Lost or forgotten works intrigue me. Greek and Roman writers often mention works (plays, poems or essays) that haven't survived. I don't mean works that were already lost during their time. I mean works that were available at the time, but that haven't survived our time.
We know the authors of those works, and we know the titles of those works, but we have no idea what they were about, and never will. Those works are gone forever. That was to be expected when you consider that:
a) There weren't that many copies around (the printing press hadn't been invented yet, and everything was copied by hand)
b) The material used (papyrus) was highly perishable
And of course, even after the invention of paper and the printing press, a lot of stuff still got lost for good.
Things are easier to preserve now, but there's a different sort of challenge. The more books (or records, or comics, or movies) are being produced, they more they pile up.
Perhaps things are no longer lost for good now, but they may still be forgotten because they're buried by a mountain of other stuff. A pebble is durable, but if you toss it on a beach with millions and millions of identical-looking pebbles, it's as good as lost.
It is true that, often, works are forgotten for a reason. Nevertheless, sometimes a few gems get lost too. When it comes to comics, finding lost, forgotten gems gives me immense pleasure. And the pleasure is amplified by the fact that, in all honesty, most of the comics that are being made are not that good.
When I tell people that I like comics, they automatically assume that I like all comics. That's ridiculous. Think about it. Someone who loves movies doesn't love every movie ever made, does she? And the same goes for every form of art. In fact, from a strictly numerical point of view, I actually don't like the majority of the comics that are being made. Most of them are garbage, as Americans would say.
(Many comics are well drawn but poorly written. Good artists are ten a penny, but good writers are rare, for some reason.)
Let's take Marvel, for example. They did some brilliant stuff in the 60s, 70s and 80s. (And also some not-so-brilliant stuff.) The problem nowadays is that:
a) They're just repeating themselves, everything is really trite
b) They take themselves way too seriously
(In an ideal world, Marvel would've closed shop sometime in the early 90s. And DC even earlier than that. Instead, they'll both be around forever and ever, until the end of time.)
Is comics’ popularity slowly but surely declining? Perhaps. What is wrong with them? Well, for starters, the name.
It implies that they’re funny. Some are, some aren’t. The name graphic novel is an improvement, but it’s reductive. It only applies for longer works aimed at a mature audience. We just don’t have a satisfying, all-encompassing name.
(In Italian, comics are called fumetti, literally little smokes. In the early days, the word balloons coming out of the characters’ mouths resembled little clouds of smoke. Also not a great name.)
Many people also think that comics have a clear disadvantage compared to another narrative medium like movies. They lack sound but also, crucially, movement. A car chase in a movie looks a lot different from a car chase in a comic.
Quick digression. The first time I was in Taiwan, one afternoon my then-girlfriend and I decided to go to the cinema. Once there, the lady selling the tickets started chatting with her (in Chinese, of course). Later on she recounted that conversation back to me, which went as follows:
- Is that your boyfriend?
- Yes.
- He's handsome.
- Thank you.
- He looks like Adam Sandler.
Now, setting aside the fact that he's as funny as a tumor, in what universe is Adam Sandler handsome? I'm telling you, that woman was lucky I don't understand Chinese.
Going back to movies, they certainly have movement (hence the name), but there’s a problem with them. They keep moving all the time. They’re never still for one second. What do I mean by that?
The same way rules don’t limit a game but define the game, they make the game what it is, similarly what may be perceived as limitations in a particular medium are actually the very characteristics that make that medium what it is.
Would you look at a painting and complain that it doesn’t move, or that it doesn’t contain any words? Would you read a novel and remark about the lack of images or sounds?
Movies closely resemble real life. That’s their power. But just like life, every moment is gone as soon as it happened.
That’s what I find magical about photos, paintings, illustrations and comics. They are still, frozen in time, and you can just look at them for as long as you want, in the knowledge that they will never change.
