What with scandal and alleged wrongdoing by public officials, including a former superintendent of the Voorheesville school district and the re-elected state comptroller, it gets easier and easier to understand the reason for superheroes.
Ordinary heroes seem few and far between of late, even in our own Capital District, and truth, justice and the American way seem remote, forgotten concepts from a time of long ago.
At this time of year, many of us take stock of where we are and where we’re going or would like to go, and the sorry state of things so close to home makes it difficult to envision a world without glaring headlines and sound bites touting the latest scandal or crime.
Police in Rotterdam and Albany are having difficulties, while at the same time a criminal flaunts his ego in the courts, even after admitting to murder one state policeman and seriously wounding another. Ralph Phillips allegedly entered the guilty pleas to spare his daughter and ex-girlfriend from doing jail time.
What we have apparently lost is the integrity needed to always try to do the right thing. What we need to do now is try to restore integrity to its rightful place in our society.
Easier said than done.
Integrity is most often instilled in children by role models who live their lives trying to do the right thing, despite temptation to do otherwise. Nowadays, our kids often have to turn to fantasy to find suitable role models. Who would have ever thought that comic book characters could have risen to this level?
Perhaps kids are smarter than we give them credit for. At least they know to look up to the good guys and gals. Kids tend to emulate their heroes, and that’s one good sign for the future.
Even children themselves have become super heroes. Think of the millions worldwide who idolize Harry Potter, a whiz of a wizard if ever there was.
With all the world’s bad apples, we need to keep in mind the evil of greed and losing sight of right and wrong. It’s less than a month now until the New Year, and we hope more adults make a decision to be positive role models to counter or at least offset the deeds of the dastardly.
SIDEBAR by JIM FRANCO/SPOTLIGHT CONTRIBUTING WRITER
History panels; How Ben Franklin’s satire became today’s graphic novels
Comics have evolved from the one-panel political satire first drawn by Ben Franklin and published in 1754 to what are now known as graphic novels, a series of short stories with an accompanying in-depth, vibrant visual representation.
Comic books are enduring because they are the simplest form of production to telling a complete story, with pictures and dialogue together, said Jevon Kasitch of Electric City Comics in Schenectady.
There are a few landmarks in the evolution of comic books. In 1896, Richard Fenton Outalt incorporated the balloon, where he wrote what the character said and pointed to their mouth with a tail-like swoosh, in his comic book `The Yellow Kid.`
The Golden Age of comics came after the stock market crash of 1929. In the 1930s, some of the most popular enduring comic books were written, like Tarzan, Dick Tracy, Flash Gordon and Superman ` which kicked off the superhero blitz when it was first published in 1938, according to comicbookwebsites.com.
Those comics, Kasitch said, came about as an accident.
`In the early 1930s, printing press owners only made money when the presses were running, so when they were not printing the newspaper, they started printing comic books,` he said.
The superheroes in those comics filled an important niche.
`For the longest time, the comic book was the only way a person could escape and be a superhero and help save the world,` Kasitch said. `Now, that desire can be fulfilled at the movies, on television and the Internet.`
By 1945, some 400 superheroes were created in comic strips but few survived. The ones that did, however, like Batman, Superman and Spiderman, still rake in millions at the box office. It was also during this time that comics made the widespread jump from the one strip published in the daily newspaper to the magazine format of the comic book.
In the 1950s, the comic book found itself under fire and a `Comics Code` was adopted, according to Comix, A History of Comic Books in America, by the Comics Magazine Association of America. Comic books carrying the seal incorporated provisions like:
If a crime is committed, it shall be as a sordid and unpleasant activity.
In every instance, good shall triumph over evil and the criminal shall be punished for his misdeeds.
No unique or unusual methods of concealing weapons shall be shown.
Nudity in any form is prohibited, as is indecent or undue exposure.
Suggestive or salacious illustration or suggestive posture is unacceptable. Females shall be drawn realistically without any exaggeration of physical qualities.
The Comics Code was ignored, however, through the 1960s and 1970s by underground, self-published writers and artists who are considered the pioneers of the modern day graphic novelists. The most popular of that genre, Heavy Metal, hit the stands in 1977 featuring colorful drawings of big buxom women and stories about drunken acid trips and hard core rock and roll. It later became a full featured animated movie.
The `Comics Code` was amended in 1971 and again in 1989, however, and both modifications were less stringent than the 1956 original set of guidelines. They also included provisions for adult comics as well as those traditional comics written for children.
Other memorable dates include 1986, when Marvel Comics was sold to businessman Ron Perelman, who tried to boost sales through the use of gimmicks like holograms and glow-in-the-dark features. In 1989, the year the first Batman movie, came out sending comic book sales through the roof. And in 1993 Superman died, causing such an outcry by fans that DC Comics brought the superhero back a few editions later.
Today, the comic book is known as the graphic novel ` a long-form comic packaged more like a book than a magazine. While the format has been
around for some 25 years, over the last five years or so ` dubbed the `Golden Age of Writers` by comic historians — their popularity exploded.
According to Publishers Weekly, retail graphic novel sales jumped 18 percent from 2004 to 2005, with around $245 million in sales last year alone. And they are not just for kids anymore. According to a recent reader’s survey by Diamond Comics, the largest distributor of comics in the United States, the average comic book/graphic novel reader is 29 years old.
That means the writing has changed, too.
`The demands of a 29- or 30-year-old are different from those of a 10-year-old,` Kasitch said.
Comic books have gone global, too. According to Diamond, the Japanese Manga ` comics that are largely character-oriented like wildly popular Full Metal Alchemist ` are increasing between 20 and 30 percent a year. Also, whereas most of those who read the superhero comics are male, Manga brought the female readership back into the mix and it is estimated that near 50 percent of Manga readers are female.
Comics are still evolving and are reaching beyond the traditional printed page and the movie screens. There are interactive video games and Web sites based on graphic novels and their characters.
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