I would like to say “thanks” to Stan Lee for creating so many of the comic book characters I grew up with.
I am going to miss his funny Marvel movie cameos too.
But this is not about Stan Lee.
Bill Maher has wondered publicly about adults that think comic books are “sophisticated literature” and goes on about how basically the love of them has dulled America’s wits.
Maybe.
But not necessarily.
Personally, I think Bill Maher is an overstuffed shirt (and that was the extremely nice version).
I like comic book movies. I realize they require a good amount of suspension of disbelief, though. Sometimes entertainment is best when you disconnect from reality for a while and just plain enjoy something.
Besides, some of them are really good.
But even that is not the direction I want to take.
Learning to R-E-A-D
I learned to read with the aid of comic books.
Sure, I read “Fun with Dick and Jane” and was proud when I could go home and read the simple tome to my parents.
They seemed pretty happy about that too.
Yes, I learned to “sound it out” in school.
But it wasn’t until I found comic books that reading became a passion.
Good Art
The colorful artwork is at least partially responsible for my desire to become an artist (some of you still don’t know I do illustrations, portraits, sign carving, general design and the like—and in pretty much any medium you can name).
But the pictures were not just great drawings.
Oh, by the way, the drawings are great art. I have known artists that could draw figures the way the good ones come out in the comic books. It takes talent—and a lot of it.
That art is just commercial though. It doesn’t make it bad art—it is just widely available.
It also demonstrates that artists (even great ones) need to eat too.
Don’t get me wrong, it is not all good art but you can definitely find it.
There are some Superman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man and other titles that have phenomenal art that you could easily frame and put on your wall.
If you laughed about that comment, you just labeled yourself a snob—or you just have different tastes (your choice, snob).
Because seriously—good art.
Comic Context
There was another function the illustrations served. Being a latchkey kid, for the most part, I read the comics alone. Occasionally I would come across a sentence that I could not understand. The pictures give me context and this allowed me to build my vocabulary to the pinnacle it has reached today (hey, I don’t really take myself that seriously—lighten up).
To put it more simply, I could often figure out what was going on based on the action.
Baffled and
Discombobulated
There were occasionally words I just could not get.
“Viola” is one example. Villains were always saying “Viola!”
I couldn’t figure out why or how a small violin had anything to do with the story.
I could not get that on my own. Eventually I asked and found out the term was the French word (pronounced “Wah-La*”) for “here it is.”
Okay it implies slightly more than that. It is also meant to inspire awe. Magicians often use the term when producing a rabbit from a hat or suchlike.
Just so you know though, when I looked the term up on my handy desktop dictionary the term viola was described as: “an instrument of the violin family, larger than the violin and tuned a fifth lower.”
No mention of the French word.
There were several other words like that that fail to spring to mind right now.
But it does illustrate that the writing level was challenging for a pre-teen and then teen.
Oh, another word is segue (pronounced “segg-way”). It’s an Italian term that means to transition to another subject.
Topical Toons
Some of the comics I read even helped me learn about current issues. Race, economics, class warfare and the like were touched upon in the arty magazines. Sometimes the hero or villain had personal problems like drug abuse, alcohol overuse or mental issues. Not being subjected to these things in real life too much, comic books widened my horizons.
It would also be wise to remember that these adorned narratives were produced by adults for adults (well, maybe not Richie Rich or Casper the Ghost).
Grown Up?
While I still occasionally read comic books today. I have found several stumbling blocks to doing so on a regular basis.
First off, the darn things are really expensive any more!
I remember I could con my mom out of .35¢ to pick up a comic book that might keep me busy for an hour or two.
Today I can whip through one in about 15 minutes—give or take—and that is looking at the art too.
I think I have seen and owned comic books with lower cover prices, but .35¢ sticks with me.
But today’s comics cost over ten times that remembered price. I saw the current Spider Man for $3.99.
I can still afford them, but that brings me to my second problem.
Sometimes you can pick up a comic that has a story fully contained in it. More often than not, though, the piece you are picking up is a continuation of the one no longer on the newsstands—and I am not a fan of picking up a story in the middle.
You might pick one up and not realize that the story will be continued in the next three issues. Or worse … the story “crosses over” into comics you won’t read.
But then I have waited years on the second installment of books too.
Occasionally I will pick up a “graphic novel.” These are usually bound and complete versions of a comic series. These cost between $15 and $50, though, so you really have to want it.
Paying it Back
I had a girlfriend with a kid about three or four at the time. Realizing comic’s potential in helping reading development, I used to read X-Men to him. I didn’t much care for the X-Men, but he did, so we would lay on the couch and read the book together. Of course, I pointed out how the pictures helped to figure out the words and sentences.
Stoopider?
A far as comics stunting your mental growth or anything like that …
No.
I became a respected (stop laughing!) newspaper editor.
The kid I read comics to?
He’s in his thirties now, has a wonderful wife and home … and still reads comic books along with being an aspiring writer.
You decide
I think I have made my point. Comics can be reading superheroes in their own right ... but you decide.
*I will not be using the dictionary’s pronunciation guide as the little marks they put over another letter to make it sound a different way make no sense to me. I will just write it like you say it.
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