Why Comic Books Are Important

Comic books are important because they represent a segment of the population that like to fantasize that they can escape the hardship of everyday life. In comic books they can be the hero, the nemesis, or a third party that may or may not become pivotal in the end.

A person may identify with a certain character because the personality the superhero or villain embodies what the person visualizes, or identifies with. Comic books are important because the scenarios that the people face exhibit situations where confrontation isn't necessarily the only answer. The quandaries faced enable a person to see a situation and how it is dealt with. Comic books allow people to create their own versions and see how different scenarios are played out, which can result in new ways of defusing stressful situations. It may permit a person to see situations in life differently and hence; think outside the box when warranted.

Comic books are important because the venue in which they are supplied is an alternative to regular book reading. They are shorter in length so a person who is more visual will get additional enjoyment out of a forty-eight page comic book versus a short story or a novel. It would be less time consuming and allow the reader to engage in other activities. Time management and comic books are synonymous in the vein of everyday life. People seem to have little time to read. The busy lifestyle, the children's needs, all those requirements play a role in time constraints. Comic books offer a solution to the active person. The reader is limited in time so he or she must be enthralled immediately to gain full attention. Once the reader immerses himself or herself, the ambiance changes. He or she is thrust into an unknown situation that demands total attention. The plot thickens and the hero is cast in circumstances that demand a resolution. The confrontation ensues and against seemingly impossible odds, the hero finds an answer in an unlikely place or person. Once the comic book is finished being read, very little time had elapsed.

Yet the reading of the comic book doesn't end there. The reader now has time to dwell on what transpired, what could have been done, what should have been done and a myriad of other possible outcomes. That can be done while daydreaming or at a quiet time when you're alone.

The significance of contemplating the different endings of a comic book induces thought. The what if landscape could produce an unexpected epiphany. It might help with a problem that had eluded you and the answer to your dilemma was spelled out. You might have to apply it differently than the comic book did, but the answer could have been contained within the story.

Comic books are important because people need them for an outlet. It channels our thoughts to construct a better picture of how we need heroes to behave, and what limits we set upon them to handle crisis that inevitably happens.

The Science Fiction of Comic Books

The science fiction of comic books always fascinated the public. Where else could you read a forty-eight page comic book and find alternate universes or parallel universes? One could read a science fiction short story or a novel, but to see a visual representation of what the writer and artist rendition of foreign life is truly a unique experience. The connection between you and the comic books version of alien life forms or parallel universes can be similar or way off base. That is the beauty of the science fiction of comic books. You never know if the comic books interpretation of alien life and alien technology were meant to persuade you into their way of conceptualizing the unfathomable, or not.

Perhaps it is their version from when they read comic books when they were young. Comic books have a plethora of instances where alien life forms want to destroy the earth. The strange beings seem only to want to destroy and conquer.

If a superhero destroys an alien bent on destroying earth and his body dissipates, then you would think the alien is gone. However, matter cannot dissipate. So where is the creature? It seems likely it will be back in the future to wreak more wide spread destruction on the unsuspecting populace. On the other hand, it could be a robot that infiltrates machines, and has wrested control from us. Alternatively, it could be ourselves from the distant future that depleted their natural resources so they come back to steal ours. Whatever the reason the strange beings wage warfare with us, or we are beamed to a different reality, the imagination is the clear winner.

Almost every kid sometime or another wanted to take a story they read from a comic book and try some type of experiment. Those kids are the future scientists and perhaps in the meantime, our comic book creators. The science fiction of yesterday becomes the science of tomorrow.

The science may be dubious in comic books but the thrill of pretending you are in the shoes of someone else always held me captive. The comic books will always be filled with science fiction themes and plots based on real science and pseudo science. However, the real magic is that they can implement the two into a comic book, and turn a make believe story into a great work of art that will be remembered for a very long time.