Week 4 - What Makes a Good Comic? (2? Points)

 

    I found the work of E. C. comics to be much more interesting than Jack Kirby’s comics. While Kirby’s work is very colorful and imaginative, it seems not much thought was given to the writing. Many of the plot points are explained away with text like “I had an invisible shield the whole time! HAHA!” That paired with the flat, unshaded panel makes the whole comic feel stiff. E. C. comics, in particular the Tales from the Crypt series was shaded, dark, provided entertainment and a moral. It feels much more cohesive than Kirby’s superhero comics. AND it has murder! How exciting. Some of the images in the books did genuinely make me feel a little scared. The Kirby books did not make me feel anything. I can see why kids of the time were so into these books is because – gasp – they were actually fun to read.

    The way I see it, a good comic book doesn’t need to have good art. It just needs to make you feel something. That emotion can be portrayed through the art, the words, the colors, or whatever the medium has at its disposal, but a pretty image without any substance to back it up won’t stick in people’s memories for long. Kirby features dynamic poses and action but the writing is lacking. E. C. Comics, while still very cheesy, seem to have put more thought into their narrative and what they want the reader to walk away with, hence why I believe they have the more interesting comics.