Why Superhero Comic Books Matter

Superhero comic books are a maligned and misunderstood art form. This is wrong. Superhero comic books matter. Here's why:


Superhero comic books seem to be a unique example of genre-medium lock-in.

What do I mean by that? I mean that the vast majority of superhero stories (ie the superhero genre) are to be found in the medium of comic books. And, equally, the vast majority of comic books feature superheroes.

No other genre is so dependent on one medium. No other medium is so dominated by one genre.

To be sure, there are exceptions. There are superhero movies and television shows and novels. There are comic books about things other than superheroes. But the tendency for the two to be related is so strong that the discussion of one aspect (eg superheroes) immediately brings to mind the other (ie comic books). And vice versa.

Why should this be? There is nothing inherent in the medium of comic books that requires the dominant genre to be superheroes. And there is nothing inherent about superhero stories that require comic books to be the medium of vastly preferred choice.

In his book Reinventing Comics, Scott McCloud tries to explain how this historical relationship came to be. He offers a reasonably compelling argument about the near-inevitability of the lock-in of genre to medium.



He even speculates that if history were to be rerun, then it may be a different genre that came to dominate the comic book medium. In other words, he doesn't consider the genre to be a relevant factor in this phenomenon. But that doesn't answer the question as to why the medium is a relevant factor. His argument can apply equally to books, magazines, movies, computer games and television. And none of these other media exhibit anything like this lock-in.

Television isn't dominated by vampire shows to the near-exclusion of everything else.

Movies aren't dominated by dystopic science-fiction to the near-exclusion of everything else.

Music isn't all ragtime. Books aren't all romance fiction. Magazines aren't all nudie mags.

So why are nearly all comic books about superheroes?

Does it matter? Isn't it just a historical oddity?

To answer the first question first. It does matter. All media have strengths and weaknesses, as do all genres. From a purely creative perspective, all media need to have their limits stretched. And, again, so do all genres. That is how great art is created. But the genre-medium lock-in of comic books and superheroes does both a disservice.

If television was dominated by vampire stories to the near-exclusion of everything else, then the medium of television would have been long abandoned by everybody but vampire fans. This wouldn't make Buffy any less of a triumph, but the only people who would be aware of it would be pre-existing fans of the genre. The genre couldn't grow its fanbase. And nor could the medium.

There are many fans of Buffy who would not have described themselves as vampire fans before the show. And who, indeed, might still not count themselves among that number. But in a world where television only showed vampire fiction and vampire fiction was only ever seen on television, then it would have been all-too-easy for potential fans to have been oblivious to its existence. Great works of art have the potential to exist in all genres, but genre-medium lock-in makes it too easy for a particular genre to be wholly dismissed and ignored.

And, equally, developments in the use of the locked-in medium are also likely to be missed by all but fans of the genre.

This is where comic book creators find themselves today. Great works of art are too easily ignored and sidelined. Overcoming a genre-medium lock-in is crucial to the future survival of both the genre and the medium.

Onto the second question: Is the comic book-superhero lock-in simply a historical oddity?

Almost certainly, yes. But what if it's not? What would that imply?

If McCloud's theory that economic constraints eventually force genre-medium lock-in is true, and given that it seems to be an argument not specific to comic books, how do we explain the vast number of different genres across the other media?

The only sane explanation would be that we've been too generous with our definition of genre. Maybe sitcoms, cop dramas, game shows and so forth don't deserve to be classified as television show genres unto themselves. Maybe they are all simple variations on one genre, a genre whose existence we don't even recognise, because it is the only genre on television.

Perhaps if artists were given freer reign to explore the medium of television, they could come up with 'shows' we can barely even contemplate today. "It's television, Jim, but not as we know it."

And, of course, the same is potentially true of the other media.

This is why superhero comic books matter. The overt nature of their genre-medium lock-in is an implicit challenge to artists everywhere to explore new frontiers, challenge fundamental assumptions and create innovative and great works of art across all media.

And, heck, why stop there? Because it's not just art that benefits from ongoing, regular re-examinations of its boundaries and its fundamental assumptions. Most of the great scientific breakthroughs have come from a similar challenge to the fundamentals that previous generations held to be self-evident, obvious, not worth even thinking about. This is, of course, the infamous 'paradigm shift'.

So an ongoing reminder to not make unfounded assumptions, and to stretch the boundaries of what has been done before and what is already known, is critical to the development of both art and science. Hence, such a reminder is critical to our development both as individuals and as a species as a whole. And, as we've seen, superhero comic books with their genre-medium lock-in are the best reminder we currently have available.

That's why superhero comic books matter.

Huh. And you just thought Batman was a badass.