Broken Frontier

There’s a film out at present that would serve as the perfect gateway movie to get some new readers checking out comics. It’s only been out for a short while and already broken some box office records. The director is pretty well known, at least in some circles, but the stars of the movie are even more famous. On top of all that, it’s a really well made film that has an interesting story and a strong message, one which ties into some comics that can be found on stands today.

I’m talking of course about… Fahrenheit 9/11.

Weren’t expecting that, were you? Well that’s exactly my point. Fahrenheit 9/11 makes a much better gateway film than Spider-Man 2 for one simple reason: everyone knows that Spider-Man is a comic book character. They remember the cartoons from years past, or if not, then they see right there in the opening credits of the film that it’s based on a Marvel comic. Spider-Man is a superhero, the genre of storytelling that comics are most known for, so it is expected that there are comics out there that feature this character. Heck, I was banking on that fact myself just last week when I told you to go out to theatres in malls and spread some love by leaving some Spider-Man comics around for kids to pick up.

Meanwhile, no one expects a documentary with a political agenda to relate to comics, and we can win over adults much more readily if we can show them that there are comics with similar thought-provoking topics. We surprise them with the idea that comics can have a serious political agenda, can tell moving stories about such topics as war and the pain and suffering it can bring. We catch the unsuspecting moviegoers off guard, make them sit up and take notice that comics aren’t just superhero stories. Comics can be very diverse, can explore significant issues with sincere emotion, and can make profound statements like the best of literature, and if we ride on the coattails of a movie such as Fahrenheit 9/11, we can prove this point to people who don’t know any better.

What kinds of comics could you give someone then who saw Fahrenheit 9/11? Well, there are many options to consider. There are several books you could recommend that tell tales of human drama in the face of the violent conflicts that have plagued our globe in the past fifty years. These books include: the brilliant memoir of Marjane Satrapi’s life as an Iranian teenager, Persepolis, as well as its upcoming sequel, Fax from Sarajevo by Joe Kubert, Harvey Pekar’s story of a Vietnam vet, American Splendor: Unsung Heroes, Don Lomax’s books Vietnam Journal and the upcoming Gulf War Journal, Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde by Joe Sacco, who has practically created a new genre of journalism in comic form, and of course the Pulitzer prize-winning Holocaust narrative Maus by Art Spiegelman. Some of these books actually focus on the Middle East, and thus a person might read them to shed light on some of the history of that region.

You could also recommend a book to someone that wants to know more about recent events such as 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan. Many eyewitness accounts of the tragedy on September 11th can be found in the two 9/11 benefit books from DC/Dark Horse, as well as Alternative Relief and Marvel’s one-shot A Moment of Silence. Art Spiegelman is writing his first graphic novel in years on this subject, and this book, entitled In the Shadow of No Towers, is due out in August. Two books by Ted Rall take very different views of recent history: one based in political humor (Generalissimo El Busho) and one more journalistic in nature (To Afghanistan and Back).

Perhaps the best thing to give to viewers of Fahrenheit 9/11 would be a single issue. It’s shorter so they’re more likely to read it, and it’s cheaper so you can afford to give it to them. The most recent issue of Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan’s book Demo, issue number 7, would be ideal in that regard. This issue focuses on a young man who has enlisted in the armed forces because he was always a crack shot with a hunting rifle, and because he had few other job prospects open to him. Now having been called over to Iraq, he’s embroiled in a moral dilemma. The war is not what he expected, and he’s having qualms about killing a fellow human being.

Rendered with emotion, this story raises the same questions that Michael Moore briefly touches upon in his film in regards to the many young men and women from underprivileged areas who sign up to fight for our country. Many of them have no other options in life than military service, and many of them are getting much more than they bargained for at present. It is a beautiful comic that, at a price point of $2.95, you could give to anyone you see coming out of a theatre that’s showing Fahrenheit 9/11, or perhaps to anyone heading into an army recruitment center.

Do keep in mind as you read these books yourself or recommend them to others that many of them approach their topics from the liberal end of the spectrum. If you or the people you recommend these books to have a more conservative political view, at the very least these books can give you something to think about or argue against. Unlike many people, I don’t think political subjects are something one should shy away from in polite conversation; in fact, I think debate about our government should be fostered. Perhaps reading these works can contribute to a person’s ability to debate, either for or against the topics they raise.

I hope my regular readers will forgive me for getting somewhat political in this week’s column, especially since this was not written with the intent to offend anyone. I simply wanted to illustrate a point about the importance of thinking outside of the box in regards to comics advocacy. It is most effective when it can touch individuals in ways they weren’t expecting, on a personal level, and perhaps in that regard activism in comics and in politics can go hand in hand.