter Milligan and Mike Allred on my favorite superhero series at the moment – X-Force.

One of the things that have blessed comics in recent years are the cross-media writers that have attracted some mainstream attention – Kevin Smith on Daredevil and Green Arrow and J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5 creator) on Amazing Spider-Man. They’ve given those books a much needed injection of fresh and innovative ideas.

There’s never ever been a better time to get into comics, and I guess Hollywood has started to realize that with the huge number of comic-book related projects at an all-time high. We’ve got Spider-Man in a few days, and on the horizon is “The Road To Perdition” starring Tom Hanks. “Ghost World” just came out on DVD. In production is “Daredevil” and “The Hulk”.

Hopefully, all this attention will give a jump-start for people to start trying out comic books. It’s high time that they hit the mainstream and be accepted as a legitimate form of art.

Listening to: “You Gotta Be” by Des’ree