PrOpinion: Raise The Bar
By Ed Brubaker

It sometimes occurs to me that mainstream comics are like television -- far more like television than movies, at least in the consumer's eyes. What I mean is that viewers (and in comics, readers) automatically lower their expectations when watching TV or reading comics. They hold them to a much lower standard than they would a movie or a novel, or even a good short story. This is not the same in alternative comics, where a lot of the material is being produced by cartoonists who are comparing their own achievements to novels or great films, or aspiring to that depth, at least.

I'm in a fairly unique position right now because I spent the largest portion of my adult life involved in alternative comics, and generally ignoring the mainstream. But now, not only am I writing creator-owned work for Vertigo, I'm also writing Batman. So, for the last two years or so, I've had to read quite a few mainstream comics and this is what brought me to the above-stated conclusion.

I began thinking about this as I started to work on DEADENDERS, my monthly for Vertigo, wondering if it was possible for me to do a really good monthly comic. It wasn't the workload that I was afraid of, it was the constraints of episodic fiction that worried me. Because I come from a school that says episodic fiction is, by nature, bad. This is why I lower my expectations when I watch, say, the Practice (which is considered by many to be the best drama on TV). I want to enjoy the show, but I know no real change can occur, or that characters who hate each other will become friends soon. So I don't put too many demands on the show, and then I don't get too angry at it, and I get to keep watching the show. It's the same with many monthly comics, and the format almost demands that it be that way. So, when someone is raving to me about mainstream comic X, written by Y, and how great it is, I usually don't get my hopes too high.

But here's my actual point: It doesn't have to be that way. There actually are some really great things that can be done within the realms of episodic fiction, but you have to have the guts to break rules, break new ground, and play with the structure sometimes. Take the Sopranos for example, or OZ. Or even Homicide. These are all great TV shows, and all episodic as hell, but they broke new ground in their fields. LAW and ORDER, one of my favorite TV shows, escaped the episodic constraints almost entirely by following the crime and not the cops. Also, it was a new take on things at the time. (In fact, their weakest season was when they tried to appeal to a mass audience by giving all the characters running sub-plots.) So, are there any comics that try these same things? To be episodic and feel deeper than that at the same time? Well, of course there are, but they are by no means the majority. (I would like to assume that Deadenders is one of them, because I am pushing myself to try different things with the structure of the stories, and change perspectives, which may not be new ground, but is a lot more than you'll get in most comics). Most of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing issues would qualify, and the current (Brian Azzarello and Richard Corben) run of Hellblazer is, in my mind, one of the best episodic comics coming out right now. Greg Rucka's Detective Comics stand out, as well. But I am not going to continue on along that path, though, because you didn't stop by to hear my favorite mainstream comics list (or if you did, then too bad).

What I'm trying to say is that I feel like we're all too easy on most of the comics we buy, and not supportive enough of the ones that give more than they have to. The books that I listed stand out for me because, while still reminding me of TV, they remind me of what is good about episodic fiction. They take risks, they experiment with storytelling, they change narrators. They keep you guessing. You can never care about whether or not Superman is going to die, because even if it says so on the cover, you know they'll bring him back. And we all don't even care, we just go: It's comics. That's why comics is like television. (I'm not trying to say that Superman can't be a good comic, or that Batman can't. If I thought that, I wouldn't be happily writing away in Gothamland. And I should point out that a lot of the best mainstream comics are things I don't consider to be episodic - Sam and Twitch is a series of stories, Planetary is like Law and Order, avoiding the constraints by adopting new ones instead, there are others as well.) But why do we let everything go so easily? That's what I wonder. In the last few months, with the industry the way it is, I have seen a lot of people posting manifestos, and I applaud people who want to save the industry, but what I would really like to see is a little more demanding audience, and for that audience to reward the people who attempt to meet their demands. It has been said more than once that the readers' voices are important in this industry more than any other - you are all Neilson families. So, stop buying the same crap you wouldn't even watch for free on TV. Stop excusing bad writing by saying: It's comics. There is no reason the comics you buy can't be twice as good or better than they are right now. Except no one thinks you care, or that you even know the difference. Stop letting them be right.

Ed Brubaker is a writer working in comics. With everything from the gritty reality of LOWLIFE by Black Eye Press, to the retro britpunk Vertigo series DEADENDERS, and an upcoming stint on DC Comics' BATMAN on his resume, you can rest assured Ed knows what he's talking about. And if that doesn't convince you, Larry Young named a bar after him.

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