"Sense of Wonder" in Comic Book Stories

[Ziggy Stardust]

My fave era of the FF was with Perez on pencils. He always drew my favorite version of the Thing.

[tolworthy]

My fave era of the FF was with Perez on pencils. He always drew my favorite version of the Thing.

Agreed! Very few artists really get him right. For me, those Perez FF issues are among the greatest comics ever.

[berk]

One of the things I dislike most about contemporary superhero comics is that from I can see they've largely lost that sense of wonder and have replaced it in fact with its opposite: a sense of satisfaction. Satisfaction, that is, in the power and/or moral superiority and/or general bad-assedness of the superhero.

Which is yet another reason neither the New Gods nor the Eternals/Celestials/Deviants ever work properly in the context of the DC/MU, because the sense of wonder was important to both those creations, and we can't have that in the DCU or the MU in which everything must be used to shore up the reader's sense of inadequacy by exalting the stature of the superheroes they identify with.

Not to mention of course the ridiculous extent to which the characters of both corporate universes have been catalogued and pigeonholed to death. Hard for the Celestials, for example, to evoke a sense of wonder in the MU, as they did so effectively in Kirby's Eternals, when they're just another set of MU cosmic entities, ranked somewhere between Eternity and Galactus or whatever.

[Fesch_]

Absolutely stunning. How is the writing?

Not great, frankly, but it is much less text-driven than Les Armées du Conquérant, which is an improvement. I think Dionnet kept it to the minimun to let Gal go wild with the pages, and it works, for it is a much better comic. And in any case, just for the art it is a must.

Those Arn pages do look amazing. Must seek out more work by Gal.

Actually, there are much better pages, art-wise. But I chose these two (well, three) because of the "sense of wonder" moment. You can check some here, albeit in low resolution: http://bulles-graphiques.over-blog.c...-53360428.html

This is one of my favourites because of its amazing perspective (bear in mind that although you can't appreciate it here, the level of detail is so high that you can see the what the little figures in the lowest level are doing, and each one has its own distinct shadow. And in the upper level, you can see -top right corner of the first page- the muscles of those at the big wheel):

[Ziggy Stardust]

I think the sense of wonder has been replaced by shock value and gore in many instances.

[tolworthy]

the DCU or the MU in which everything must be used to shore up the reader's sense of inadequacy by exalting the stature of the superheroes they identify with.

That's a very good point. I see that in the FF, but I don't follow other titles so closely, so could not be sure.

In the early days the FF struggled. look at when they lost their powers, circa FF39. They had to be rescued by the US navy, you saw them huddled in blankets, and Reed's replacement powers were very crude, and they were genuinely scared of being discovered when powerless. Even though Reed was a super genius millionaire celebrity, he was only a step away from you and me.

Even in the crazy later Kirby period, they were still like you and me. The cover to the Galactus climax shows Johnny starting college. The next issue, the classic "This Man This Monster" showed both Reed and Ben as weak and vulnerable. All those cosmic issues were firmly grounded in the ordinary, with ordinary worries and concerns: they need a holiday, Johnny struggles at school, they play baseball, worry about fashion, etc., etc. They were people like you and me!

That was a source of wonder!

[tangential rant]

But these days, as you say, they are so far above us. They are billionaires (they lost their money a few years ago, but you can't tell), with multiple levels of redundant technology - it's all so huge, polished, clinical, remote. they stand around in their palaces not a hair out of place, talking about things you and I could never understand. The occasional attempt to make them look normal is clumsy and forced. Like the cover to this month's issue, where Johnny steals Peter Parker's breakfast cereal. Johnny the millionaire divorcee.

Your point fits a much bigger picture: everything that Stan and Jack created in the 1960s has been undone:
Heroes like you and me? Gone.
Based in our real world? Gone in all but name.
Heroes you could take seriously? Gone. Every character now has a family of franchised characters (male, female, teen, bizarro, etc.)
The past mattered? Gone. Once again nobody is supposed to remember more than 5 to 7 years earlier.
Fast moving with real changes? Gone.
A connected universe? Gone. Nobody can afford to buy every issue and no effort is made to explain problems.
Friendly banter with readers inside the comics? Gone.
Every issue mattered? Gone. Multiple versions of the same character, in support of the real customers: branding and movies.
Real visceral Kirby style action? Gone. Most of the characters stand around and talk most of the time.
Real danger? Gone. With so many heroes, each of such mega power, and New York destroyed every month, how can anyone care?
New comics were a good financial investment? Gone.

We are back in the 1950s, except the prices are higher.

[/tangential rant]

[Gothos]

One of the things I dislike most about contemporary superhero comics is that from I can see they've largely lost that sense of wonder and have replaced it in fact with its opposite: a sense of satisfaction. Satisfaction, that is, in the power and/or moral superiority and/or general bad-assedness of the superhero.

Which is yet another reason neither the New Gods nor the Eternals/Celestials/Deviants ever work properly in the context of the DC/MU, because the sense of wonder was important to both those creations, and we can't have that in the DCU or the MU in which everything must be used to shore up the reader's sense of inadequacy by exalting the stature of the superheroes they identify with.

Not to mention of course the ridiculous extent to which the characters of both corporate universes have been catalogued and pigeonholed to death. Hard for the Celestials, for example, to evoke a sense of wonder in the MU, as they did so effectively in Kirby's Eternals, when they're just another set of MU cosmic entities, ranked somewhere between Eternity and Galactus or whatever.

I had a similar reaction to the original PLANETARY. I didn't read it until it was collected in a TPB, and in that form I noticed a lot of scenes that I thought were artificially crafted to have something akin to a "sense of wonder" feel. Unfortunately, the story was so preoccupied with showing how badassed each and every character was that there was really no room for genuine wonder.

[Venomous Mask]

Everyone knows about Alex Ross' brilliant work for DC and Marvel characters which really showed how viewing superpeople would be for ordinary people. But I think one of his most underrated works is NOW Comics' Terminator: The Burning Earth. Now Comics has a terrible reputation for making Terminator comics that looked silly and cartoonish, but Ross' art made TBE look like it was another film and really captured the grim post-Judgment Day world.



Another Terminator-based example is Dark Horse' Terminator: Secondary Objectives. Whole the artwork of the following Enemy Within series is better, this one has an atmosphere like no other which really shows what it would be liked to be stalked by an unstoppable killing machine:



Aliens: Book 2 is yet another great example. All too often, when artists draw Giger's creatures and the world of the movies, they take too many liberties, making the aliens far too stylized and the setting just look like another generic future space world with everybody wearing tight suits and flying in sleek space ships. But the artwork of Den Beauvais really brings the semi-post-apocalyptic world to life, and renders the aliens in a way that is absolutely perfect:

[Aaron King]

Your point fits a much bigger picture: everything that Stan and Jack created in the 1960s has been undone:
Heroes like you and me? Gone.
Based in our real world? Gone in all but name.
Heroes you could take seriously? Gone. Every character now has a family of franchised characters (male, female, teen, bizarro, etc.)
The past mattered? Gone. Once again nobody is supposed to remember more than 5 to 7 years earlier.
Fast moving with real changes? Gone.
A connected universe? Gone. Nobody can afford to buy every issue and no effort is made to explain problems.
Friendly banter with readers inside the comics? Gone.
Every issue mattered? Gone. Multiple versions of the same character, in support of the real customers: branding and movies.
Real visceral Kirby style action? Gone. Most of the characters stand around and talk most of the time.
Real danger? Gone. With so many heroes, each of such mega power, and New York destroyed every month, how can anyone care?
New comics were a good financial investment? Gone.

I'm going to assume that you're referring to mainstream superhero (or even, specifically, the Marvel Universe) titles here, because, looking outside of that, I'd say there are a number of comics that fit many of these criteria.

[Ziggy Stardust]

Your point fits a much bigger picture: everything that Stan and Jack created in the 1960s has been undone:
Heroes like you and me? Gone.
Based in our real world? Gone in all but name.
Heroes you could take seriously? Gone. Every character now has a family of franchised characters (male, female, teen, bizarro, etc.)
The past mattered? Gone. Once again nobody is supposed to remember more than 5 to 7 years earlier.
Fast moving with real changes? Gone.
A connected universe? Gone. Nobody can afford to buy every issue and no effort is made to explain problems.
Friendly banter with readers inside the comics? Gone.
Every issue mattered? Gone. Multiple versions of the same character, in support of the real customers: branding and movies.
Real visceral Kirby style action? Gone. Most of the characters stand around and talk most of the time.
Real danger? Gone. With so many heroes, each of such mega power, and New York destroyed every month, how can anyone care?
New comics were a good financial investment? Gone.

We are back in the 1950s, except the prices are higher.

I want to subscriibe to your newsletter.

[Polar Bear]

I want to subscriibe to your newsletter.

Ditto. Tolworthy needs to blog.

Better yet, he needs a job writing comics.

Or, better still, he needs a job as EOC of a major company.

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

The bit from Hitman's "Fresh Meat" arc where Tommy Monaghan accidentally traveled back to prehistory (those wacky mad docs at Injun Peak Research... again!) and geeked out over seeing actual, flesh & blood dinosaurs. Hell, he couldn't even spoilers:

bring himself to kill one that was seconds from killing him & Natt. (he told him after that the bazooka had jammed; oh, Tommy...)

end of spoilers

Oh, and his somewhat similar reaction with a certain visiting Man Of Steel in #34.

[dupersuper]

The bit from Hitman's "Fresh Meat" arc where Tommy Monaghan accidentally traveled back to prehistory (those wacky mad docs at Injun Peak Research... again!) and geeked out over seeing actual, flesh & blood dinosaurs. Hell, he couldn't even spoilers:

bring himself to kill one that was seconds from killing him & Natt. (he told him after that the bazooka had jammed; oh, Tommy...)

end of spoilers

Oh, and his somewhat similar reaction with a certain visiting Man Of Steel in #34.

I seem to recall it was more the dinosaurs coming into the present, but tomato/tomAto...

I do love Tommy and Superman together in #34 and JLA/Hitman.

[pakehafulla]

The Inhumans...Kirby...say no more
Kamandi...Kirby...say no more
FF/Surfer/Galactus...Kirby...say no more
Celestial saga...thor 289(?)-300 or so
Thor...Beta Ray Bill...Simonson
Savage Sword of Conan...Black Collossus(I hope anyway, the one where Conan is crucified to the tree)
JLA...Morrison
Authority...Ellis...God this just kicked my ass
2000 AD...Meltdown Man/Strontium Dog/Nemesis


Just some of the many that have blown my mind over the years. You know there have been a few stories recently that should have been classics (thinking Annihilaters and Chaos War as examples here) but as cool as they got they were nullified a month later by another writer to serve some lame plot in amother book. Or even look at all the good work on Hulk over the last 5 or so years, only to be undone by Aarons terrible take on the characters. And how do we get to a world with 6 actual Hulks, and an army of hulked out Hydra goons. some of these new writers are utterly bereft of originality.

[Mormel]

For me, it's pretty much all of the X-Men 'Brood Saga' (Uncanny X-Men #154-157 and #162-167).

Whether it's Deathbird's spaceship launching from underneath a skycraper, Carol Danvers' transformation into Binary, Scott marvelling at the view of space with his father Corsair, or the sight of the majestic Acanti space whales... to me, this space opera had it all. The ultimate awe-factor, the wow-factor.

Indeed, experiencing a sense of wonder was always one of the reasons I read Marvel Comics. It's why they're called 'Marvel', isn't it?