The Future of Comics
If you want to see the future of comics then look no further than the local kindergarten class. Forget the crossover events and hot artists and all the other industry noise. It’s cliché but the kids are the future of our hobby.
At the recent Comic Geek Speak 300th episode I had the pleasure of watching Luke Satterlee busting out sketches while his dad Chuck signed books and chatted with friends. I was amazed at how much Luke understood about the characters and how he was able to articulate it in two dimensions. I asked Luke for a sketch of Mr. Fantastic and he was happy to oblige. Most artists (yes I’m calling Luke an artist) would have sketched Mr. Fantastic in some funky pose on a flat page. Not Luke, instead he started his sketch on the front of the page and continued it onto the back. It was like Reed Richards was stretched around and over the sketch page. Luke already understands that the characters live in a 3-D world that has to be rendered in 2-D. Luke has also taken up inking and I point you to his YouTube video as proof. His understanding of the medium and characters is scary great for such a young mind. Now obviously he enjoys all this and I would bet that we are going to see more from this young artist in years to come.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cVd153LUfs
Another example of youth gone wild on comics is my nephew Justin. I sent him the “Learn to Draw Comics the Marvel Way” book and although he can’t yet read or understand all the text he did pick up on the illustrations. He is now using panel layout and splash pages as he creates his own comics. He proudly sent me his hand drawn first issue and I was again floored by how much he was able do all on his own. Justin shares my love of Spider-Man and he is also the son of a firefighter. This might explain the combination of Spidey and flames in “SuperHero”.
These two boys have done more to restore my faith in the future of the hobby than any “crossover event” of the last year. I think we lost a generation of fans in the 90’s but if Luke and Justin are examples of the next generation to pick up the joy of visual storytelling then we are in good hands.
Sean Wheatley has been reading and collecting comics for over 35 years. Send comments and suggestions to: Seanwheatley1@earthlink.net