Turns out my recent interest in comic books is not idiosyncratic either. Just came across this article in USA Today, stating that comic book sales were up 5% this year. This does not surprise me, and it has something to do with the resurgence in vinyl: people crave the tactile. That is my thesis. In this digital age, where everything is intangible and reduced to 1's and 0's, people grow weary and feel less human. Because no matter how hard to try to suppress it, we are not digital people. We are analog. We are not either/or. We are not neat and clean. We are not non-physical.
So back to comics, and why they are popular: To start, they tell a story. They reflect society's deepest longings for a "hero." And also reflect the characteristics of this cultural hero (in the corpulent 80's we were cynically applauding the anti-hero; Now we see a recovery of the classic "just" hero as we face hardship).
And comics are tactile: you hold the art-work in your hand, you flip the page, you smell the new print. Comics are selling because in this digital age, people crave the tactile.
posted by Joe and Josie Haack at 7:11 AM
2 Comments:
Joe,
I just finished Watchmen - I loved it! I think I'm going to check out some Alan Moore items.
With regard to your thoughts about the digital age and tactile would this apply then to literature? A good book has a story, a hero, reflects culture - the difference lies in the artwork of the comic. Would you argue that this would account for the increase in popularity of comics while (at least it seems) literature hasn't increased in popularity - I may be wrong on this note since I haven't done any research. What do you think?
If you have some Alan Moore - I'd love to borrow them, V or League.
And, secretly, you want to go back to San Diego for the convention dressed in black leather pants, crazy make-up and a fake sword belted to your hip, right?
(This is Mandy)
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