Confessions of a Comic Book Guy is a weekly column by retailer Steve Bennett of Super-Fly Comics and Games in
I don’t nip down to the comic book store the way I once did, partially due to a hectic schedule but mostly because the comics that I enjoy reading most these days don’t come out on Wednesday. I’m on that short list of people who audibly go “oooh!” when a new (to me) issue of Speed or Target gets posted on the Golden Age Comics Downloads Websites. That’s right; these days the bulk of this caveman’s comic book reading is done in front of a computer screen.
At first I found it awkward but soon got used to it, the same way I got used to reading manga right to left. And there are some definite advantages. One problem I have reading comics in person (so to speak) is my rapidly deteriorating eyes -- there’s a never ending struggle to find the optimum distance between myself, the periodical and the light source. You have none of that reading off of a monitor and when I want to reread something instead of having to dig through long boxes full of back issues my comics are literally at my fingertips (either on my computer or a convenient disc).
Thanks to the comic advertisement by Scott McCloud (and as much as I enjoy his non-fiction books about comics after reading Zot!: The Complete Black and White Collection, I’m once again aware of just how much I’d like to see him working the fiction side of the street again), I gave Google Chrome a try and found it to be the perfect browser for managing my ever increasing number of Silver and Gold e-comics.
That’s right, Silver. Having worked my way through a large chunk of what’s available online in public domain Golden Age comics I’ve moved on to not only the comics I loved when I was a kid that have gone uncollected but the stuff I never got a chance to read back then (The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor, Mighty Samson, Turok, Magnus, Kona Monarch of Monster Island, etc.).
I know that downloading these is ‘illegal’ and that I should be a good boy and wait until someone collects all of the above. I mean, it’s inevitable, seeing as we’re living in the Golden Age of Reprints. Need proof? DC has solicited a hardcover (?!) edition of Jack Kirby’s The Losers from the 70s.
Maybe it’s just a cheap justification on my part but I really believe there’s a gray area, mirroring how things have worked in the American manga/anime fan market where material is ‘fair game’ for fan translation until a publishing company acquires the right. And seeing as how it’s growing increasingly unlikely I’ll live forever I decided not to wait until DC gets around to putting out deluxe editions of Rex the Wonder Dog, and Sugar & Spike (not to mention Dial H for Hero, Hot Wheels, Captain Action, etc.).
I’d feel guilty, but then I’m also the kind of comic book guy who isn’t just willing to pay $59.99 for the next volume of Marvel's Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age that was just solicited; I’m looking forward to it. But I believe that ultimately downloads, legal or otherwise, really haven’t hurt the entertainment industry and they’re unlikely to hurt comic books -- any more than they’re already hurting themselves anyway.
I hope that by now all of you have caught Batman: Brave and the Bold on Cartoon Network, mostly because it’s an enormous amount of fun. As hoped it really is a perfect way of introducing the DC heroes to a new generation of kids, a blend of action and humor that never devolves into spoof. And while Colorform Batman (I call him that because he can peel static Batarangs off his chest emblem -- and because he kind of looks like a Colorform) is far friendlier than the current comic book version he’s no Super Friend either. This guy keeps a flexible sword in his utility belt.
Last time I wrote about how “comfort food television” (cop shows and sit-coms) were suddenly ratings hits, supposedly a reflection of the dark national mood. Well since then there’s been a spate of newspaper articles on the CBS show NCIS one of which used this word to describe its appeal: reliability. You really can’t say the same thing about comics, where the selling point isn’t so much “more of the same,” but setting up a steady stream of stunts to try and shake up the status quo (i.e. Stan Lee’s illusion of change). Which is why Batman is currently MIA, Superman is heading off to outer space (again), and since DC isn’t likely to leave her out of the fun if I were to hazard a guess I’d predict Wonder Woman is going to be fighting crime as an unwed mother within a year.
The opinions expressed in this Talk Back column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
