When I began to learn English, I picked comic books as my medium of choice. Because I did not have a strong grasp on this new language, I relied on the images to help me understand what the words meant. Outside of school, television helped me speak English, but could not teach me how to read or write. For my parents, it was much better to see their daughter with a comic book than in front of the television. They believed in the idea of a “weak audience” and thought that television corrupted impressionable young minds.
My favorite comic books were the Archie comics that were famous way before I was born (founded in 1939). These comics were not funny in the modern sense (“stupid funny”), but were appealing because of its corny jokes, positive outlook, and representation of carefree teenage lives. What I read in the Archie comics shaped my view of American living and the stereotypical American family/friends.
The fact that I loved the artwork in most comic books and graphic novels made this medium even more appealing. Although comic books today are not as popular as they used to, most great comic books have turned into television series and/or movies. Whether or not that’s a good thing is up for debate.
I think that comic books are a great medium because they take a story and turn it into a hot medium. Reading a book, you can visualize situations a number of ways, but with comic books, the author can illustrate the meaning of the text. To me, comic books are the novels of our generation, and now they are becoming much more sophisticated and have evolved from their humble origins.
ReplyDeleteCathy,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that comic books serve as a medium to society. I think they can serve as positive and negatives forces on a global scale as well. In China and Japan, there is much less violence in comic books versus American action heroes in our TV shows. It amazes me the underground culture surrounded around comic books. Who knew there is collectors editions comic books, which are actually worth a ton of money!
-MM