In Tuesday’s class, Professor Sample mentioned that The Dark Knight Returns wouldn’t have even been possible if there hadn’t been a few changes in the industry. These changes included the creation of a writer/artist celebrity system, writers gaining more control over their work and writers receiving royalties and shared rights. With more rights and freedoms, writers grew more creative. Recently, however, I think there has been another change that has changed the world of comics again– the advent and consequent invasion of the internet. The internet has started a new brand of comics altogether: Web comics.
I noticed that Batman is so pervasive that he has even entered this realm. The most interesting web comic I stumbled upon was this: Batman and Sons.
Like Miller, this portrays Batman as being older and yet…it is absolutely nothing like Miller. “Batman and Sons” is a nod at Grant Morrison’s graphic novel, Batman and Son, which also features a “gritty” Batman. Yet in this web comic, even though Batman has to deal with dirty diapers and hyperactive children, his character is no less curmudgeonly (well, most of the time). The comic itself may not be dark, but it doesn’t go back to being campy; it definitely continues in the tradition of Miller’s angry, grim Batman.
Something like this couldn’t be sold in stores without incurring a whole lot of lawsuits. It’s similar to the comics that newsstands wouldn’t sell if they weren’t approved by CCA. While the internet was a societal change (as opposed to a change the comics industry instigated), it still provoked creativity among artists and writers. But then we get into the idea that anybody with any opinion can say or draw anything on the internet even if the rest of the world doesn’t care about said opinion– but that’s a story for another time.
Other web comics that incorporate Batman:
http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1543