The world of comics is no longer just about flights and tights.
Compared to the very first comic book, “The Funnies,” which was printed in 1929, today’s comic books have evolved and now include classic serial magazines as well as graphic novels and manga,
The Festival of Books will be celebrating comics in all their forms this weekend with a comic-specific section, appropriately named “The Comix Strip.”
The area will be an oasis for devoted readers ““ “fanboys” as they are affectionately called ““ with booths from publishers including Image Comics and Boom! Studios and experts on-site to appraise rare and collectible titles.
Comic books have always been part of the festival’s offerings, but this is only the second year that the event has featured “The Comix Strip.”
Even casual readers, however, will be able to appreciate the strip, even if their knowledge of comics is limited to adaptations on the big screen.
Film adaptations can arguably be credited as the most pressing force that has helped comic books rise in prominence as a literary genre recently.
While recent comic-to-screen adaptations such as “Watchmen,” “V for Vendetta,” and “Sin City” are more recognizable in their origins, there have also been many untraditional stories that have been made into movies.
“A lot of people didn’t know that “˜Road to Perdition’ was (originally) a comic book, as well as “˜A History of Violence’ and “˜Ghost World,'” said Geoff Boucher, a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times who runs the “Heroes Complex” blog.
But while one form of entertainment has propelled another, the comic books today must compete with a less-friendly foe that threatens their recreational role: video games.
“Playstation and Xbox hurts comic books more than anything else,” Boucher said.
He added that many titles include superhero characters, and major publishers such as DC Comics and Marvel are transforming into intellectual property companies, creating characters to be used not just for comics, but for films, video games, toys and apparel as well.
The Internet has also found its way into the genre, but publishers are still working to figure out the best way to bring the medium online.
“Web comics haven’t really found (their) feet yet,” he said. “A screen isn’t the most convenient way to consume a traditionally-created story.”
Boucher said to cope with the various changes in the times, today’s comics are being updated with characters such as Superman and Green Lantern being re-invented to be more modern.
“It’s fascinating to see where comic books and graphic novels are today as a literary form,” he said. “It’s a very dynamic time in the comic book industry. We’re seeing a lot of new creators step up, and we’re seeing the traditional characters presented in new and exciting ways.”
He cited titles such as “100 Bullets” and “Filthy Rich,” by Brian Azzarello, as well as “Incognito” by Ed Brubaker as examples of innovative new comics.
“They are bringing a really kind of exciting pulp energy into comics ““ sort of like tapping into (the) legacy of Lew Archer,” Boucher said. “(There’s) a lot of variety and stories that have sophistication and nuance.”
Gary Phillips, a mystery novelist, has authored comics through Boom! Studios: “Angeltown” and a four-part mini-series that has been compiled in a graphic novel, titled “High Rollers,” which he said was a “modern “˜American gangster’ story.”
He said there are many other authors branching out into the medium.
“It’s kind of interesting. There’s certainly a lot more writers outside of comics; novel writers and screen writers who write comics as well,” he said.
Though he has written traditional fiction, he said writing comics involves a very different process of supplying dialogue and transmitting emotional states through physical actions.
“Personally, I’ve been a comics fan since I was a kid. … It made me be a writer,” he added. “It’s always been kind of an interesting, cheap form of entertainment.”