Comic Books Are Literally Literary Art

Comic books — also known as little illustrated booklets projecting superheroics and battles of good versus evil.

Some might sneer at the 20-page magazines, claiming they’re for kids or nothing but surface-level plots of spandex-laden characters beating the crap out of one another. 

But this characterization couldn’t be further from the truth. The illustrated narratives are as varied in genre as writing, spanning from adventure stories for kids to mature dramas for adults. As richly assorted as film or novels, comic books’ narrative depth, relevant storylines and diverse characters make them not only entertainment but trailblazers of representation in the U.S.

The history of comics is rooted in 19th-century politics, beginning as newspaper strip cartoons lampooning prominent figures. During World War II, the magazines gained relevance as affordable entertainment, sporting sci-fi stories with anti-fascist messages, according to Indiana University East.

Superheroics lulled as noirs and romances entered into the limelight, but they soon resurged during the Cold War with a revitalized undercurrent of social change in tandem with the Civil Rights Movement. 

Black Panther debuted in 1966’s “The Fantastic Four #52” as the first Black superhero, influenced by the revolutionary Lowndes County Freedom Organization, later known as the Black Panther party, according to Washington University St. Louis.

The character’s debut featured the fictional nation of Wakanda, an African kingdom hidden from colonial rule and thriving in utopia. Reaching mainstream success, comic books continued publishing material promoting representation into the 70s, such as Len Wein’s “Giant-Size X-Men #1,” which debuted superheroes of Japanese, Native American and Kenyan backgrounds.

Continued by Chris Claremont’s 16-year run writing X-Men comics, the series included stories like “God Loves, Man Kills,” combating a Christian nationalist sect weaponizing hatred to kill the superpowered mutant minority. 

Though the self-regulatory body the Comics Code Authority restricted LGBTQ+ advocacy, Claremont’s emphasis on romantic subtext provided a window for queer representation, according to Vulture.

In both the baseline and inferred aspects of Claremont’s writing, superhero comics were advocates for progress within mainstream print.

Aside from their relevance in representation, comics can be an artful journaling of real life events. Art Spiegelman’s “Maus,” published in two parts between 1980-81, documents his father’s experience as a victim of the Holocaust, featuring paneled illustrations of voice-recorded interviews with his dad, Vladek. 

Featuring black and white sketches of anamorphic mouse-people, the innocent artwork contrasts against the horrific genocide. The cartoonish juxtaposition underlines the absurdity of fascism, and the power of his presentation made Spiegelman the first writer to receive the Pulitzer Prize for a comic book in 1992. 

Though comics today are widely seen as just simplistic superhero stories aimed at teens and young adults, the niche genre can be an endless well for mature reading. Writer Alan Moore, for example, used a cartoonish mud-man to explore themes of body dysmorphia, existentialism and social revolution in his seminal “Saga of the Swamp Thing.” 

Through his 45-issue run, stories like “The Anatomy Lesson” explore what it means to be sentient. By taking a character as wacky as a living mass of moss, Moore questions what distinguishes memory from consciousness — and if things other than humans can contain a spirit.

Yet even simple comics detailing good versus evil harbor their own kind of value. On the surface, Mark Waid’s “Superman: Birthright” is a by-the-book hero’s origin, but Waid also emphasizes selflessness in heroes and vanity in villains. The result is a comic inspiring young readers to reject ostracism and embrace helping those who need it.

Comic books are just as varied in content as sci-fi films or dystopia novels. They can be consumable fun, run-of-the-mill schlock or thoughtful reading. At their best, they combine vivid, hand-drawn art with passionate writing. 

Whether leading fictional representation or boasting profound literary content, comics deserve respect. They span psychedelic surrealism to grounded noirs, all while displaying visuals matching their language. 

If you have any stock in visual or written storytelling, there’s guaranteed to be a comic for you.