Outside of comic books themselves, there is very little advertising for comic books, online or on television. Targeting non-comic book readers could be effective, but are the corporations who own comic book publishers really trying to sell comic books?
I just read Daughters of the Dragon, simply out of curiosity about one of the only female crime fighting duo’s (in comic books or any other entertainment medium.) While I’m a bit of an old Iron Fist fan, and I do enjoy reading comics about female superheroes, and Misty and Colleen are a creation of Chris Claremont and John Byrne (who did some very weird but very good things with strong, sexy women in other books, including the marvelous Dark Phoenix Saga) Daughters of the Dragon was the only female crime-fighting duo book I could find. It sounds ridiculous, and I’m hoping that perhaps some of you reading this can help me, but they were one of the only crime-fighting, female duos that I could think of in any entertainment medium, outside of that old ‘80’s tv series; Cagney and Lacey.
Most superheroes are depicted standing so tall and straight that they almost arch their backs backwards. Meanwhile we sit at desks all day, curled up with almost the opposite posture, yet we are so engaged by these images. Are we trying to tell ourselves something?
Comic book logo development is a lot of fun for me and I thought you might like to see how one gets made. Like a lot of self-employed people in this industry, I spent part of the holiday season working. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to. Being a graphic designer can be fun, but being a graphic designer for a comic book can be incredibly fun. So I worked on some ads for a new comic book and established some ground rules for the mood and feel that I want to evoke with the logo when it is done. This project is so far in the future that I cannot share the work, but it got me thinking that you might be interested in seeing how a new comic book logo takes shape for me. A logo that I worked on a couple of months ago is now in use on a comic book that will be available to buy in the Spring.
Rather than pick out my favorite comics of 2011, I present my top ten favorite comic books for any year (more about why this is non-specific to 2011 below the list.) Realistically, I’ll probably change my mind at some point, since inevitably I’m probably going to change myself at some point too. But for now, these are the books which made my this year, and every year so far, pretty great.
Last week I was finally walking again and able to pick up three weeks of saved comic books! In the haze of ankle sprain and grouchy tiredness, it was incredibly blissful to lie in bed reading the ongoing stories of some comic books that I know I love. Just for fun, and because I’ve been reading a lot of older comic books lately, I thought I’d give you a quick one paragraph synopsis of each book I read. I have to say, it was a very good month. Maybe I’m good at picking out books I like, but I have to say, this was a very entertaining batch and had me rethinking my questions about the quality of the years books…
Recently I had the very good luck to get my hands on a copy of the Garth Ennis and Phillip Bond 2000AD series; Time Flies. After years of searching for back issues, a friend who collects 2000AD gave me a “spare” copy of 2000AD Extreme Edition #19, which compiles the entire series. It isn’t that I’m any kind of fanatic for time travel stories (though I do like science fiction), but more that I adore Bond’s art and Ennis’s writing. For a long time I’ve been wanting to check out this early work of theirs, and I was very excited to see how the two would collaborate.
Last week I finally read a large chunk of Grant Morrison’s ‘90’s run on JLA. It was something I’d been really looking forward, saving up to read when I felt like I deserved it. I knew it was going to be good, I just didn’t realize how much so. It was my birthday last week. Well, not quite my birthday, the day after my birthday, but I still wanted to keep celebrating in a low key way, so I took a very relaxing 2 hour hot bath and I dived into Grant Morrison’s run on JLA.
DC’s solo, female superhero titles depict women who are firmly focused on emotions, family, home, and sex. These women are so distracted by these things, that they’re barely able to think about their jobs as superheroes. It is disappointing to read so many women characters depicted this way, consistently unprofessional and erratic, and it is hard to imagine a male character ever worrying about any of these things to this level.
Today my friend Stephanie reminded me of this webcomic, linking to it in a discussion about the societal denial of emotional depression. It touched me so much, making me smile at something so bleak, that I had to share it.
I’m enjoying the new Ultimate Spider-Man. I hate to admit it, partly because I’d much rather be all old-school and tell you to go look up some classic Spider-Man stories. But the comic book isn’t just okay, it is actually working just a little more for me than the original version did. Then I also hate to admit it because this is obviously not a comic book aimed at adult women and I just can’t deal with how creepy people will think I am for just loving this kid.
How to get new readers addicted to comic books… People who have never read a comic book often ask me where to start. Sometimes the question is only half serious, more of a sort of bewildered curiosity about what I could possibly get out of it. Maybe because of this column or because my house is filled with comic book ephemera, but people come to me when they want to start and I’m starting to see some patterns about where they like to start, and it isn’t with superheroes.
If a cigar can be just a cigar, and not some obvious phallic symbol to be endlessly sucked and played with, then can a superhero ever be just a superhero, or is it always representative of a deeper, more complex need within us?
Taking eight flights and traveling something like 14,000 miles in the last two weeks I’ve had some reading time on my hands. Thankfully I had friends with me, including Batwoman, Buffy, Hellblazer, Supergirl, Unwritten, Secret Avengers, and Wolverine. A girlfriend once told me that she loved to fall asleep with a book, it felt like company. Similarly, I was happy to have my comic books with me. The familiar faces were a comfort and a distraction.
As I write this, I’m slumped on the couch having just returned from New York Comic Convention. This was my second time at NYCC and I can confirm that it is a very different sort of affair from its West Coast counterparts like San Diego International Comic Con. Like New York itself, the convention is a little darker and more crowded, with less physical space for a similar amount of people and moodier lighting, the convention has an engaging urgency to it. Underneath all of the brash fun of the comic books, costumes, toys and games there is a definite New York atmosphere which bleeds through. Meeting up with all of my East Coast and European friends and colleagues in person is quite an experience too, since if we do talk, it is usually only talk online.
These are the comicbook-related articles of Sonia Harris. Her column can be read every Wednesday on Comics Should Be Good and has done occasional convention coverage for Comic Book Resources.
BIO
Sonia Harris' comic obsession began earlier than she can remember. After a childhood saturated with an odd mix of Jules Feiffer, Dick Bruna, and Robert Crumb, she discovered superheroes through Kirby, Byrne, and Sienkiewicz (among others). She was deeply inspired by the powers, sweeping capes, and fabulous boots, and she loved to espouse the importance of these to anyone who would listen.
At some point in her teens, it became "ridiculous and juvenile" that she liked comics. Obligingly, she tried to suppress her desires, keeping things quiet until she finally met some like-minded people. They invited her to share her inappropriate observations with the internet, and the rest is history.
Sonia designs, writes, makes, photographs, and illustrates a little. She started out doing these things in London, where she's from, but moved to San Francisco a slew of years ago.
