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One of the interesting things about Misfits<\/em>, although it\u2019s hardly the first story of this type (cf. Heroes<\/em>), is the way that it\u2019s not actually based upon established comic book characters. Because we still associate superheroes with comics, don\u2019t we?<\/p>\n That\u2019s natural, I suppose, despite the fact that more people will probably see The Dark Knight Rises<\/em> in a given weekend than will read a Batman comic or graphic novel over a period of years. Yes, readership usually increases in this kind of bumper crop year, and your circ figures for certain GN titles may bear this out. Indeed, in 2008 and even 2009 the publishing industry saw what was termed the \u201cDark Knight Effect,\u201d in which the box office mega-hit contributed to a huge spike in comics sales. So will 2012, or 2013 with its promising Man of Steel<\/em> and a new Iron Man<\/em> sequel, sends droves of motivated readers to busy librarians and grateful retailers?<\/p>\n Surely the raw numbers will eventually answer this question, but I have another one\u2014does a sudden interest in a handful of titles really help comics? Or does it actually hurt their cultural standing, at least in North America? That is, maybe the following would have been a more suitable title for this post\u2026 \u201cSuperheroes: Bigger Than Ever or Industry Obstacle\u2014or Both?\u201d It\u2019s a question that\u2019s worth posing to student-fans, whether they’re fond of DC\/Marvel properties or indie creations (or both, like me).<\/p>\n At first blush the all-boats-rise dynamics\/economics of the situation seem simple: new or lapsed readers of comics seek out a beloved character from a film and\/or TV franchise, then stick around long enough to learn about, and eventually appreciate, lesser-known works under the guidance of a knowledgeable librarian or hand-selling retailer. But doesn’t that make things a bit, I don’t know, precarious<\/em>? As Danny Fingeroth<\/a>, renowned former Spider-Man honcho and co-editor of The Stan Lee Universe <\/em>(TwoMorrows, 978-1-60549-030-4), explained to me, \u201cSince the specialty comics shop market, which also supports independent and offbeat publications, is mainly supported by the loyalty of the regular superhero comics purchaser, it does put much of the health of the indie comics market in the hands of those superhero comics collectors.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, members of that same indie community\u2014which, it\u2019s easy to forget, also<\/em> includes superhero titles\u2014reserve the right to continue griping, albeit more quietly, about how mainstream superheroes have stifled the artistic and cultural growth of an entire medium in the U.S. (in a way that echoes this post<\/a> about blockbuster movies from last week). This way everyone stays happy, right? (That\u2019s sarcasm, by the way.)<\/p>\n Well, not every<\/em>one. Certainly not comics activist Michael Netzer<\/a>, who, with his \u201cSave the Comics\u201d campaign aimed at Marvel and DC, has formalized grumblings that have been heard intermittently over the past decade or more. Far from applauding the surge of superheroes into other media as a move that benefits comics, Netzer claims that such tangential successes have led \u201cthe Big Two\u201d to neglect initiatives they could make to further the industry as a whole: what\u2019s their motivation, when “floppy” comics represent just a small part of the overall market for superhero content?<\/p>\n Petitioning for \u201can end of the reckless endangerment of the comic book\u2026 business,\u201d Netzer and his followers have requested that these Warner- and Disney-owned publishers think about the long-term costs of their extracurricular activities in terms that sound decidedly superheroic: \u201cWe call on the industry leaders to exhibit a greater sense of responsibility with the great power they have over the industry\u2014and to return to exemplifying the values of truth and justice towards comic book writers and artists who provide the fuel for their enterprises to flourish.\u201d Yes, in part it\u2019s a variation on the growing call for creator\u2019s rights (which we\u2019ve covered here<\/a> and here<\/a>), but what\u2019s intriguing is how the argument is now framed in terms of how the entire industry is negatively affected, not just some talented but unjustly ignored individuals.<\/p>\n The implicit distinction made by Netzer, who began his career as an acclaimed artist for both Marvel and DC, is worth bearing in mind by those who disdain superhero comics generally\u2014on the one hand, we have a genre with a rich tradition and resonant themes, and, on the other, we have those business entities that currently control its best-known commercial assets. In short, we conflate the two at our own peril\u2014there are superheroes as figures of cultural resonance\u2026 and there are superheroes as branded assets controlled and promoted by corporate media (which are often accused of using comics as a mere R&D division for films, games, and so on).<\/p>\n Indeed, Netzer takes a long view, part of a school of thought that sees the superhero archetype as having originated long, long ago and holding an appeal far deeper than this month\u2019s hottest multiplex flick or videogame. He explained it to me like this: \u201cPerhaps the least-known or understood aspect of the superhero mythology in modern culture is the tangible metaphor that it alludes to about our very human state and the discernible hazards our evolving civilization faces. Creators who nourish superhero mythology draw inspiration from both the splendor and the peril they perceive simultaneously in their own real world.\u201d<\/p>\n Agreed\u2014and I guess my assent here, and incipient enthusiasm, means that I\u2019m slowly overcoming my personal fatigue.<\/p>\n Still, if the public perceives that it can find these same themes just as easily in screen media, does that leave corporate publishing with little more to do than cheerlead from the sidelines or occasionally kill off characters in quasi-publicity stunts? If so, we\u2019ve reached an interesting historical moment, with the genre being more vital than ever to the culture at large, but remaining a reactionary force in the very medium that spawned it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Superheroes: Bigger Than Ever or Industry Obstacle\u2014or Both?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":1445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,14,15,27,16,17],"tags":[136,100,152,153,154,140,75,132,102],"class_list":{"0":"post-1444","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-comics","8":"category-media-literacy","9":"category-movies","10":"category-print-media","11":"category-social-studies","12":"category-tv","13":"tag-batman","14":"tag-blockbusters","15":"tag-danny-fingeroth","16":"tag-michael-netzer","17":"tag-misfits","18":"tag-spider-man","19":"tag-superheroes","20":"tag-superman","21":"tag-the-avengers","22":"entry"},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/blogs.slj.com\/connect-the-pop\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2012\/07\/misfits_00_02_20mb-500.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/blogs.slj.com\/connect-the-pop\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2012\/07\/misfits_00_02_20mb-500.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Peter Gutierrez","author_link":"https:\/\/blogs.slj.com\/connect-the-pop\/author\/peterjgutierrez\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.slj.com\/connect-the-pop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.slj.com\/connect-the-pop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.slj.com\/connect-the-pop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.slj.com\/connect-the-pop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.slj.com\/connect-the-pop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.slj.com\/connect-the-pop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.slj.com\/connect-the-pop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.slj.com\/connect-the-pop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.slj.com\/connect-the-pop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.slj.com\/connect-the-pop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sljinactiveprd.wpengine.com\/connect-the-pop\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2012\/07\/Rough-guide-to-graphic-novels-danny-fingeroth-300x296.jpg\")
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Concurring about the real-world relevancy of superheroes is Fingeroth, author of Superman on the Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us About Ourselves and Our Society <\/em>(Continuum, 978-0-8264-1540-0). When I asked him to name something that non-comics readers might not know about the genre, he responded, \u201cThey might not understand how much the superhero is the product of an immigrant sensibility, grown out of the streets and public schools of New York in the early and [mid-twentieth century]\u201d (see the potential History\/Social Studies curricular connection here?). Obviously, however, the genre is not just of interest to cultural historians, but rather remains compelling to readers who come for the action and remain for the latent, and powerful, thematic material. According to Fingeroth, superhero comics often \u201cdeal directly and metaphorically with issues of the day, and some portray violence and sexuality in extreme ways. The upside of this is that serious topics can also be addressed in dramatic, yet non-titillating, ways.\u201d<\/p>\n