Wednesday, May 26, 2004

Wonder years: At Polite Dissent, Scott mourns the loss of that sense of wonder comics once held, and considers what should be done to attract a new generation of readers:

"When I was younger, comics were easily available. I would run down the block to the corner drugstore once every couple of weeks to buy some comics to read. I would scan the racks, and pick-up the comics with the most exciting and enticing covers first. The stories were easily accessible. I could tell what was going on even if I had never read the title before. The stories also had action; not necessarily fights, but there was a definite sense of story progression from the start to the end of the issue. An occasional cliff-hanger was fine, but most stories were self contained. I would read and re-read them until the books were on the verge of falling apart. The price was right; with a couple of crumpled dollar bills, I could buy at least four comics."