Consuming Comics – Geek 501

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After checking out a whole bunch of comics and graphic novels from our local library it got me thinking of all the forms that comics take. There is the comic strip in the newspaper that so many of us grew up reading. Now we have online web comics that for many of us have probably replaced reading any newspaper comics. Then there are the serial comics that come out monthly with longer stories that can happen over years. These are the typical superhero comics, such as Batman and X-Men. They might be released on a regular schedule, but then the stories will get compiled into a trade paperback. On top of that there are graphic novels that are single releases of a story. Often times they are fictional, but they have also been used for memoir or other non-fictional stories. This has even gone so far as to be used to help explain concepts such as copyright and media consumption.

Using drawings to help tell a story means that the visuals of the story can be shown through the pictures instead of explained and interpreted. The interesting thing is that even though all the elements are the same there seems to be a class difference between the various comic types. Graphic novels definitely seemed to be treated as a higher form than the regular weekly / daily comics. Even though there is an art to being able to get out so much content every week.

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Catching Up – The Killing Joke

So recently Holly and I borrowed a friend’s copy of the famous Batman comic, The Killing Joke. I have not read many Batman comics, but Batman has ended up in more media than other heroes, so I feel still like I know him pretty well. Between different movie series, TV shows – live and animated – and excellent video games, there’s really just a lot of Batman out there.

The back cover to the Killing Joke.

But as part of taking a step back from my saturation in Marvel comics, this seemed like a great comic to read. And as a quick review, I have to say: it was excellent. Good art, good story. It had some things I’ve been missing from Batman lately – say, in the Christopher Nolan movies. Batman talking more while in costume. Crazy thought, right? And the faces of the Joker in this are really well done.

Since this comic is now over 25 years old, I guess I can treat it as though spoilers are not an issue. However, I will still try to be careful. So let me lay it out for you to consider, in case you haven’t read this comic and are thinking about doing so. I am going to introduce what it is that’s apparently the big events in this comic. The story that hadn’t been told before. Then, I’m going to consider this in comparison to a movie that I feel has a lot of similarities: The Dark Knight. And then, I want to consider the ending, which will be the most spoilery of course. Also, because we read the “Deluxe Edition” graphic novel, some of that may not have been in the original, but it’s fascinating nonetheless.

Lots Going On… But Where’s The Post?

Sorry, this evening got a bit away from me. When I say there’s lots going on, I mean it! Let’s consider a few things:

• The phenomenal success of The Lego Movie. We’re probably not going to see it until this weekend, so no spoilers!
• We saw Vampire Academy this last weekend, so be expecting a LitFlix on that soon!
• I beat Halo 3 finally today, so expect my years-belated thoughts on that subject.
• Lightning Returns comes out tomorrow. We have that preordered, along with the guide, so it’s time to start watching the mailbox like a hawk. Also, sorry for me stating the release date wrong a few times… I swear I saw the 4th somewhere, and I apparently committed that to memory.
• Holly and I got the opportunity to read The Killing Joke, so I’m sure one of us will do a review of that!
• We now have all of this season of Sherlock – and haven’t watched any of it! The time to catch up is now!

I have a lot of post ideas, plenty to keep me busy for a few weeks – and Holly likewise! Nonetheless, I think I am aiming for sleep over doing much of a post tonight. So, I wanted to share one little bit of media we consumed today – and with a particular focus on one amazing and frightening moment.