Comics go to College Pt. 1? Article by aviewaskewed, 12:29 AM 27th Jun Disclaimer: The following column is entirely the opinions of the author (even at that we aren‘t sure), any similarity to the opinions of any other staff or affiliate of theendlesscrew.com is entirely coincidental and unintentional. Unless specifically noted otherwise, all creator comments have been gleaned from other sources and no creators have actually endorsed any aspect of this column. Beuler? Beuler? Ok, so this week was kind of a bad week when it comes to me getting a column done, next week I'll have something new, mostly pertaining to reviews I do believe. Right now I'd like to share with you a college paper I did on Art as Reality for a Philosophy course, I'll most likely be returning to the topic of including comics into academia, including classes in which I've found it to be easiest and most acceptable, at a later date. But you never know with me, I plan things, and then they get sort of dashed sometimes. Meantime, enjoy this quickie: I really like the concept of art as reality. It’s something I’ve actually been exposed to my entire life. One of the really under appreciated mediums of expression and entertainment, is the comic form, people label it as kid’s stuff, or something that is only the back pages of the newspaper as a fast break from the drudgery of real life. But in truth, comics are much more than that, the true comic book form. As the proud owner of countless comic books, and comic story collections, I feel I’m something of an expert. Comics are a great way to justify art as reality, since the basic principle in just about any comic, is to take some fantastic almost mythical character, and draw and right them as if they might live next door to you. Marvel is extremely adept at this…you have the colorful figure of Spider-Man web slinging over the rooftops of New York, having tremendous battles with colorful villains like Dr. Octopus and the Green Goblin, in these death defying battles…and then after he won, he would go change back into nerdy Peter Parker, and go home, and study, and just act like a normal kid. That was just such a fascinating blend of the fantastic, and the ordinary, that is the true power of art, and the comic form, that the absolutely thrilling, fantastic, breathtaking, surreal, can be blended with the ordinary, the mundane, the absolutely humdrum. But yet…sadly, people view comics as a children’s medium. Another critique I don’t find fair, is comparison to movies…because it’s words with pictures, comics compare with movies…no, they do not. The visual nuance that an accomplished penciller gives you, the competent dialogue and the drawing, simple but complex…Comics still need the application of imagination, movies don’t…movies pretty much give you everything as is, let me give you an example. A gamma bomb explodes in a comic, and you see a huge mushroom cloud, you’re mind creates the noise, the force of the explosion, it is as fierce or as tame as your mind allows it to be, that becomes your reality. But a movie, well, they have the sound, the effects, you watch it, and the explosion is dictated to you in every detail. I’ve seen movies duplicate comic panels precisely, and they still fail to capture the magic, the horror, the joy, the sheer emotion that that simple little frozen image conveys. Art is reality, it is a personal reality. Art is everywhere, and it touches us in so many ways. The best examples are that which challenges our imagination, but makes the events completely believable, the main draw of comics is the main draw of art in general, the ability to challenge are imagination, to make our senses and mind reach for a meaning, without even realizing it. Back to Rants