(Originally Posted at my livejournal, 3rd of October 2007)
There's a recurring conversation that goes on in the comics blogosphere, and on the various message boards that cater to those of us who care about this stuff; about so-called "gateway" graphic novels, books that will bring new readers to comics by showing them what the medium is capable of, and busting their preconceptions about the type of material they're likely to find. I think about this a lot, because what it essentially boils down to is: there aren't enough people reading comics, people who surely would if only they knew that the kind of material they'd enjoy is right there waiting for them in their local comics shop. When we talk about "gateway comics", we are talking, potentially, about the comics that will save our industry. I thought I'd share my thoughts.
A while ago I linked to a fantastic piece by Kevin Church on his Beaucoup Kevin blog. In it he briefly touches on the "gateway" topic, and makes this comment:
"A real gateway comic is something like Persepolis or Fun Home"
Which is a pretty commonly voiced idea; and those two titles, along other pieces in a similarly serious literary vein such as Palestine, Maus, American Born Chinese, Cancer Vixen, etc. etc. are regularly touted by the more intellectually inclined comics fan (a group I usually find myself allied with, if not one I feel completely comfortable in) as being the "new mainstream" of comics, comics that ordinary people will be interested in, and will eventually help break the superhero's vice like grip on the medium yadda yadda. But while that's a noble sentiment, it's frankly completely unrealistic.
Documentaries do not, in general, do amazing business in cinemas. They are not what one would refer to as mainstream cinema. And every single one of these books is basically a documentary in comic form.
Documentaries are wonderful. I LOVE documentaries. But they are NOT mainstream. They are educational. They are thought provoking. They often tell us things about the world, and show us things about ourselves, that could not be communicated effectively by even the most accomplished fiction. But they are not mainstream.
I mean no disrespect to the creators of any of the above mentioned titles; I am not commenting on their quality. I love Maus, and Fun Home is without doubt one of the best graphic novels I have ever read. But if someone unfamiliar with comics asked me to give them something to read, the very LAST thing I would do is hand them one of these books.
Unless they REALLY REALLY liked documentaries.
I wouldn't give them a copy of Eightball either, or Hate, or an Acme Novelty Library, not even that most beloved of indy classics Love And Rockets. I would not suggest they read Goodbye Chunky Rice, even though I found it beautiful and moving. In fact, I wouldn't recommend any of the many, many, highly accomplished quirky independent "art-comix" that are often championed as being part of this "new mainstream", either.
not unless they, like me, had a fondness for quirky independent cinema.
And there's the thing- those two words, there in that last sentence: like me.
Everyone like me already reads comics.
Which is where the whole debate about "mainstream"-ness comes in... because a real gateway comic is a mainstream comic. I don't care about quality when it comes to this issue. A comic doesn't have to be good to appeal to a mass audience, any more than movies or music or prose have to be good. But it does certainly help if it's, well, mainstream... assuming that by mainstream comics we mean not superhero comics, or indy art comix, but comics that appeal to the majority of people (or would if they knew they existed). That's what "mainstream" means in every other field of entertainment, right?
Unfortunately, one could be forgiven for thinking that "mainstream comics", at present, is practically an oxymoron. Comics fandom, and to some degree the industry that caters to it, is almost as polarized as western politics right now. On one side you have the Superhero fans, with their company cross-overs and continuity porn, blindly loyal to corporate properties that were old before they were born; and on the other you have the hip indy kids, more than a few of whom are hardly kids anymore- their "underground" comics are almost as old as the Fantastic Four, and their claims of outsider cred seem more and more absurd when Graphic Novels are winning literary prizes. But this is the state of our industry now, this is what you see in the comments section of every comics news site or blog (see the links list to the left); and this is the audience that comics publishers are catering to. And so comics are by and large these ridiculously obscure creations, designed to appeal to one or the other tiny subculture... and no one else.
So is this what it boils down to? Pervert Suit Adventures versus The Lonely Death Of Got No Legs Boy? (Apologies to Warren Ellis)
Of course it isn't.
Ocean by Warren Ellis and Chris Sprouse is a genuinely mainstream comic book. It is an entertaining, self contained story with an interesting premise, that requires no more than a passing familiarity with the science fiction genre to "get it", if that. Anyone who enjoys science fiction movies, from Star Wars to Terminator, is likely to enjoy it. And that's a lot of people. Orbiter by Warren Ellis (again) and Coleen Doran fits into a similar category, although, I'd be more likely to recommend it someone who liked K-Pax or Contact than a Terminator fan. Give Me Liberty by Frank Miller and Dave Gibbons would appeal to fans of all of them. Miller's Ronin suits this demographic as well.
For people who like cop shows on TV, or gangster movies, there's plenty to choose from as well: from Fell (Ellis
again, this time with Ben Templesmith) to Sin City (Miller), via Kane (Paul Grist) and Road To Perdition (Max Allan Collins and Richard Piers Rayner). Kickback by David Lloyd is a recent work that I would particularly reccomend.
Horror fans are notoriously well catered for, from Walking Dead (Robert Kirkman and various) to 30 Days Of Night (Steve Niles and and Templesmith).
And I should probably apologize to you, dear reader, as I've no doubt that you've already heard of every one of these comics, and probably read most of them. But I'm making a point. Which is this:
There are, despite the corner we've managed to paint ourselves into, plenty of great comics out there that are truly mainstream. And I should point out that I am deliberately leaving out unwieldy longform works, like the holy trinity of Sandman, Preacher and Transmetropolitan, because I think that they are quite a commitment to ask of a new reader. It's like handing someone a boxed set of The Sopranos when all they asked for was a crime movie (Even though I know for a fact that they are more likely to entertain the average person than the latest issue of Skintight Society).
Now, this list clearly needs some romantic comedies, the most popular genre in any medium that has managed to actualy attract the attention of the real mainstream. I doubt very much that I would want to read any of them... but that's the point, isn't it? Gateway comics aren't comics that appeal to me- or you- they're comics that appeal to new readers.
...................
And well, while that's probably not the most coherent train of thought in the world, that's a pretty full summation of my opinion on "gateway" comics and the "new mainstream". So put that in yer pipe and smoke it, matey.
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