The Game-Changers (part six): Graphic Novels and Comic Books

Comics: just one of the many places a girl can find a role model or three!

Because I work at a truly awesome institution, I get the great, good privilege of teaching a class on graphic novels this fall, so I've been spending the summer pretty wrapped up in speech bubbles and splash pages! I've also returned to one of my first loves and inspirations, ElfQuest, so this felt like the perfect opportunity for a post on those writers, artists, inkers, and editors who changed my view of reading, writing, and thinking through comics and graphic novels!

One of my cousin's introduced me to Calvin and Hobbes when I was still a little too young to understand it. But, since I was already writing, the concept of an older, wiser, imaginary friend made perfect sense! Since then, curling up with mischievous Calvin and his constant companion (and a lasagna-lovin' cat) has become one of my favorite wintertime rituals. It's hard to beat a cup of cocoa, a cozy blanket, and wit, wisdom, and humor distilled into a comic book!

When I got a little older, I added Foxtrot to the mix! I have two siblings, so this one became a favorite for the three of us to laugh about - especially me and my sister. I have an enormous pile of Foxtrot comics now and I wish it were still ongoing!

 I was introduced to ElfQuest through the novelization (as I've noted elsewhere) but when I found out there were full-color graphic novels my whole life was made (I was nine)! Kings and Quest represent my favorite installments of the series for their wealth of characters (and characterization) the challenges those characters face in war and with ambition, and the connection between the now-elves and their ancestors. I also recently rediscovered the 2-issue arc, "How shall I keep from singing?" and I'm adding it to the list! From the non-anthologized ElfQuest comics, Shards is my favorite, because it returns to much of the spirit of Quest's End with a specific group of warriors set on reclaiming the elves' heritage.

Timmain from "How shall I keep from singing?"

 When it comes to manga-style comics, my first introduction was through Fake which is a sort of Law and Order (set in the same precinct, even) meets romance story. It has a lot of great things to say about how people overcome (or fail to overcome) their beginnings, how we shape families as much as we are born into them, and what justice might mean -- and it pairs those bigger concerns with some pretty humorous typical-manga art!

My other game-changing manga is Rurouni Kenshin. I came to it through the anime, which I highly recommend, though you have to listen to in the Japanese because of the superior voice acting. It isn't often that a comic book sends you out in search of thick, serious, previously unknown history, but Kenshin did that for me. Also, he's adorably androgynous and fierce!

 When it comes to stereotypical superhero comics, I start to yawn. The one exception is Batman and I'm really just there for the Joker. I was lucky enough to have my Batman obsession flare right when the Death of a Family arc was being released. In it, Joker's motivation is clearly getting Batman's attention and the focus is on his worship/love of the Dark Knight - so it really felt written just for me! Killing Joke I love for its art and its ambiguity. What does happen in those final frames??? (In my version, they run off together and eat waffles, but I doubt that was Alan Moore's plan...)

I can hardly conclude without mentioning the recent He-Man and the Masters of the Universe comics. They didn't do terribly well, I guess, but they were everything my nostalgia-filled heart could have wanted - a grown up version of a beloved kid's show, with all the right "insider" references and enough gore and danger to take things to a new level. Now if they would just do an Etheria-centric series...

As I've noted elsewhere, Saga is really amazing. It deals with race and gender and species, pollution, ethics, warfare... and the narrator is an infant!

And we end pretty much where we began, since Phoebe is a modern day Calvin and Hobbes! It's also a perfect rainy day go-to!