Comics and Graphic Novels ARE "PROPER" READING! A hill I'm prepared to die on - This Week's ReadItTorial

The legendary Stan Lee who died earlier this week. Love 'im or hate 'im, he was an incredible creative force who helped shape comics as we know them today.

Once again I feel the need to revisit a topic we've covered extensively in previous ReadItTorials, and it's a subject that still seems to be quite the thorny issue with educators and literacy snobs.

Are comics "proper" reading?

I think we're probably fortunate enough that comics and graphic novels are (thankfully) embraced at C's school as a viable method of not only getting kids into reading, but keeping them there as they grow older.

Half the trouble with that (hated) label of "proper" reading seems to stem from the fact that very few folk who consider comics to be just a meaningless bit of froth when it comes to the meat and bones of reading actually haven't bothered to update their knowledge of what's going on in modern comics, and has been going on for quite a number of years.

This week saw the loss of Stan Lee, writer and co-creator of so many of the superhero characters that have become more than just comic characters, but a huge part of mainstream culture - to the point where just about every kid (and quite a lot of adults) will have either watched a Marvel movie, read a Marvel comic, or soaked up a Marvel Netflix series in its entirety, instantly able to recognise the "biggies" like Spider-Man, The Hulk or Captain America.

Wow, how many of these characters can you name?

Stan's loss wasn't without controversy and a lot of comic purists still have never forgiven the old fellah for not quite giving credit where credit was due, in equal measure to Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko - huge luminaries in the foundation of Marvel Comics back in 1961 (though Marvel had technically existed under different names since the late 1930s).

The reason for my rather roundabout route to proving my point - that comics are "proper" reading - is that Marvel's comics were often (unjustly) criticised for being a bit morally heavy handed. It felt as if each character and set of stories always had a lesson to impart, a strong moral compass to go alongside the rather binary notions of right and wrong that were front and present in the early strips.

It seems rather quaint that modern children's books have often adopted a rather saccharine approach to the same mechanism that comics have (arguably) evolved way past - no longer offering just a simple 'do this, and everything will be OK' approach, but offering stories that tackle real-world issues or offer more subtle nuances of a reflection of today's society and our world view.

Modern comic characters aren't just the shiny-suited superheroes we've been used to. Comics now deeply examine their psychological characteristics, not just dwelling on their powers or abilities.

Comics are diverse and it even feels like they've turned a corner with regard to crushing gender stereotypes and inclusivity that we're really only just beginning to see in picture books and early reader / middle grade chapter books.

Even "kid" comics have turned a corner. I know we keep banging on about The Phoenix comic, but weekly it consistently proves that comics can truly feature something for everyone, from science fiction and fantasy, scatological humour and even a good dose of history, all delivered by creators who believe in and are truly passionate about what they're doing.

Comics are capable of wringing us out emotionally - and some of the stories that have stuck with me from childhood are stories I read in the late 70s and 80s in Brit comics like 2000AD or later Judge Dredd: The Megazine, or perhaps in Crisis, Deadline or countless other influential comics of the 90s and early noughties.

With C, comics have the power to instantly draw her in and keep her totally absorbed in a story - sometimes something that doesn't instantly happen in picture or chapter books, where you'll lose a reader's interest if you get bogged down in the first chapter or few pages.

For four decades comics have been changing, evolving, reinventing themselves - so how is it that this has somehow been completely missed by an awful lot of literacy experts and educators?

Part of the problem seems to be that snickering elbow-nudge from most of the media whenever comics are discussed. "They're for nerds, people into (chortle) cosplay or weird art, and who are incapable of processing 'real' literature (whatever the hell that is)".

(Quite amusing considering that most of the coolest people I've ever known in my 5 decades on this planet have been comic lovers).

It's always there for us too, in that faint eye-roll from folk whenever they ask for a book recommendation and you happen to shoot back a comic or graphic novel recommendation at them. It's always there when you start to talk about comic culture, and the person you're talking to instantly glazes over, picturing in their mind the traditional view of a comic nerd, the unloved basement-dwelling person of questionable personal hygiene who prefers their reading material to come with pictures attached.

We'll keep talking about and championing comics on the blog. Not just because my daughter now reads a LOT of comics and graphic novels and really loves them (as you've probably guessed by our Book of the Week slots, where we've actually ended up having to have a "comic of the week" category just to give other books a look-in), but because it feels like the comics industry needs all the help it can get - however humble. So hopefully you'll take a look through our reviews and now and again spot the sort of comics we really love cropping up in the pages of this blog.

R.I.P Stan the Man. Nuff Said indeed!