As far back as I can remember, I always read comics.
When I was a kid, a large part of my life was made up of the stories that I read, and the earliest memories I have of reading come from comics. From the heroism of Tintin and Mickey Mouse, to the fearless wit of Harvey Kurtzman, to the profoundly human attempts of Calvin and Hobbes to understand the world around them, it seemed like everything I needed could be found in the pages of a comic book. And as I have grown older, I’ve found that very little has changed.
My purpose for writing this blog is very simply to explore and celebrate the realm of comics in all shapes and forms, be they comic books, comic strips, graphic novels, wordless novels, or even cave paintings. My motivation for this blog is twofold. The first of which is that if there is anything that I like more than reading comics, it is discussing them. By writing this blog I hope to spare my friends, family, and strangers who are unlucky enough to come into even brief contact with me from my ramblings about talking animals, instead unleashing them onto the readers.
My second motivation stems from a desire to do my own small part in helping the comic medium to be seen as a legitimate and fruitful section of the literary spectrum. Comics have often been marginalized in the literary community, causing many people to simply not realize how many great comics are out there or even think about comics at all. Hopefully, by writing this blog, I can expose people to some fantastic comics and learn more about comics myself.
So, if you are already a true believer in comics or are interested in expanding your literary horizons, I invite you to join me bi-weekly as I explore the depths of this great medium! In the posts to follow I intend to make an attempt to cover at least a few of the endless topics related to comics including visual style, composition, historical connections, and comparisons to other art forms. As the great Harvey Pekar said in the pages of American Splendor, “Comics are words an’ pictures: you c’n do anything with words and pictures!” And in that spirit, comics have been made that cover the whole spectrum of human experience and I hope that I am able to do at least some justice to the comics that are important to so many of us.
— Quinn Stratton, Comic Blogger
