Commentary on comics as contemporary literature

The themes we return to this week are ones that I recall thinking about back when we read Blankets and works by Eisner, using the medium of comics in innovative ways to create stories that only comics can tell. Asterios Polyp is a masterwork in stylization used for narrative effect, and one of the most striking examples I’ve ever encountered of the symbiosis comics can create between image and message. As readers, we are subject to the artist’s perception of the world through their drawing style and approach to the content. Rather than trying to hide this bias, Asterios Polyp brings it to the forefront and makes it a central component of the story itself.

I have lots of opinions about the value of ‘lowbrow’ media on the masses— approachable narratives with relatively fewer Big Concepts can leave a greater social impact than more advanced ones which reach a much smaller audience. But this is why increased variation in comics medium has so much value. With the expansion of comic books into the realms of higher literature, we expand the different kinds of reach that comics can have. And part of my appreciation for the value of campy or genre or otherwise typical comics comes from my inherent valuing of comics as a perfectly legitimate medium anyway, which is something that was made possible by the expansion of what a comic can be.

I do wonder how long it will take for comics (and animation, for that matter) to be taken seriously by the masses rather than just by Art People like me. I know so many adults who would never consider picking up a comic book or a video game or an animated film on their own time because they see it as juvenile without exception. Is this bias simply because they were raised only with juvenile forms of these media? Can this bias be overcome with the right story, told in the right way, or will it be impossible to truly to appeal to people who have already decided how they feel about all stories within these certain structures? Is this perception going to have to be something that literally dies out before comics can be fully legitimized as literature, or can anyone be convinced of the value of these things given the right exposure?

I’m not sure what it will take for comics to be considered ‘real’ reading, but at the very least websites like The Nib are speeding up this process by making social-media-accessible comics that communicate important real-life ideas.