Comics are/were blamed for societal failure because they are the easy targets. Rather than blaming the real and more serious/detrimental reasons for our failures we tend to focus on issues that are areas of enjoyment but that can make an impression. Comic books can make an impression on their readers but it is likely that the material that is being transcribed through the comics has already been communicated in other forms; it is unlikely that a comic book reader is first introduced to violence or sex through Batman or Superman. Reasons to blame comic books for societal failure are: violence, sex, portrayals or marriage, horror, crime, etc. However, comics are one branch that extends the tree of these issues. By saying that comic books are the reason for societal failure, we are funneling the inherent issues; we take a broad description of our failure and narrow it down to why we are the way we are. In my opinion, comic books are the least of our worries; out of all of our media outlets I would think that comic books are one of the least likely, at least in today’s society, which would expose natural experiences and lessons at an exaggerated level. We blame comic books because we look to place blame anywhere but the appropriate arena: ourselves, we are the reasons for societal failure because we can’t accept progression.
To begin with, I really do like the idea of reading a comic about comics. I think it's a great idea and it's very well executed. As I was reading the first two chapters, I was surprised at how many examples there were of art in recent (and ancient, in some cases) history that are variations of "sequential visual art" and thus the foundations of modern comics. I'd never even thought about it before and it was hard to believe how many different kinds there were. I also love all the discussion about how our human brains automatically interpret certain images in a specific way, how we see others constantly but we identify ourselves when we look at cartoons, and how inanimate objects automatically becomes extensions of our bodies. The pyramid of styles was very interesting too as a way to conceptualize and almost graph or "place" a specific art style in comics. In Comic Book Nation , I enjoyed reading about the evolution of early comics from "funnies...
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