Comics Are More Than Superheroes (But I Don't Much Read Those)

Occasionally I feel guilty because there are so many comics out there today that aren't considered mainstream (read: superhero), which means that they don't get much attention compared to the latest universe-spanning DC or Marvel event, say. And you know that behind most of them are hard-working, talented writers and artists (and editors and colourists...) who've poured their hearts and souls into producing these things... almost none of which I ever even look at!

Just two days ago, at my local comic store, one of the clerks - dressed up as the wizard/keeper of the bridge of death from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but it was Halloween, so he had an excuse.. this time! - was extolling the virtues of a title called Mouse Guard, with its anthropomorphic characters and their charming misadventures. Everything he described sounded perfectly fine and entertaining... but not at all what I look for in a comic book! In much the same way that I read Lord of the Rings as a teenager and thought, "Wow! What a great story, but if this is the best of the genre then I doubt I'm going to like the lesser lights..." (and have only read Fantasy sparsely since then, happily) I can't help but think that something like Maus, the amazing Jewish story by Art Spielgelman, probably taught me that most talking animal tales are going to let me down.

Even further afield from where I graze are the raft of autobiographical comics, as exemplified by Harvey Pekar's American Splendour, although that's only one of literally hundreds like it. I've read a little Pekar over the years - not much, but a little - and I've now and then tried other fare, but it usually just doesn't do anything for me. Often the art's so not-what-I-want-to-read (yes, I'm looking at you, manga!) or just plain bad (barely beyond stick figures, which is to say, still better than what I can do, but so what?) that I don't feel inclined to even check out the words. And when I do, and the stories essentially boil down to "Here are some events that happened to me and I hope you find them as interesting as I do!" I just don't!

That's not to say there aren't any good non-superhero comics for me. A couple decades ago I read and absolutely loved Kings In Disguise, which was just a mini-series about a Depression-era boy who runs away from home and becomes drawn into the hobo world of the day. Wonderful stuff, but it also had a real story to tell, with professional grade artwork, a good sense of pacing, and all of the other attributes of top-notch fiction. Paul Chadwick's Concrete might look at first glance like a superhero - not entirely unlike the Thing from the Fantastic Four, for example - but the tales Chadwick weaves around him have almost nothing in common with that genre, beyond that one physical resemblance. And yet that's long been one of my favourite titles, anytime it appears, because Chadwick is an excellent writer (and very good artist)! Right now, Ed Brubaker has Criminal underway, a comic series about various members of society's underbelly, set in the real world. Normally I wouldn't have even sampled it, but Bru's hit so many home runs with Captain America, Daredevil and the Immortal Iron Fist lately that I did.. and really liked it! Again, though, it's essentially as good as any mainstream superhero comic, in production quality and style of writing, and just doesn't happen to feature any guys or girls in capes!

Bottom line is that tonight I decided it's time to stop kicking myself over this. I'm sure some of what's flying under my radar is excellent, but almost all of it's going to have to find another home to land in. Every once in awhile something will catch my eye, like Bryan Talbot's Alice in Sunderland or Eddie Campbell's Black Diamond Detective Agency, and then I'll venture outside Metropolis and Gotham City, beyond the jungles of Wakanda or the undersea borders of Atlantis, and even out past the orbits of Rann and Zenn-La... but probably only briefly! And I'm OK with that.