COMICS CULTURE SHRAPNEL from CBEM 309

Optimistic

I've been watching a lot of television lately, and as a result just find myself wanting to learn how to play guitar, write some songs, release an album, garner massive air play and sales, maybe even win a few Grammies. Or maybe I'll start my own music video network, that plays all videos, where VJ's play what they like rather than adhering to some network directive.

These will probably never happen. But I feel like they need to be done because there are no choices anymore. We're wading through a bubblegum-pop phenomenon and MTV will continue to show nothing but Undressed and Road Rules marathons. And once Napster goes kaput, I can pretty much consider my musical choices dead. No choice. Stagnation and boredom await me in the near future.

When I consider the comic industry, I realize just how lucky we are. There is massive variety in what we are offered. A number of genres flourish at your local store (it's getting better at the smaller places, I'd like to think) and there's lots more online. Anyone who wants to contribute can, either by photocopying copies for a few friends or uploading a comic straight to the web for everyone to read. Compared to other forms of mass media, we live in a paradise simply because more opinions can be expressed. And that's what communication is all about.

I've been somewhat negative in the past, but now I just consider how lucky we are to have people like Garth Ennis, Grant Morrison, Scott McCloud, David Mack, John Kovalic, Alex Ross, Kurt Busiek, Mark Waid, Brian Bendis, George Perez, Alan Moore, Joe Quesada, J. Michael Straczynski, Kevin Smith, and Warren Ellis working to make comics better for us. What does the music industry have? Britney, Limp Bizkit, and Ricky Martin. Damn, I love being a comics fan.