Comics: Anything But a Childish Creation

For decades, it has been a popularly believed misconception within Western culture that Graphic Novels, or ‘comics’ - the somewhat misleading title they have adopted – are a mere selection of either cartoony strips for telling unclever jokes or a means of compiling the adventures of super-powered men in tights and tough women who are apparently passionate about their gender, yet wear outfits so objectifying and sexualised that said ‘passion’ is rendered doubtable. As a result, the stereotypical target market of graphic novels is perceived as young children, nerds with an OCD-like obsession with collecting things or creepy old perverts who still live with their mums. The latter is a particularly unfair judgement. Of course, comics, in reality, have target market as wide as any other literary form, even if mainstream Western culture finds it difficult to accept. What can really be wrong with a medium, harmless as any other, and what sets them apart from your average picture-book?

I say ‘mainstream’ Western culture because, the truth is, the people with the most issues accepting the graphical-literary medium are the American and British public – the same two countries who throw around claims of equality and willingness to accept other cultures like idle greetings, yet are so pathetically unaware of their own hypocritical close-mindedness that it’s verging on a little sad. Countries like France and Belgium, however, are more accepting of comics, with titles like Asterix and Tintin – both comics are well loved worldwide. Even so, both comics feature very cartoony styles and lack the mature atmospheres present in the less obvious areas of the world of graphic novels.

In Japan, this idea of comics being for children and nerds isn’t nearly as familiar. Sure, there’s still the culture of comic-obsessed nerds, or ‘otaku’, but you aren’t seen as an otaku just for liking or reading graphic novels. There are comics for every demographic and watching cartoons isn’t considered childish. The idea of comics being a waste of time is almost foreign – unless you’re some kind of snobbish, fine-arts teacher, as famous Manga-ka , Masashi Kishimoto, once expressed. Comics are an undeniable part of the culture and contribute to a huge fraction of Japan’s international appeal. As much as individual Anime and Manga are loved for the same reason as any book or film is, half the appeal comes from the fact that Japan is so open to the idea. The fact that there are Manga for every genre and the attitude in which it is created draws people in, though not on a mainstream level due to the general ignorance concerning the medium.

Most of these misconceptions surrounding comics revolve around genre. Graphic novels are only believed to be about superheroes, drawn in a blocky art-style, featuring over-exaggerated features, such as men with large, square chins; hugely broad shoulders; bulging abs and women with curvy figures and, in some cases, unnaturally large breasts. Unfortunately, these views are supported greatly by Superman and Wonder Woman. These comics are also believed to be simple and childish. However, there are huge amounts of graphic novels about things other than superheroes – 300, for example, is about Spartans going to war and slaughtering their enemies. 30 Days of Night - it’s about zombies! Neither are childish nor intended for children! And to further my point, a vast number of superhero comics are actually mature. Most original versions of Batman are actually fairly dark, regardless of what the children’s TV shows may tell you.

Another misconception would be the one concerning strips and shorts. People generally see these as poor pieces of work with flat comedy. Alternatively, there exists the idea that all comedy-based comics are like the classic British serials for kids, such as The Beano and The Dandy – home to Dennis the Menace and Dirty Dan, respectively. Even as a child, I could never quite grasp their comedy – the jokes were poor and lacked wit. Of course, not all comics – hereby referring to the comical genre, their namesake – are like this. Yes, the art style used is, normally, simplistic and unrealistic, but this is often required for the genre and not an indication of age demographic. Huge numbers of comics feature witty and intelligent humour, a perfect example being the series Calvin and Hobbes. Despite the seemingly childish premise of the story – a young boy and his stuffed tiger toy, who appears to him to live, breathe, talk and walk around on his back legs -, the comic is full of deep and clever humour and philosophical insights from Calvin which are far beyond his years.

Comics can just be as deep or clever as any other media, as proven by the graphic novel, Maus. It follows the persecution of mice by cats, but not in your typical Tom and Jerry way. The story is a mirror of the events of the Holocaust with mice being used to represent Jews living in Poland and cats representing the Nazis and their followers. The comic itself is actually a biography of the creator, Art Spiegleman,’s father. The comic features many deep metaphors all designed to, in Spiegleman’s words, ‘self-destruct’ , such as each nationality being characterised by identical animal designs in an attempt to show that people based on such was ludicrous. The comic is actually being legitimately studied in universities. So much for that idea of comics being pulp literature!

There also exists this idea comics are a lazy medium, but this certainly isn’t true! This is actually proven by the previously mentioned Maus, which took a total of 13 years to complete! How’s that for lazy? And, this comic had the same writer as artist – in most Western comics’ cases, two different people do these jobs. Furthermore, comics are more limited than books. It can be much more difficult to convey something in a page of small panels than with words, which generally don’t have size limitations. Things like emotions are harder to express on a deeper level. Character development is also harder in comics – decent development, anyway. All development has to be built up using visual commentary and dialogue alone. That doesn’t seem as easy as in books where you can use character insights and all kind of things, not to put books down as a medium or anything. Also, though this only really applies to more serious comics, extensive knowledge of human anatomy is required in order to produce decent and believable characters.

These examples are only a handful of things that act as proof of comics being a valid medium and are more than just glorified picture books. To be perfectly honest, books and comics shouldn’t even be compared as similar things. Sure, they are both released in a similar physical form, but they aren’t the same thing! Most people who judge comics for being invalid and poor haven’t even sat down and read a decent graphic novel! People like that really need to open their minds.