Spidey Intellectual Stories: (please log in to view the image) (please log in to view the image)
So say a company did try to produce a line of superhero comics like this for highly intellectual readers.
The stories could still feature some physical action occasionally, but for the most part the plot and character conflict would be in the form of opposing views of philosophy and science, with characters defeating their foes through superior thinking and argument, much like Spider-Man and the Thinker here. The settings and tech would allow for the depiction and discussion of real-world scientific theories. The writing itself would more resemble high-brow literature than typical comic books, and instead of people like JMS, Whedon etc coming in to write, they would get Nobel Literature prize winners and such.
Most of the hero/villain conflicts in stories have a clear right and wrong side, with a few exceptions (Magneto and Xavier, when properly written), so in that sense, most 'intellectual stories' as you'd call them would be blatant logic-beatdowns from the hero's side. I can't say I'd be too interested in something that an averagely intelligent person would see as fairly obvious.
Most heroes and villains aren't sophisicated enough to warrant a philosophical storytelling and again, with a few exceptions (I'd like to see Superman's view on life and humanity be properly explored, through his eyes), they'd seem to be trying too hard, or just simply be too 'in your face' type of presentations.
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Ah, but that's the point of Intellectual Comics - the heroes and villains portrayed would be sophisticated enough to warrant it. In fact with IC, you may not even realize who is the true hero or villain until the end, or other cases the protaganists would be somewhere in between. This is why IC would use more intellectual and literary writers rather than say hacks like Bendis - the idea is to add the character depth that comic writing currently lacks.
A good question. Obviously great art appeals to the intellect as well as great writing, but I don't know if intellectual writing necessarily gains anything from the visual medium, I'm really just wondering if the comics medium could successfully pull off incorporating genuinely intellectual material in the way that some novels have done and if so would anyone want to read it? Or like the Watcher would they just yawn and go back to the funnybooks...
Except that philosophy has always been extremely visual: Plato's Cave, Voltaire's blank book and extraterrestrial giants, Schrodinger's cat, Foucault's panopticon -- visual metaphors from early times to the present have been incredibly useful for articulating intellectual problems. We could also say that the comic's semiotic density will alter the meaning of any textual argument inserted into it -- an argument's meaning and implications could change according to whether it is made by Batman, Superman, or the Joker, and according to what context they make it in.
That said, I would like intellectual comics (hopefully more highbrow than the scan) to exist, just so that post-modern philosophers could appear as supervillains. They even look the part: (please log in to view the image)(please log in to view the image)(please log in to view the image)
The question is silly. Philosophy already exists in comics, as do intellectual reads (though often not in the most popular titles).
The Spider-Man example is also farcical. It sacrifices believability for the sake of a verbal argument. Intellect is more than wordplay. Some of the most intellectual characters can and should resort to violence because it would be a faster means to their end.
If a comic existed like the OP though, no, I wouldn't read it. It would be dumb. A parody of actual comics that raise relevant questions. Amusing for a bit, but nothing more.
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Intellectual Comics is an oxymoron. Unless you're an incredible doofus-arrongant 13 year old that thinks his/her brain is above everyone else. Comic Books are an entertainment medium...you bury yourself too deep into them you're a fanatic.
An intellectual comic? For me that would mean a comic story that reads more like hard science fiction (eg, Stephen Baxter, Peter Hamilton)...basically what I aim for in my own 'superhero' short stories. Done like that -- minimizing PIS/CIS/whatever, as well as over-the-top hyperbole w/o 'sound' scientific backing -- yes, I would read them.
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But would an intellectual comic would be filled with examples of thought experiments or fallacies? If that was the case then the comic would be quite hard to produce, next to impossible. I'm not condemning the concept of intellectual art -I actually believe in esthetics and geometry as basis of our comprehension of the universe-, but the use of art is a legitimate question because just using pedagogical art would be dumb, as Digi's example of using arguments just as in a debate.
There are hardly enough hardcore intellectuals that aren't closet jerks to begin with. This kind of comics would likely serve no propose -other than keeping occupied the potential genius that must produce it-.
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Jun 29th, 2011 12:50 PM
