SO WHY DID 'BEN' CALL IT A 'DAY'? I 'SMELL' A STORY...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

I'm probably a product of my time.  The word 'prob-

ably' in that sentence is really only to provide alliteration, as

there's not much (if any) doubt about it.  We're all products

of our time you see, being shaped by what we experience as

we grow up to become curmudgeonly old farts, of which I

am now one.  If you're past middle-age, you are too.

Comics don't seem like comics to me anymore.  I was in

my local FORBIDDEN PLANET store a few weeks back,

and on the row upon row of shelves of periodicals staring back

at me, I saw only one that had a speech balloon on the cover.  It

was like they were declaring themselves to be respectable, gen-

uine magazines now, not mere comics  As if to prove their point,

they were all printed on glossy magazine-style paper, with su-

perior, multi-hued colouring, not the cheap newsprint with

Ben-Day dot colours that comics had back in my day.

However much I may enjoy reading some of the newer

titles that abound today, I don't get the same feeling I do as

when I read a comic from the 1960s, '70s or '80s.  There's a

scent that emanates from comics of those times that is almost

like a drug, taunting, teasing, and caressing my olfactory organs

with an aroma that is truly tantalising.  Today's comics no longer

have a splash page, instead featuring a boring page of expository

text, to facilitate the inevitable bound collected edition several

months down the line.  See?  Comics aren't even the 'real

deal' nowadays, being nothing more than a dry run for

the TPB or deluxe hardcover volumes that follow.

One can argue over whether today's comics are better,

worse, or just the same as they ever were when it comes

to storytelling techniques or artistic ability, but, to me, one

thing is undeniable - they're simply not as satisfying an 'ex-

perience' as they used to be back when they weren't striving

so hard to be anything other than what they were.  Namely,

a half-hour's pleasantly entertaining diversion from the

everyday problems and irritations that beset us all.

  And hey - didn't they smell great while doing so?   

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