there used to be a time where when you said you liked comic books, you elicited a variety of responses from the people you were speaking to. some would laugh, some would laugh at you, some would demure quietly (because they were among the shamed masses too), and some would act out.
comics were a medium made for children in our recent history.
but . . . a lot has changed, hasn't it? a lot. i would say that the first murmur of hope for the shadow people happened with spider-man. many of you would say it was x-men, but let's face it . . . most people don't give a shit about x-men, even if it's critically acclaimed. spider-man has done a lot for us comic nerds. he solidified me as a fan when i looked at my dad's books and reprints of amazing fantasy #15.
i fell in love with peter parker because he was like me. he was skinny, smart, and had a mouth. notice the dates on amazing fantasy #15. the staying power of the character is golden. people fell in love with the spider, then accepted mutants, and finally found a new, realistic batman. thanks, christian bale.
chris nolan made the new batman series feel emotionally relevant for "normal people" to deal with. he made the tech more realistic and made comics feel more visceral than before.
all of this brings me to now . . . which i believe is the best time to be a comic book fan.
let's get the easy stuff out of the way: the dark knight has a sequel.
for marvel fans, though, i'd like to examine what we have going on:
marvel began producing it's own films with iron man. they co-produced some quality work, but iron man represented a new era. they decided to stop letting others decide what to do with their characters and handle their own. for those of you that read comics, the term multiverse will be familiar. the multiverse is a string theory dependent comic book term that focuses on choices made at certain times making new universes: all with super heroes with slightly different backstories. when marvel made iron man, they decided to make a movie multiverse. that opened a lot of continuity options for marvel movies. the iron man movie had an easter egg for the avengers and the new hulk reboot. the second was open about the avengers and had a thor easter egg. we are facing a thor, captain america, iron man, and avengers movie plus many more if things go well. btw . . . these movies haven't sucked so far. they also have used comic book parts in new and modern ways. it's great.
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also, comics themselves are in of a bit of a restart time now. marvel just finished a huge, serious storyline starting with house of m and the civil war, going all the way through dark reign and siege. now they are in a more lighthearted time called the heroic age. everything is more like the status quo, like '70s swashbuckling comics. the avengers seems like a great read here.
also it's nice, because a famous character like daredevil didn't get the m.o. and is still hardcore. they are currently having to fight him and his ninjas in hell's kitchen.
dc comics is getting ready to see the return of bruce wayne with batman inc. apparently he is franchising . . . stay tuned.
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it's a good thing when an industry can laugh at itself. the renaissance is here with kick-ass and scott pilgrim. ironic comic book movies that poke fun at their own stereotypes now have a life of their own. before hit-girl, i never really saw the reality of a tween murder machine trained by a normal aged "hero." now i'm not sure i need to live in their world.
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things will only get better and more mainstream as the new marvel pics come out. plus, smaller hero shows are in the works like the runaways and a nick fury solo. damn it feels good to be a nerd.
now let's see a huge crossover event happen like secret invasion, civil war, or the infinity saga on film.
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