Opinion Piece: Comics: The past is better than the future

Geek

Comics. During the close of the 20th century, these things were all the rage. Kids all over the place flocked to stores to purchase these action-packed pages of monthly fun. But, the key thing to notice is that this is all in past tense. You really don't see this kind of love of comics among kids any more. Yes, they're still out there, but they are much different. Different in ways I wish they weren't.

Now, if you aren't a comic fan, you may be thinking "Wait what? Comics are still comics, right? I don't see a difference." If you've never opened a vintage comic, than this is what you may think. But, compare a modern comic to those of the past and you will see big differences, which I have described and compared below:

Art

Probably the most shallow of all the differences are the differences in art. Yet I can't see to get around this. I love the feeling of old comics, it's classic cheesy highlights and easy-to-follow, frame-by-frame setup that makes each page tell a story of its own. Now though, things have greatly changed. Instead of just being a medium of story telling, it seems to be an art gallery! Flashy, glossy images cover the pages, making the dialogue and story scarce and giving it a feeling not of vintage, true, bonifide comic, but instead a movie copied down to the pages. The art may be one of the things I like most about classic comics. But, many other things have changed as well.

Content

This is something I absolutely loathe about modern comics. A while back, comics told a cool, cheesy, on-going story. Now, it's the breeding ground of vulgar objectifying outfits, bad morals, extreme gory violence, swear words, drugs, and overall profanity. What used to be children's stories and hobbies has become a mature-content wasteland. Stories are no longer bright, cheery, and cheery, but dark, gory, and morbid. But, I have more to complain about.

Series

Back when comics were first getting their start, things were pretty straight forward. Like Spider-Man? Fill out a little sheet of paper, check off his name, and you receive everyone of his comics every month, and the comics stayed pretty consistent with their themes and writing styles, and these series lasted a long time. They were cheesy, adventurous, and fun to read. But modern comics simply aren't the same. Subscribing is very difficult, and often times characters have multiple, short lasting series which made characters much less consistent and made the comic world widely varying and inconsistent.

Overall, I miss the old days of comics, and comics from the 70's, 80's, and 90's will probably be all I buy and read consistently. But what caused this sudden change? I believe it was the audience. A generation ago, there were very few 'comic shops'. Instead they were available in  many grocery stores, and through numerous mail subscriptions. It was incredibly popular among kids, because there were few other entertainment forms. Television programs were few, and movies could only be seen on rare occasions in the theaters. But now, kids can watch TV 24/7, can watch dozens of movies and TV shows with the click of a button on Netflix or DVSs, and of course can play the thousands of video games, something unheard of in the 80's. I wish we could go back to the old comic style, but if we can't I thank you for reading and hope you stay tuned!
-Fencer6