Douglas
Wolk’s book Reading Comics has
two major sections. In the first section, outlines a framework for comic
book criticism.
First, he makes it clear that the comic book (or graphic
novel) is a distinct medium. Comics are
not half-assed attempts at some other media such as film
or prose.
Next he draws a distinction between mainstream comics and art
comics. Mainstream comics have always been an corporate effort. It is corporate
in the sense that it has been controlled by publishers.
It is also corporate because most mainstream comics are the product of a team
(a writer,
an artist—sometimes
separate penciller
and inker—a colorist, and a
letterer).
Both of these types of corporate authorship give rise to a house style.
This gives rise to one of the major points of distinction between
mainstream and art comics. Mainstream comics are dominated by a house style.
Art comics are an expression of the style of the cartoonist.
There is an element of auteurism in this understanding of art comics. An art
comic, to a much greater degree than a mainstream comic, is a single artist’s
interpretation of what he sees or envisions. Art comics are valued as an
expression of their creators’ visions. The more skillful the cartoonist, the
more likely he is to produce good comics.
There is more to Wolk’s framework of comics criticism than this, but it
seems to me to be the central element. Wolk does not claim to be making a
comprehensive system of criticism. Comic books are too new a medium for that,
especially because comics criticisms is necessarily younger.
In the second section of the book, Wolk discusses the works of
particular cartoonists. Some of these work heavily or mostly in mainstream
comics, but the focus remains on how the artist interprets and expresses his
vision in comics, with or without the expectations of mainstream comics.
One of the great examples of this is Alan Moore.
Moore’s work for mainstream publishers had turned the mainstream, and
especially the superhero
genre, on its
head while still producing comics that work excellently as mainstream comics.
Moore bucks the trend of artsy cartoonists by being a writer only; all of his
comics are mainstream-style collaborations with an artist. Wolk mentions
several works of Moore, but the grand example is Watchmen. Moore, and especially Watchmen, has cost a long shadow on
mainstream comics. He has pushed the mainstream to be much better, and eager
imitators have unfortunately produced some horrible comics by learning all the
wrong lessons.
Several cartoonists receive attention: the dark, strange visions of Steve Ditko
(cocreator of Spider-Man),
the epically deep world-building and beautiful drawing of Jaime
Hernandez, the epic opus of Cerebus
comics by Dave
Sim, the artistry of Will Eisner,
the power of Frank
Miller (sometimes overpowering), and the consciousness-expanding ouvre of Grant
Morrison (another writer, but not artist).
Even though the book is not new, it introduced me to cartoonists and
comics that were new to me. It was worth the read for that, though Wolk’s
perspective on the development of mainstream and art comics is interesting,
too.
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Douglas Wolk. Reading Comics: How
Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean. Cambridge,
MA: Da Capo,
2007.
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