What Makes Comics More Compelling? The Art Or The Content?

For the question stated in the title of this post, what makes comics more compelling? the art or the content, I have done a bit of research to figure this out. Going along with this Batman theme that I have started, I am going to use a review of the comic, Batman #14, because it gave me exactly what I was looking for.

This particular issue has the villain The Joker, who is very well known to those of us who have seen The Dark Knight Returns (with Heath Ledger portraying this famous character) or 1989's Batman (where he is played by Jack Nicholson).

It is mentioned in this review that though Joker's script is part of what makes him so terrifying, what really makes him so compelling is the artwork of him. Here is this particular section of Dean Stell's review:

"You're simply not going to find better art in a comic than this. Part of the scariness of Joker comes from the words in the script, but most of it is coming from how the Capullo/Glapion/Plascencia team is drawing him. My god... This is someone who would make you soil your pants if you really saw him. He's so creepy and imbalanced. You don't want any part of this guy. But this art team rules the quiet moments too. There are a lot of 'talking heads' scenes in the comic and those types of scenes rise and fall on the acting of the characters. We even get a classic Capullo splash page where he made Glapion and Plascencia ink/color tons of little drops of blood. I always wonder if Capullo warns his collaborators that such a page is coming? Do they ever play tricks like sending complex pages to the next guy in the art chain at inconvenient times? Like anniversaries? Holidays?"

With this, I would definitely have to say that what makes a comic the most compelling, is the artwork. Sure, the storylines are important too, but since comics don't go into much detail with the script, you have to rely on the artwork to really wrap you in the story. Plus, if there was no artwork or a minimal amount, that wouldn't be a very great comic - tons of details and written images are meant for novels or poetry, which definitely makes sense after reading this review.

Here is some of the artwork from this issue of Batman, so you can understand where we're coming from with this:

Batman #14

Stell, Dean. "Batman #14 - Review." Weekly Comic Book Review. Weekly Comic Book Review, 15 Nov. 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2012.

Which Batman Do You Like Better: Michael Keaton Or Christian Bale?

So I have been asked the question: What is it about Batman, Superman, and Spider Man that make them so interpretive? And I can think of some of my own thoughts and possible answers to this question. Though I am someone who really isn't that in to superheros or comic books, I am an avid movie goer - I can't think of a better place to go than the movies. I have seen every installation of The Dark Knight Saga (mostly because Christian Bale is super attractive and plays a pretty rad Batman), I watched Smallville (a TV series about the life of Clark Kent), and I have seen all of the Spider Man movies (including the most recent and AWESOME movie: The Amazing Spider Man).

When if comes to the Batman movies, I think that they only get better over time because of the special effects and cinematography, not to mention there are so many different villains from from the original comics that they can be placed in a butt load of different movies, which brings me to my own answer: Considering the large amounts of Batman comics there are, they have enough characters, plots, and material in general to make as many films as they have, and each movie is always new and extremely exciting.

When Michael Keaton (no one can argue that Michael Keaton may have been the best Batman of all time) played Batman 1989 and again in 1992 in Batman Returns, this was the best thing to ever happen to Batman! It was new and exciting, and it makes sense that within the next 20 years it would have to be remade, like all originals from this time period. How could a director just let Batman and Batman Returns sit in a vault for the rest of forever, when there are so many new concepts, special effects, and cinematography being created that will only make this superhero even more awesome. I know I only used Batman as an example, but these things are why I believe these superheros can be interpreted in so many ways. With time comes movie evolution, and since these movies have always been such a big hit, they will only keep adding new installments. I mean, that ending of The Dark Knight Rises??? HOW CAN YOU NOT MAKE ANOTHER INSTALLMENT? I am so excited for it, if you can't tell by my obnoxious caps.

While researching for an official answer, I found an article talking about future installments for the Batman franchise. Christopher Nolan, the writer and director of The Dark Knight Saga, states:

"[The Dark Knight Rises] is the end of our take on the character. ... Batman will outlive us all, and our interpretation was ours. ... Warners will have to decide in the future what they’re going to do with him.” 

Basically. all writers and directors have their own takes on these superheros, and they will interpret them the way they wish to. With the infinitive amount of material that they have, these interpretations will live on forever.

Oh, and a final thought: While researching, I noticed Superman hasn't had a movie in literally forever, but keep calm my readers, in June 2013 Man Of Steel will be premiering in a theater near you! Who is playing Clark Kent you ask? Henry Cavill, probably someone you are not too familiar with, but he acted in Tristan + Isolde, Red Riding Hood, and Immortal. With Clark Kent always comes Lois Lane, who is going to be played by Amy Adams, who also starred in Julie & Julia, The Fighter, and Leap Year. Other actors who are going to be in this flick that you would know of include: Russel Crowe, Michael Shannon (from the best show ever, Boardwalk Empire), Diane Lane, and Kevin Costner - there's no doubt this movie is going to be awesome.

Man Of Steel (2013) Trailer I seriously got goosebumps watching this.

Directed by Zack Snyder (who also directed Watchmen)

Produced by Christopher Nolan (director of The Dark Knight Saga)

Jefferey, Peterson. "What Does the Future Hold for Batman, the 'Dark Knight' Saga and the Justice League?" Salt Lake City and Utah Breaking News, Sports, Entertainment and News Headlines. Deseret News, 1 Aug. 2012. Web. 20 Nov. 2012.

Some Popular Graphic Novels

Another sort of new, yet increasingly popular type of comic is the graphic novel, which is something I assume most of you have heard of before. Now, since I myself am not too familiar with graphic novels, the only one that I can really think of off the top of my head is Watchmen, I had to look at a website called Graphic Novel Reporter in order to find some popular ones to talk about.

So the basic idea of a graphic novel is that it has all of the panels and everything that a comic has, but instead of only being a couple of pages, it is a whole novel and story in one book. Usually, there is more of a storyline within a graphic novel, and many times movie versions of comics are turned into graphic novels later.

Just by looking at the homepage of this website, it is apparent that there are millions of types of graphic novels, which kind of intrigues me. The writers for this site talk about what's hot this fall, some of the top graphic novels today, where you can find comic book shops in your area if you have no idea where they are, and what events and conventions are happening in the comic book world. Just by looking at the slides that are at the top of the home page, I can tell that there are some really awesome graphic novels out there because the images that they use from the novel look really awesome - many of these things I would have never pictured as graphic novels, which is why I find them pretty awesome.

If you have no idea what intitels something to be considered a graphic novel or you are just looking for something new, I would definitely check out this website because the writers give you a pretty awesome in-depth analysis on their opinions of many graphic novels.

Here are some popular ones from over the past few years:

               

Digital Comics

After finding some publishers other than the big name ones like Marvel and DC, I started to think about other types of comics like graphic novels and for this post, online and digital comics. While looking around, I found this awesome website with tons of digital comics called Comixology.com. On this site, you can buy the comics, print them from your computer, and/or download them onto different devices - which i thought was pretty awesome. This website is sort of like Comcast's "On Demand" for comics, meaning you can get them they same day that they are printed and put on shelves or you can even pre-order them. They have every comic you can think of, ones from the big publishers like DC and Marvel, and even free ones (I guess this website is kind of like iTunes, too). Not only does this website hold popular comics, they also hold new ones that may not be very well known as well as graphic novels. This website is definitely something I would recommend to people who often read comics, but if you're like me with buying books from stores so that you have them physically in your hands, then you may not like digital comics too much, unless you are able to print them out.

Comic Books & Publishing

Now that I have explored a whole bunch of different, yet widely known comics, I have been wondering where new and amateur comic creators publish their work. So in other words, where can people publish comics if their art and writing isn't quite up to par for Marvel or DC yet?

Here are a few places that I found:

If you are looking for a "cool creator-owned" comic book and graphic novel publisher, then you should check out Alternative Comics. Just by looking at the homepage of their website, one can tell that these are not the types of comics that you would find in Marvel, which is why this might be the perfect place for you or your friends to publish!

And, if you are looking to submit only your artwork to a comic publisher, especially if you are an amateur comic artist, you should look into Image Comics, who have a submission page with tons of details on how to submit your artwork. Just by looking at this particular website, you should be able to tell whether your works would fit here or not.

If you're interested in finding the perfect place for a comic, I recommend looking at Comic Vine because they have an extremely large list of possible comic publishers. 

Along with this, I also found a page on Publishing Your Own Comic, which could be helpful for those of you interested in self-publishing, which is a pretty big thing now.

Why Just Have "Okay" Comic Book Art When You Can Have GREAT Comic Book Art?

With more opportunity that came during the 1970's, comic book companies like Marvel and DC strived to make their artwork even better since comic book artwork was not as critically acclaimed as it could have been. Companies were no longer looking at the morals and the way that they affected the youth, but instead they were looking at ways to enhance the comic books themselves. During this time, artists began to play with the idea of more color - changing up the art and adding more detail and a variety of colors to the comics. Although the new art was critically acclaimed, all of the comic book companies began to see a decrease in sales. Comics were still being sold on newsstands, but it was at this time that book store chains were evolving, so it made it harder to get the comics sold the way the companies wanted. As an attempt to revive the comic book industry, the companies came together and formed the Academy of Comic-Books Art (ACBA), and eventually the Comic Guild in hopes to do "for comic books what Academy Awards do for movies," as said by the creator of Spider-Man, Stan Lee.

These organizations helped comics become more widely accepted by Americans, and though the sales still saw a decline, the popularity of television gave comics the opportunity to branch out. Marvel and DC both gave out licensing for their characters in order to create the popular Saturday morning cartoons that everyone remembers so much. DC gained profits from Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superfriends series while Marvel licensed The Incredible Hulk and The Fantastic Four - Marvel even got the rights to print Star Wars comic books which helped their profit extremely. All of these cartoon series were most likely the reason for the movies considering television helped spread the word, keeping Marvel and DC as the leaders in the comic book world.

"Archetypes, Commercialism, and Hollywood." A History of the Comic Book. Random History, 18 Mar. 2008. Web. 4 Oct. 2012. <http://www.randomhistory.com/1-50/033comic.html>.

"Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man."

So after WWII and the extreme skepticism of how comic books were warping the minds of our youth, Marvel decided that it was time to introduce comic book characters who showed weakness and a common life of some kind; demonstrating that not all people are perfect and that "the superhero could be you." With this concept was the creation of Spider-Man.  Written by Stan Lee and drawn by Steve Ditko, a small backstory for people who have no idea what I am talking about (which would be surprising considering the mass amount of number one films and video games) is as follows: Peter Parker was sort of a wimp before he actually became Spider-Man and what keeps him going is not revenge, but the guilt of knowing that he could have saved his Uncle Ben, who was the only father figure that he had, when he was killed. He was attending a science exhibit when he was bitten by a spider and given a bit of radioactivity - meaning he was actually given spider abilities. Unlike all of the other superheros who were around during this time, Spider-Man had no one else to talk to except himself - so none the less, he had to struggle with himself as well throughout each comic.

The original comic debuted in 1962, and it was almost not even published, but it was decided that it would be a one-time type of thing because the editor thought that readers would find the concept of spiders "distasteful." Spider-Man was threw in last minute because of the cancellation of another comic that was being published previously and eventually her helped characterize The Marvel Age. I bet that editor is happy he decided to throw him in now, huh. Later when the sales for that certain comic book came in, the numbers were outstanding and better than any other book that was previously published.

Once Spider-Man was given his own comic, Stan Lee became the editor and Jack Kirby was added to the team in order to give Spider-Man a better chance of survival. As someone who is currently located in Indiana, PA, I am not too far away from Johnstown, PA where the original inker, Steve Ditko, lived!   Getting back on topic though, like Batman and many of the other superheros in comic books, Spider-Man ends up using his powers for the good - helping all types of civilians and saving them from arch enemies like Carnage and Venom, which he can detect almost to the exact spot due to his very useful spidey-sense.

Over the years, Spider-Man has been turned in to movies, video games, and even more comic books have been written. He is a world-wide hit, and you can bet your bottom dollar that he will continue to be. Sure, I thought Spider-Man movies would be over after Spider-Man 3, but of course they came out with The Amazing Spider-Man, which was just as big of a hit as the previous films. As the years continued with the comic, several villans and characters were added - who could forget Mary Jane (Peter Parker's extreme love intrest) and Green Goblin?  I love that Spider-Man has truly proved to be timeless over the years. Like Batman, my 11 year old nephew is more in love with Spider-Man and everything he is about than any other superhero; in fact, he will be walking around his neighborhood this year in the Amazing Spider-Man costume and be the most adorable kid ever. I think its great that kids in this age can enjoy superheros like they did back in the day - I really think my nephew could teach us all a few things about Spider-Man though because one time I made the mistake of mixing up Batman and Spider-Man's arch enemies, and my goodness was that an issue. Luckily he straightened them out for me and I promised to never mix them up again. Note to self: Don'y try to act like you know what you're talking about when it comes to comic books while talking to 11 year olds.

Below is a picture of the first copy from Marvel when Spider-Man was originally introduced to the world. August 15, 1962 Amazing Fantasy #15 (notice the CCA Stamp in the corner that we had a discussion about in my previous blog???)

"Spiderman Biography." History of Spiderman. Super Hero Stuff, 2012. Web. 3 Oct. 2012. <http://www.superherostuff.com/biographies/spideybio.html>.