Year of the Comic Book

1986 was a landmark year in the history of comic books. In one year, three of the most important comic books ever were published. I have never seen an explanation of why such a thing would have happened in a single year.

1. Art Spiegelman, Maus
I just finished this one, which is the reason for this post now. It is brilliant, absolutely brilliant. It is the story of the Holocaust, which, to be honest, does not seem like the most promising subject matter for a comic book. But the conception, art and writing are undoubtedly top-notch. Indeed, this book is better, much better, that the now standard Holocaust tale, Night. If this weren't a comic book, it would be the staple reading for every high school class.

One of the brilliant details is that the story is all being told second-hand. There is a surrounding story of our narrator hearing the tale from his father, who survived the Holocaust. (This is a true story, by the way--Art is telling the story of his own life and the lives of his parents.) The surrounding story is fascinating in its own right--the father is, to put it mildly, rather difficult. Indeed, as the narrator laments at one point in the story, by writing his father in this manner, isn't he just confirming every stereotype of an elderly Jewish man? Yet, one can't help but like the father, and when the father resumes telling his life story, one can't help but feel an enormous amount of sympathy for him.

If you have never read a comic book, in your life, this is the one that is worth reading. No superheroes. Just mice representing all the Jews, cats for the Germans, Pigs for the Poles, frogs for the French, and so on. The art doesn't look impressive, but as you read the story, you'll notice the art is perfect for the story being told.

As I said, this is the best Holocaust tale I have read. It isn't as great as the best Soviet Gulag tale (Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago) or the best tales of the Rwandan genocide (Hatzfeld's Machete Season and Life Laid Bare), but it is still well worth reading.

2. Frank Miller, The Dark Knight Returns
This story is the best re-imagining of a stock superhero ever. Batman has aged, he must be in his 50s--when the story starts he has retired. But, a wave of violence starts sweeping through Gotham and Batman returns; older, not nearly as physically imposing, but wiser. Jim Gordon is retiring; a new police chief who does not approve of Batman's vigilante ways is coming in. Two-face and the Joker return. So all the stock pieces for a Batman tale are in place.

What elevates this far above the standard superhero story, though, is the the whole book becomes a reflection on the Idea of Batman. Is a masked vigilante a good thing? Is Batman sane? Is he a cult leader? Are the criminals of Gotham arising as a response to the existence of Batman or is Batman a response to the criminals? Great writing throughout, and the moral questions are never quite resolved.

This is the book that spawned the recent two Batman movies, by the way--so, if the sort of questions being asked seemed familiar, it is because you saw the movies. So, if you liked the movies (and who didn't?), read the book. (It's a different plot, by the way, so you don't already know what happens.)

3. Alan Moore, The Watchmen
First off, if you have seen the movie, I am really sorry. That movie was an utter disaster, and I am not sure that the book will be enjoyed by anyone who has first seen what must be one of the worst superhero movies ever made.

For those who haven't seen the movie, this book is amazing. This a different world than the standard Superhero world--all the superheros here are normal people who wear masks and run around beating up bad guys. No superpowers at all, until Dr Manhattan is formed due to a freak nuclear accident. Dr. Manhattan is omnipotent and omniscient. The rest of the superheros are obsolete once Dr. Manhattan is on the scene and nobody liked the old superheroes anyway. So, when the story starts, we have some aging superheroes who don't know what to do in retirement, another one who is an industrial titan, and one, Rorschach, who is still wandering around fighting crime. Rorschach is brilliantly conceived; easily one of the best superheroes ever, and this is the only book in which he appears.

The story is pretty interesting in its own right, but the book itself is brilliant. There are all sorts of stories being woven in and out. After each installment, there is a narrative passage which is designed as a book from this world of the Watchmen--e.g., there is the autobiography of one of the retired superheros, there is the technical report on Dr. Manhattan, and so on. There is also another comic book within this one; a kid on the street is reading a pirate tale, which has some interesting similarities to the larger story in The Watchmen.

After reading The Watchmen it is really hard to believe that this is the only book in this world--it feels like you have known these characters forever.


So: in 1986 all three of those were published. There hasn't been a year like it before or after.