heydaralon wrote:You have probably read far more scifi than I have, but I feel like scifi is a compelling way to explore philosophical and metaphysical questions about what it means to human, the relationship between technology and society, and spiritual needs that man faces in a world where he has god like powers through science. There are plenty of scifi authors who do this well, and use the medium to explore these ideas. Phillip K Dick was great at this, as was M John Harrison and JG Ballard. I don't feel like comic books have that kind of depth though. Some of them are illustrated well, but they don't really get people to think. This is just my opinion.
But have you read any comic books? Personally I'm more drawn to books with good art than a good story, after all it's a visual medium, and I like to dabble in art, so that's me. I wouldn't ever try to compare them to a classic novel, I've read more than a few of those too, but there are plenty of comic books that dabble into the realm of the deeper metaphysical, Alan Moore's Saga of the Swamp Thing being the first that comes to mind.
In Moore's first year, Swamp Thing faced an escalating series of demonic menaces, which escalated with rescuing Abigail Cable from Hell itself. To top this, the second year's "American Gothic" storyline brought forth evil incarnate on a march that might culminate in the destruction of heaven but for an understated conversation between Swamp Thing and Evil. The final year of the run had Swamp Thing in exile, pining for his love Abby while he teleported from one world to another until, like Odysseus, he returns home.
For all of the journeys on Earth, space, and other realms, the greatest changes happen to the character of Swamp Thing. In a momentous redefinition, Moore has Swamp Thing learn that he is not the man Alec Holland transformed into something else, but is, rather, a plant creature that never was Alec Holland but that had gained his memories. Given that very unreal situation, Moore, a gifted writer, gives the creature anguish that feels real, and is more human than other DC characters even as, ironically, he finds that he has never been human at all.
http://rikdad.blogspot.com/2015/08/retr ... thing.html
The trick to comic books I think, is when the visual art helps to elevate the story beyond just the written word. Whenever there is a harmony between the writer and artist you'll see the magic happen. I'll easily admit that most comic books are trash, shovel ware shit that aren't worth the acidic paper they're printed on, it's a business just like anything else and I don't think the market is over-saturated yet (but man it's getting close), so they'll keep pumping em out (and raising the price). It's actually a really good time for comic books, Image Comics is doing better than ever by allowing the creators to have free reign over their stories and giving them the proper time to tell them, some of these guys work for years on their books. And they're good.
I don't really read much from Marvel or DC, sometimes Batman or whatever if there's a solid creative team, like I said I'm more of a fan of the artists but I'm not too old (27) to kill some time with Batman as he fucks up some evil-doers. I'm well aware of the negative stereotypes for comic book dweebs, I visit my local shop every few weeks and chat it up, and I promise most of those stereotypes are true. But it's misguided to look your nose down at all of them because the goofy nostalgic and often shallow ones are featured so predominantly in our culture. (I like the movies but I'm not too crazy about them, except for Guardians of the Galaxy which is great)
Anyway, just like anything you'll have to dig through the clutter a little bit to find the good stuff. Hellboy, Transmetropolitan, Sandman. It's out there
