The Four Color Media Monitor

And if they are, that could be one of the reasons why they're failing. Reading what another blogger I know has to say on Adam's Blog, I'm in agreement that comics are indeed in a sorry state due to how close-minded the head honchos have become as well. And it's a shame, because, as he says:

If you want someone to tell you how old and powerful comics are with a lot of big words, I'll direct you to Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics", which is an excellent read even if you're not a fan of comics. McCloud has a lot to say about comics and visual arts in general, and though I have no idea what his politics are, he's a recognized authority on the subject. (Insofar as comic books have recognized authorities.) If you don't want to go buy Scott's book, or visit his website at Scott McCloud.com then I'll simply ask you to take it as read that comics are an old, powerful, and important artform, and move on.

Not to worry, I'm in full agreement that McCloud is one of the best experts on the subject, and, now that I recall, the historian Mike Benton was too. And comics are most definately a powerful medium, one that, as I've thought in recent years, is probably the only medium that I want to really uphold. Not movies and television, just comics.

Honestly, I don't know how much of an inroad can be made into the mainstream titles -- if ... you can picture chain link fence keeping conservatives out of Hollywood, then picture DC, Image, and Marvel on an island somewhere in shark-infested waters, surrounded by a twenty-foot high concrete wall topped with razor wire. (Granted, it's not easy for anyone, but it's doubly hard for conservatives, at least if they want their writing to reflect their own vision, rather than someone else's.) Still, the talent is out there, and talent always eventually finds a way to break out.

There's a point to this - Chuck Dixon, who is conservative, seems to have been all but shut out by DC and Marvel due to his standings, I don't know. If he was, that's certainly a shame (I will have to note though that, if he was among the writers who decided to imitate Frank Miller's Dark Knight, effectively damaging Bruce Wayne as a character for at least a decade, then that's one part where I'll have to express my disappointment in Dixon).

Comics may not suffer from the same kind of PC madness that the movie industry does, that seems to bar a lot of conservatives from being allowed to have their say and viewpoint, but if the big two don't make the entrance to their companies more friendly for conservatives, they won't be doing themselves any more a favor than the movie biz is.

Labels: politics