Skip to main content

Comics are for everyone

Richard Stanton would cross dress as Madam Fatal and fight crime
Richard Stanton becomes Madam Fatal to fight crime
Earlier today on my private account a rather rude troll decided, after repeatedly trying to say I don't read comics, decided that he would call me a slur. Who it was, doesn't really matter as he's not worth a bunch of people trying to silence him and make him a martyr.. That said, this is a post and a comment that I've made for a long time and it needs to be made again.

Rod Reilly as Firebrand would later be announced as a "Confirmed bachelor"
Firebrand in see-thru shirt with man servant


Comics are for EVERYONE. Comics were designed for everyone. According to William Moulton Marston, the main driving force behind Wonder Woman as both writer and co-creator, during his time.. EVERYONE read comics. Women, men, children of both genders.. Everyone. He openly fought hard against Fredric Wertham, author of Seduction of the Innocent, a mostly made up study that lead to comics censoring themselves, and the two clashed a few times while Marston was alive. Marston and others working in comics openly celebrated the freedoms the new medium gave them as Marston was able to push his open feminist propaganda.  Jewish creators like Shuster and Siegel (Creators of Superman) and Simon and Kirby (Captain America's creators) were able to thumb their nose a Hilter. Matt Baker, the first known African-American artist, and others were able to push the boundaries with their pin-up "good girl art", named so because the women looked good, not because they were good. Not to mention that a number of women found careers in early comics from Lily Renée to Ruth Roche. Heck, Tarpé Mills, who created Miss Fury the first female superhero created and illustrated by a woman, was able to live out her fantasies on the page for years. I've even heard of some early creators who may have been trans* or genderqueer, though their names elude me at the moment. And that's just a fraction of what I know from the early comics. All that is to say.. comics were BUILT by everyone for everyone.


The exclusion of people from comics has only been a recent thing, like the lie that women have only Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane was a top selling book at one time. On top of all that, there has always been titles from not-DC and Marvel that have drawn female fans like Elfquest. But even with all that, women have gravitated to DC and Marvel's heroes. Seriously, we wouldn't have women creators in superhero comic books now if they weren't fans.
Short lived comic with all African-American characters
cover of All-Negro Comics from 47
been working in comics for the last few years with the Gail Simone starting the trend with her work at DC and Marvel (this ignores of course countless other women working in the field for decades at the same time as Gail and she has always been quick to note that herself). The idea that comics, through movies, have just suddenly opened up to women or groups that aren't the typical reader, is also not remotely true. Women have been reading comics since before Wonder Woman, but definitely Wonder Woman drew women and girls to comics, but as DC and Marvel moved to more male based heroes for young boys mostly (and often threw Wonder Woman off to writers that didn't want to work on her or did bad things), there have always been alternatives.. like romance comics that DC and Marvel both put out, not to mention at one point

So let's dispel this myth and let me say again.. comics ARE for everyone.. Superhero comics as well as indy comics. Comic books are a medium to tell stories and while superheroes are currently the dominate format over all, that also has not always been the case (westerns, romance, horror, and mystery comics have taken over at times and when DC changed directions back to superheroes to create what is now known as the Silver Age with creating Barry Allen as the new Flash, almost all superhero comics were cancelled except Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman!).  So yeah.. read comics, love comics, and remember to invite people in to comics. Because comics were made for everyone, by a huge diverse crowd, with a ton of diverse and crazy characters.
Home of the Green Turtle, first Chinese-American superhero
Green Turtle, created by Chu F. Hing to be the first Chinese-American hero
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Katana at Super Hero High Review

I'm obviously addicted to DC Super Hero Girls. As I've said previously, I've pretty much consumed everything that is DC Super Hero Girls up until this point. So here's a review on the newest book, Katana at Super Hero High  by the always amazing and talented Lisa Yee. This is the 4th book in the series after Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Batgirl all got their own books and this one is finally a breath of fresh air of newness. The first 3 books all focus on the concept of a new girl coming to school, struggling to fit in and accepting her place at this elite new school. There were slight variations on the theme, but that's basically it. Wonder Woman and Supergirl felt very similar as they both dealt with similar issues and Batgirl had slightly different perspective, but it still felt like we've tread over this material before. With Katana, we've finally got a new perspective. Katana is not the new girl at school, she's established with friends from the pre...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why does trade vs. Graphic Novel matter and how to tell the difference

So someone challenged me recently that none of this remotely matters if it is a trade paperback or if it is a graphic novel.. and someone else expressed frustration in not being able to tell what is reprinted.. This blog post is going to cover both.. so hang on to your seats. Why does it matter? Well simple.. they're different terms and mean different things, just like Anime and Manga mean different things even though they are related and in the same industry. But besides that, there is a difference between say the Sandman graphic novel and the Sandman trades. How? OK.. So Sandman has 11 trades now (From Preludes and Nocturnes to the Wake and then the prequel/ending The Overture ) and there are 2 graphic novels ( Dream Hunters and Endless Nights) The trades tell the serialized story from beginning to end and recent beginning that brings the whole thing full circle again. That story is reprinted from the original series 1-75 and Overture 1-6. This is important to note because a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Marvel cancellation "blood bath" recommendations

Many of you have noticed that Marvel recently cancelled a ton of titles. Those would be America , Iceman , Luke Cage , Gwenpool , Hawkeye, Generation X , and Defenders. I know it's a sad time if you were a fan of any of these. It's also going to suck for patrons to discover their favorite comic is gone, but here are some recommendations to fill the void (maybe?). Harley Quinn - obvious replacement for Gwenpool since well.. they hit a lot of the same notes. Insane over the top fun with a female lead who is having too much fun. Harley also gathers up a group of people like her to form her gang. Oh bonus: Harley Quinn is openly bisexual and in a relationship with her girlfriend, Poison Ivy. The Question by Greg Rucka - an option to read if you were enjoying America, Renee Montoya is an amazing Latina Lesbian who grows a lot as a person and a hero. She comes out in Gotham Central and becomes the Question in 52 . But the 2 Question trades deal with Renee trying to uncove...
Post a Comment
Read more