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Eric Ladd
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 August 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 4506
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| Posted: 06 October 2015 at 7:19am | IP Logged | 1
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I was at a convention recently and during a bit of down time I checked my Facebook page. A friend of mine had posted a cover to DC's World's Finest #245 and made a comment about Neal Adams. I was about 100 feet away from Neal when he posted so I found the comic at a dealer's table, got it signed by Neal and sent it to my friend. It made me think about why I like comic books and the art. For me, comics have the power to transport me very quickly to a place of my youth. To a time when I was not jaded by the world and truly believed in heroes, heroics and adventure. I still believe in those things, but not the way I did when I was a child. I love comics because they have a way of making me feel young again. How about you?
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132288
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| Posted: 06 October 2015 at 7:57am | IP Logged | 2
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This is one of those questions which, like "Who's your favorite character?" unfortunately required a degree of qualification before it can be answered.I do, indeed, enjoy comics -- but when I say that, I mean the art form, the concept, the format. I do NOT mean what happens to be passing itself off as comics these days. So when I say I enjoy comics, I mean in the broadest sense -- and mostly I mean those gaudily colored "pamphlets" that utterly blew me away when I was a child, and continued to do so for years after.
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Joseph Greathouse
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 August 2015
Location: United States
Posts: 588
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| Posted: 06 October 2015 at 8:17am | IP Logged | 3
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I like superheroes. I like horror. I am also not a hugely visual guy, so I tend to be a slow reader. The medium really helps to hit home and connect with me and my imagination.
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Aaron Smith
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 06 September 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 10461
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| Posted: 06 October 2015 at 9:19am | IP Logged | 4
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I love all forms of good storytelling, whether it's books, movies, TV, songs, or comics. I was fortunate to discover comics at a time in my life when I wanted to good stories with admirable heroes and fantastic artwork, and lucky to have been about 8 years old when there were some great comics being produced by excellent artists and writers (thanks, JB!).
I can't honestly say I like comics more or less than any other form of art or entertainment. It's the content that counts first, not the medium.
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Andy Meyers
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 August 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 567
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| Posted: 06 October 2015 at 11:39am | IP Logged | 5
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I like the freedom for the reader and the creators.
As I reader, I can linger on a panel at my own pace, go backward and forward in the story, and read multiple times, enjoying the artwork.
When it comes to the creator side, there seems to be such freedom of expression with no special effect budget to have to worry about. Keep in mind, I know little about the creative side. I do recognize there are many factors, such as editors, that can stifle the creativity. I imagine there is more freedom than in a big budget movie (could be totally wrong there too).
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Matt Hawes
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 16430
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| Posted: 06 October 2015 at 12:06pm | IP Logged | 6
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Because they are fun, and can be the perfect combination of artwork and story.
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Fred J Chamberlain
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 30 August 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 4018
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| Posted: 06 October 2015 at 1:15pm | IP Logged | 7
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Comics keep the kid inside of me alive and smiling. This is
something that I believe to be important for all "grown-
ups".
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Peter Martin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 March 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 15798
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| Posted: 06 October 2015 at 2:03pm | IP Logged | 8
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I find it surprisingly difficult to actually put my finger on why -- and similar to JB's comment, I think I'd have to say I don't actually like them based on what most of the current output is.
There was a time for a couple of years or more when they were THE most magical, exciting thing for me, better than movies or TV or video games or music or novels. But somewhere the magic faded. Every now and then the spirit can be conjured briefly -- often with JB's commissions or revisiting a back issue -- but I can't remember the last time I bought a new comic and was thrilled by it. And that's why I don't buy them very often. Sounds a little jaded, but that's the truth.
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Joe Boster
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 29 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3160
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| Posted: 06 October 2015 at 2:15pm | IP Logged | 9
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Similar to what Joseph said. I like comics because of the art, really. Given a choice to read 5 pages describing Asgard or one one Walt Simonson or Kibry spalsh page. I'll take the splash page any day.
I like the connected universe of the whole marvel DC thing. Much like Multiple CSIs or Law&Order. Or the new chicago trilogy.
I like heroes to be heroes. I like that you can tell far more tales in a comic than even the most prolific book series.
I like comics and novels and audiobooks. They all stir different parts of my mind. The very best version of Lord of the Rings is the Audio Book! I can't do verse or poetry in my head so to hear it all was simply amazing. |
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Brian Rhodes
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3307
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| Posted: 06 October 2015 at 3:30pm | IP Logged | 10
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See: Peter Martin's entire second paragraph.
As to why there was a such a draw (ha!) in the first place? I guess it started from the visual standpoint. When I was 5 years old and couldn't really read all that well, I could get the gist of what was going on with the pictures.
Comics helped make me a proficient reader, although, to this day I'm not much of a visualizing reader. So, did I continue to gravitate toward comics because of this, or did comics make me that way? Vicious circle?
But, as others have said, I enjoyed the medium. The layouts, even the negative space between panel borders; the colors, the sound effects. The content was exciting, too. I was a big superhero comics fan, mostly of the Marvel variety...
They were portable, powerless entertainment. You could spend 10 minutes and get a good story. Or spend an hour and get several. You could re-read your favorite issues...or just a part of an issue..anytime you wanted. (Keep in mind...when I was 8-15 years of age, we had three networks..."cable" channels were just starting to be a thing, as was VHS. You could rent or own movies, but it was a relatively pricey undertaking and you couldn't do it just anywhere. And those early portable video games sucked considerable ass).
But even with the advent of the technology we enjoy today, where you can pretty much read or watch or play anything in a hand held device, it's nice to just sit down for that 10 minutes once in awhile...with that small booklet...and get lost...
Edited by Brian Rhodes on 06 October 2015 at 4:00pm
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David Spurlock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 281
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| Posted: 06 October 2015 at 3:58pm | IP Logged | 11
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I, like probably everyone else on this forum, thoroughly enjoyed comics when I was younger. I've even tried on occasion to get back into collecting them throughout the years but without staying for very long. The main appeal for me when I was younger, was that it was a cheap but entertaining format. You could get multiple issues of some great characters and re-read them over and over again. In their glory days, you got both great art and great stories. Over the years, comics seemed to lose either the art or the story or sometimes both. Then, comics turned into a members only club with the direct sales market and further lost their broad appeal. The direct sales market also helped to drive up the cost of single issues to the point that it felt like they were way too over priced. Of course, this is all just my opinion on why I don't collect comics anymore.
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Joe Hollon
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 08 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 13675
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| Posted: 06 October 2015 at 5:36pm | IP Logged | 12
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Comics are my favorite medium of storytelling. The synthesis of words and pictures is perfect for my liking. In the hands of a gifted artist/storyteller I think it is unmatched.
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