The selfish meme

[trenchkamen]

Maybe my perception is skewed because I have accumulated several /co/mrade friends, who tend to introduce me to their /co/mrade friends, but it seems as though fandom at large is undergoing a renewed interest in Western comics. I've noticed it the past few years. In the early 2000's, manga was all the rage, and Western comics (especially the classic superhero comics) were generally regarded to be over-muscled, poorly-written waff, whereas (more) manga was regarded to have *depth* and *good artwork* and a distinct lack of Spandex. Now, people are re-discovering DC and Marvel and Vertigo. I attribute this to multiple possibilities:

1) As I said, my friend cloud is drifting to include long-time Western comic fans.
2) Western comics are undergoing a Renaissance of quality and creativity.
3) Interest is drifting; certain influential people re-discover Western comics, and spread the re-found brilliance to others in their peer groups.
4) It's not just me getting cynical and older; the overall quality of manga is going down. And that is sad.
5) The novelty of manga is lost, and manga actually has to be *good* to attract attention now. Which I approve of. The same standard is being applied to American comics with that loss of novelty. This is, IMHO, the best outcome, as it holds both mediums to a higher standard of artwork and storytelling.
6) Me and my peer group are growing up, and our tastes change accordingly. Honestly, I don't really like the standard Marvel art style--too muscular and Spandexy and blah--but I can see past that to a good story, easily.
7) As the hipster generation comes of age, it likes these things "ironically".
8) I have had something to the order of four cups of coffee and little to eat, and should stop taking out my ass.

Honestly, though, I do not feel as though I am in much of a position to evaluate. I don't read Marvel, I've only read some of the 'artsy' DC/Vertigo stuff like Sandman and Watchmen and some of the darker 80's Batman. I read The Crow in high school, and all things Jhonen Vasquez religiously. My cohort experienced Johnny the Homicidal Maniac at a particularly vulnerable period of adolescence, where Johnny's loathing and rage against hypocrisy hit a chord. Some of that cohort did not see Johnny's hypocrisies, but there we go. They're the butt of the joke. I Feel Sick was published as we got older, and we appreciated its maturity in comparison to Johnny. It was the next stage in that evolution.

There's always been an interest in unconventional American comics. It just seems lately there is a return to the roots, the stereotypes.

I've also noticed that fandom has taken a turn toward the politically correct and activist. We're analyzing race, gender, class, and religion in our fandoms. We're asked to check our privilege and our preconceptions. More and more people (catalyzed, in so small part I am sure, by the Racebending controversy) are realizing that white, male, cis-gendered, heterosexual, and able-bodied is considered to be the default state of being. People who had not previously noticed sociological implications of works are seeing them for the first time, and engaging in discussion. There has always been a small, dedicated, intellectual subset of fandom that has done this; it seems that it has come to the fore more often as of late.

What do you guys think? I'd like to hear from long time /co/ people, especially.

Comments

[trenchkamen.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I feel pretentious for thinking that, but then I look around me at some of the people in fandom, and I realize maybe I had a point.