Are comics really as evil as they’re made out to be? Are they secretly a Soviet brainwashing tool to corrupt an entire generation? If not then why is it that they so frequently take the fall for problems in society? One major contributor to the comic industry’s criticism was the size of its audience. As the predecessor to television and film, comics were on the forefront of pop culture for most of the 20th century. With most of the nation reading comics, it was only a matter of time until someone blamed something on them. Similar to today’s violent movies or videogames, comics are an easy scapegoat for actual problems, such as the downfall of the American family. When you imagine the traditional 1950’s American family, you think of a father who worked a nine-to-five job, a stay at home mother who did chores around the house, and one or two kids. The role of parents in this society often alienated children from their own parents. As this generation grew up kids, like in every generation, did stupid things. Parents not able to stomach the blame themselves needed something to point a finger at, and comics fit the role perfectly. In the words of Andrew Smith, “People fear what they can’t understand.” Parents investigating their kid’s comic books cracked the book open to see graphic illustrations and words like “Crime” or “Horror.” With out a second thought it was clear why little Timmy didn’t do his homework the other day. Comics were the first media of pop culture used as a scapegoat by the masses, but they certainly won’t be the last. As long as there are people who don’t understand something, there will be skeptics, as is human nature.
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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