Rediscovering Black and White Comics

 This is the 2nd of 3 articles posted on August 1st, 2008.

Mostly through accident, I discovered a different brand of comics. Not old, but new paneled stories set in black and white. There is something very unique about reading something in black and white. Just like looking at a page with only words and spaces and punctuation, there is something refreshingly bold about the black and white comic. Perhaps the authors of graphic novels are seeing this also, and I believe that the comics industry is better for it. There is a small down side though… for colorists that is.

I always loved reading the funnies in the newspaper, and through the wonder that is the webbernet, I have be able to continue enjoying them even though I no longer read the news. There is less to focus on in the black and white comic. You may call it laziness, but I disagree. See, we live in a world where we are constantly being over stimulated. We have the web, television, ads, newspapers, movies and now even comics and novels that are dripping with blazing commercials, non-sequential events, loud colors and even louder noises. We cannot sit still anymore, let alone listen to something or someone who makes an ounce of sense. I am not exaggerating. Why do you think we have so many kids and now adults with attention deficit? But I digress.

Stimulating and introspective comics are not promoted when that sort of thing does not sell, but nonetheless, they exist. And in this world of graphic authors who dare to tell stories that portray feelings and truths instead of sales pitches, nothing makes more sense than to print in black and white. Black and white show good and evil, right and wrong, dark and light, satire and slapstick; instead of looking at everything and focusing on nothing, we can look at one thing and focus on many.

Three graphic novels spring to mind: Emo Boy, which tells of humor and redemption; Daisy Kutter, a tale of action and um… robots; and then Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, which details the macabre. All three tell of good or evil, sometimes both, but without the frills you are better able to focus on the characters and the truths that they portray. No superheroes, no pointless nudity, no eye offending explotions or intrusive advertisements……… just real stories, about real people in a real world, all of which is chronicled in REAL comics.