Michael Deeley has been reading comics since he was 12 years old. His first book was an issue of Silver Surfer by Jim Starlin, leading him to see all comics as ideological conflicts with big-ass fight scenes. At the very least, he expects a comic to be entertaining in some fashion, which is why he thinks Secret Wars II is better than Dark Knight Strikes Back. He has never work in the comics field, but he does have a belligerent attitude and a lot of free time.
During his brief intervals in the real world, Michael looks for a paying job that should, (theoretically) lead to a better life involving more comics, privacy, and women.
He currently lives between Pittsburgh, PA, and the Pittsburgh International Airport, in a suburb so new, it only has one McDonalds.
"Consider your favorite soft drink, say cola. That cola is offered in many different forms for purchase. There’s the 12 ounce can, 16 ounce bottle, 20 ounce bottle, 32 ounce bottle, 1 liter bottle, 64 ounce bottle, or it is available from a soda fountain, all at different prices. But in the end, it’s all the same product. We are taking that formula and applying it to comics."
Recent advances in media technology enable us to experience familiar stories in new ways. Where once we could only enjoy movies in theaters that decided what to show and when, we can now enjoy almost every film ever made in the comfort of our homes. VCRs and DVD players also control our TV viewing habits, letting us watch a program or broadcasted movie as often as we want. The DVD itself has changed the experience of home entertainment. Not only can we enjoy movies and shows in the highest possibly visual and audio quality, but we can also experience extra features, such as audio commentary, behind-the-scenes specials, and short subjects, that would be impossible to experience in the public formats of theaters and TV.
Which brings us to this week’s subject: The experience of reading comics as related to the story’s format. Traditionally, comic books were only available in the magazine or “pamphlet” format. Aside from DC’s 80-page and 100-page specials, comics were usually 32-64 pages in length. Today, that is one of many formats in which comic books appear. This week I shall examine the different ways one may read, or “experience” a comic book, and how it affects the story. In every case but one, I read the same comic: ‘Negation’ Prequel. The availability of CrossGen comics in so many different forms is one of the things I like best about the company. I’m sorry their financial troubles have led to cutting and/or canceling many projects.
Traditional
The typical, 32-page comic book, this is the initial format for almost every comics story every told. I’ll be comparing the other formats to this.
The comic book feels flimsy. While reading it, I’m constantly aware of its delicacy. I hate to do it any long term damage, not because I care about the book’s value, but because I want to preserve it for as long as possible. (I wouldn’t have bought it if I wasn’t going to read it more than once.) Art and story are created with this format in mind. 2-page splash art, panel-to-panel flow, and layout are all done with the artists and writers thinking, “This is how big the pages will be. This is where the readers’ eyes will be when he turns the page.”
Since the “comic book” is the standard format for the “comics story”, I give it ; perfectly average. It’s what we’ve had for a century. And contrary to what others may say, it will always exist. Even if larger publishers focus on TPBs and GNs, smaller companies and self-publishers will opt for this cheap and easy format.
Trade Paperback/Graphic Novel
Something about reading a comic in this form lends the story a sense of integrity, of permanence. The trade book has heft, weight, and substance. It feels solid in your hands. It looks and feels like a “real” book, the most permanent form of printed material yet invented. The fact a comics story is reprinted in a book means the story was popular enough to warrant a more durable format. Traditionally, only the rarest or most popular comic books were collected into trade books. Even today, with trade books being published almost immediately after the story’s comic book incarnation, only a fraction of a company’s total output is collected into books. Thus the TPB is an honor reserved for what the publisher considers its best, or at least most sellable.
The graphic novel is a long original comics story. Once rare, such books are published regularly. Once could argue that monthly comics are now just graphic novels released one chapter at a time. I say that’s the very definition of a comic book. To me, a graphic novel means the publisher has such faith in a story, in the creators behind it, that he’s willing to release it as a single volume for a higher price.
Finally, TPBs and GNs are easier to sell to mass market stores and new readers then comic books. People are still prejudiced about “comic books”, but a book collecting comics seems less embarrassing. That’s why I give the book format .
The Internet
The rise of the internet has given self-publishers and small press companies the means to distribute and promote their work to an international audience for an incredibly low cost. Since 2002, CrossGen Comics has made almost their entire catalog of comics available to subscribers at “Comics on the Web”. Marvel and Image have also posted comic on their websites.
Reading a comic on a computer screen is much like reading it in a book. The panel layout is the same, so your eyes move in the artists’ intended directions. There is no fixed format for the viewing and presentation of online comics. Marvel’s Dot Comics are read by opening the virtual pages of the comic, followed by a new window opening to show enlarged panels. While this makes it easy to read the story, you lose some sense of the panels’ layout on the page. CrossGen’s online comics are displayed two pages at a time. The reader highlights text boxes to read the story. This is closer to reading an actual book, but without the ability to “zoom in” on the art, some details are lost. Also, a computer monitor cannot display artwork with the same finesse as seeing it in real life. Fine lines, smooth curves, and lighting effects in the colors are all lost on conventional computer screens. Take, for example, ‘Demonwars’ #1. Compare the original comic to its online display, and you’ll see what I mean.
Reading comic on the computer is almost the same experience as reading them in real life. Something is lost in the translation of art from paper to electronic display, but this does not impact the experience greatly. Presently, the majority of comics available on the web are produced by self-publishers. I recommend seeking them out. This experience gets .
DVD Comics
This is new but notable. Intec interactive has released DVDs featuring comics published by CrossGen and Marvel. Each disc contains the equivalent of a TPB with extra features, such as a behind-the-scenes short subject and previews for other discs. You can see them all here: http://www.intecinteractive.com.
I watched “Negation Vol.1”, containing issues #1-#6 and the Prequel. Panels appear and move across the screen while voice actors read the dialogue. Sound effects and music are also provided. Frankly, this sucked! The actors were terrible; their voices lifeless. The music was dull and repetitive. Watching the first “issue”, I realized the DVD took away the most important aspect of the comic book: interactivity. You cast the “voices” for the characters. (When I read ‘Negation’, I give Obregon Kaine a voice that mixes Wesley Snipes and Morgan Freeman.) You determine the pace of the reading, which affects the “timing” of the story’s events. A comic book is visual. You provide the audio and motion. When the DVD adds all of that, you are taken out of the experience entirely. Watching this might have been more entertaining if they’d hired better actors. You can turn off the sound, but you still can’t control how and when the panels appear on screen.
The documentary feature was more interesting. Chuck Dixon, Bart Sears, Rick Magyar, Laura Martin, and David Lamphear each talk about their role in the creation of a comic book. They go into a lot of depth about the technology used in their work, as well as the thinking behind it. Sears talks about the importance of drawing the readers’ eyes in the direction of the story. (Irony!) Lamphear shows lettering is more than just typing words into balloons. Everyone talks about how great the CrossGen studio system is, since it allows them to work with a comic’s entire creative team during the story’s creation. Now that CrossGen is switching over to the freelance system, will the artists still have that? Finally, the short is narrated by Bill Rosemann, so if you’ve ever wanted to hear his voice, check this out.
I’m giving this disc . It only costs $10 dollars (newer Marvel discs cost $15), which is almost worth paying for the documentary. Maybe you could turn off the sound and use the comics as a screensaver.
Comix3D
This literally came out this month. Comix3D is a series of Marvel comic books re-released onto CD-Roms the size of credit cards. The comics have been modified to appear in 3-D when read with the included 3-D glasses. About a dozen discs have been released, each featuring a single issue. The company promises “4,000 more titles to come”. You can see more, and a preview, here: http://www.comix3d.com.
I was expecting this to be like other 3-D comics: flat images that had the illusion of depth. The gimmick of 3-D comics has been around for over 50 years. It never lasts long, and frankly, I’m surprised it’s still around.
I bought the disc for ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ V2, #30. I’m not a Spider-Man fan, but the only other discs had Ultimate X-Man and the Hulk, so my choices were limited. I’ve never really read this issue, so this was my first time. I was surprised by how good it really was! This was a great comic, 3-D or no. I can see why people have been crowing about JMS’ work on the title. The man can write.
The 3-D effects were better than I expected. Yes, there were a lot of flat images that looked like cardboard cutouts, but there were also many curved surfaces. I go a genuine feeling of depth and substance while reading this comic. Without the glasses, I could highlight individual panels, zoom in and out, and pan over the art. To me, this is the best way to read a comic on your computer.
As nice as it was, Comix3D is still a gimmick. A single disc costs $5 and has only one comic book. I don’t see this as an alternative to reading comics in other formats. However, if you are a fan of the issues featured, it would be worth it to experience the stories in this new manner.
, if you haven’t already read the comics, if you have.
And that is just about every physical medium in which a comic book can appear. I know there’s also CD-ROMs, but that’s like reading comics online. Also I don’t have any. It seems to me that nothing can replace the experience of reading comics on paper. Unless they develop some way of beaming the images into our minds, plunging us into an immersive 4-D quadraphonic reality.
Cool.
Now for the new stuff I read on paper:
Cerebus #297 -
Cerebus signs a document without reading it, just to see his son Shep-Shep again. Cerebus is convinced that his life is over after the prophetic dream he had last issue. Best line of the year: Cerebus in bed saying, “Why does Cerebus feel like saying “rosebud” all of a sudden?” That made me laugh out loud.
I know Cerebus’ death is supposed to take place in issue 300, but I can’t help feeling that it could happen sooner, and #300 will deal with the aftermath of Cerebus’ passing. Most of the ‘Cerebus’ stories have had an epilogue in the past. If issue #300 doesn’t serve as an epilogue, maybe it will be extra-sized to include one.
Uncanny X-Men #434 -
OK, Havok says he was just joking about peeing on Iceman. Ha-ha. Chuck, I shouldn’t have to say this, but when delivering a joke, you don’t make people wait 2 weeks for the punchline.
Another thing: Iceman dehydrates a villain then jokes about it. I’m pretty sure the villain died because her head fell off. I’m not comfortable with “nice” heroes making jokes about killing an enemy, especially “old school”, Silver Age heroes like Iceman. Granted, the villain was murderous with freaky shape-shifting and limb-growing powers. But Iceman’s behavior came across as especially, um, cold.
Ha-ha.
Also, Marvel Editorial? I understand that the hectic pace of comic book publishing necessitates the occasional fill-in artist. But it is nice to have the same artist draw the first and last chapters of an extended story. When the same artist draws every issue of a story except the last one, the visual change hurts the ending and the overall reading experience.
Having said that, the artwork of Takeshi Miyzawa and Craig Yeung, (with Scott Elmer), looks pretty good. It reminds me of Kia Asayima’s style blended with a little Rob Garney. The story ends as you might expect: Bad guy’s defeated, Draco offers Nightcrawler a place by his side, Juggernaut turns himself in, and there’s a cheap attempt to fuel the Annie/Havok/Iceman love triangle that doesn’t exist. Really, one meaningful conversation would stop that train wreck of a story.
Authority vs. Lobo -
Not as funny as ‘Kev’, but still violent and gross. Baby Jenny finds the old ‘Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special’ comic and unconsciously uses her powers to make it real. Almost everyone on Earth dies from “Lobo’s” attack. Meanwhile, Lobo is hired by survivors of a previous Authority fight to kill the team. So it’s the kill-crazy immortal vs. the deadly super-bastards.
It’s kind of a letdown. I never thought I’d say this, but Lobo comes across as old. His brand of mindless violence and crude behavior seems stale and old-fashioned compared to, well, the Authority. When Lobo kills dozens of innocent people to get some privacy, I just yawned. I mean there’s not as much blood and dismembered limbs as an ‘Authority’ comic. There’s also a difference in attitude. Lobo is wild and unfocused. The Authority is cunning and direct. Maybe it’s me, but I find intelligent, rational people killing for a clear reason to be scarier than an animal lashing out to satisfy its urges. Lobo’s brand of crazy uber-violence can be funny, but it’s not shocking, especially when drawn in the bizarre, weirdly grotesque style of Simon Bisley. Compare that to the fine lines of Davis and Neary or Quitely in ‘Authority’, where the blood and guts are anatomically correct. You tell me which is more shocking.
I know Lobo is supposed to be a bloody, vulgar cartoon character. On his own, he’s hilarious. (Check out the ‘Lobo vs. Batman’ Elseworld special, also by Giffen and Bisley). And this comic does have some great moments, my favorite being the Engineer transforming into a hideous H. R. Giger-inspired monster of flesh and metal. But I can’t help comparing Lobo to the Authority when I see them in the same book. And Lobo’s shock value has lessened over the years.
Wow. The guy that killed his whole planet for a science experiment isn’t the baddest bastich anymore? What the hell are we reading?!
Halo and Sprocket -
The comic misadventures of a young woman living with a naïve robot and an angel. The comedy basically goes like this: Sprocket the Robot asks a question about humans, Katie the human tries to explain it, Halo the angel gives the “real reason” why it’s so, and the cycle repeats. It’s very funny.
And for the rest of the week:
Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 7; Daredevil Vol. 2 Hardcover; Batman #605; The Dark Knight Returns, from The Complete Frank Miller Batman; Joker: Last Laugh #4 and the Secret Files and Origins special; Gypsy Lounge; Daredevil #41-50; Kid Eternity #7-9; Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood; Exiles #38; Spidey and the Mighty Mini-Marvels ashcan Halloween giveaway book; Adventures of Superman #597; Birds of Prey #36; JLA #59; and Robin #95.
I’m writing this on Dec. 22. I have two more weekly columns to go, then my year-ending good-bye. God, (and Donald), willing, I should have finished it all by Dec. 31. I’d really like to have them all posted before the year’s end. Next week’s column will be the much-requested Marvel and DC company reviews. Actually, since the two of them put out so many comics, and since I read a lot of Marvel anyway, I’ll mainly compare the two publishers to each other, discuss their roles in the industry, and where they’re dropping the ball.
After that, a collection of quotes I’ve collected over the year. It’s my Christmas Cop-Out column.
So to all of you reading, from all of us inside my head, Merry Birthday of Jesus. And if you don’t believe in that, Happy Day of Obligatory Gift-Giving.
