Michael Daehn says he's "not a normal comic book guy," but some may disagree. An assistant professor of theater education and directing, he started reading comic books at the age of six, growing up in Wisconsin.
"It was a way for my parents to encourage me to read," he said.
Nagging them while waiting in line at the grocery store didn't hurt either; his parents would rather get him a comic book as opposed to candy or toys. As he got older, the collection began to pile up. By the time Daehn was in higher education, he amassed nearly 20,000 comic books, including the first 25 X-Men and earliest of the Fantastic Four series.
However, he heard the calling of graduate school and sold about three-fourths of his collection to pay for it. After that, he slowed down on his collecting and involvement in the comic world.
So it came to him as a shock nearly a decade ago when he began working for Comic Buyers Guide and saw the differences of the medium.
"It was a completely different world from the one I remember," he said. "There weren't as many spandex superheroes anymore. The market was completely different."
The themes were more complex too, more creative, he said. Though some series continue the idea of a hero busting through the door at the end and saving the day, which Daehn still prefers reading, others tackle such things as health care, Native American issues and modern-day warfare. Comics like Fables, Unknown Soldier and The Sword are branching out and creatively changing the industry. Daehn attributed these changes to the new wave of comic book writers coming in. Many have one or more college degrees, and the writing style reflects that. The references to culture icons, literary classics and complexity show how comic books are being written for a more intelligent audience.
"They're not just for kids anymore," Daehn said.
A good example of this is the comic books series American Splendor, written by Harvey Pekar, Daehn said. Pekar came to Ball State in September to talk about his work and how (as the presentation was titled) "Ordinary Life Can Be Pretty Complex Stuff." The series is drawn by different artists but was written by Pekar, who tells of his day-to-day issues and encounters in Cleveland. The ‘average Joe' aspect of American Splendor may seem far off from the adventures of Thor the Almighty or the Silver Surfer, but Daehn sees them tied by common elements.
Recently, he spoke in a sociology class on how comic books had brought him happiness, specifically, the life lessons he gathered. One of these is that everyone is flawed, he said.
Though these almighty heroes are out saving the world, there is always something they continually have to deal with. Superman has kryptonite. Wolverine can never seem to win Jean Grey's heart. Even Spider-Man struggles to pay rent each month, Daehn said.
"No matter what gifts you're given, no matter what talents you're given, you still have to deal with the reality of everyday life," Daehn said.
Passed on through generations
Andrew Spohn, a sophomore pre-business major, is the president and founder of Excelsior, the Ball State comic book group. He got into comics before he could read.
"My dad was into it when he was a kid," Spohn said. "So I have all these comics from the '70s, like two big boxes full of them."
Spohn represents the newer generation of comic reader, attracted to the more complex-themed and sometimes darker comic book series. Lately Spohn has been into The Walking Dead — a zombie-filled comic book — and said the civilization and humanity themes stick out greatly. The believability of characters is also an important part to Spohn. Zombies might be a factor in The Walking Dead, but what the humans have to deal with can make readers think about how they would personally react. Some superheroes today, such as Dark Wolverine, have that shadowy aspect to them, which is attractive to newer readers, Spohn said.
Yet overall, Spohn saw the benefit of reading comics as his top priority. A big movie fan, he likes the stories and art portrayed without having to rewind or use a computer to look at favorite scenes over and over.
"It's an experience to find the one you want in the shop and buy it," he said. "Then you take a seat, open it up. It's awesome. I would recommend it to everyone."
Online storytelling
Comic books aren't limited to print, either. With the emergence of the Internet as a new method of storytelling, Web comics are becoming more common and impacting. Daniel Farber, a junior computer technology major and vice president of Excelsior, sees it as a growing influence.
"Web comics do something other mediums can't," he said.
Funny story writing and unique angles are a couple examples, and the ability to publish more often is also a plus, he said. Farber said he specifically likes that online comics contain a variety of small groups of people doing their own thing without much limitation, and specifically mentioned MS Paint Adventures as one of his favorites, saying anybody who's ever wanted to read comics should check it out.
However, unlike Daehn, Farber isn't a fan of the typical superhero stories.
"It's just the same old thing," he said. "Eventually you realize nothing's ever going to really change, plot wise. It kind of gets old."
But this doesn't deter him from loving comics overall.
"They combine the visual aspect of a movie with the writing of book," he said. "It's a great blend of the two."
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