Spring Break
A revival of comic proportions
Box-office success and aging demographic lead to revival of comic books
By: Robert Saucedo
Issue date: 3/2/04 Section: Entertainment
Mike Colbert, a Class of 2001 journalism major, has been reading comic books for at least 18 years.
"My dad was in Tokyo for a while, and he collected a bunch of comic books and sent me some," Colbert said. "I read them all."
He said the recent trend of mature comics is only natural.
"If you think about it, you realize children don't have as much money as college students," Colbert said. "They don't have as much control of their money."
One thing Colbert said he does not agree with is the use of classic superheros in adult situations.
"They're supposed to be superheros," Colbert said. "They're not supposed do stuff like use their powers to have sex. But I guess sex does sell."
Marvel Comics, the publishing house behind such superhero mainstays as "Spider-Man," "X-Men" and "The Incredible Hulk," has lately chosen to pursue controversial ideas and stories and in the past few years has not shied away from publishing different titles that evoke different reactions. According to marvelcomics.com, these titles include the recently collected miniseries "Truth," in which several black World War II soldiers are experimented on with a super-soldier serum that would eventually be used to turn a more "suitable" white man into Captain America.
Always willing to push the boundaries of the mainstream market, Marvel can arguably be called today's most successful comic book publisher. With several blockbuster movies, hit video games, action figures and other paraphernalia under its utility belt, Marvel has created a vast merchandising empire for itself, and this is all from a company that was bankrupt five years ago.
Aside from its aging demographic, Marvel's success in recent years is largely due to its recent brush with success in the movie industry. Yahoo movies reports that the comic chain's zenith, "Spiderman," has one of the highest overall box office collections - more than $403 million - in history. Yahoo movies also reports that following closely behind everybody's favorite mutant, is the second installment of the popular X-men series, "X2: X-Men United," with overall collections of nearly $215 million.
"My dad was in Tokyo for a while, and he collected a bunch of comic books and sent me some," Colbert said. "I read them all."
He said the recent trend of mature comics is only natural.
"If you think about it, you realize children don't have as much money as college students," Colbert said. "They don't have as much control of their money."
One thing Colbert said he does not agree with is the use of classic superheros in adult situations.
"They're supposed to be superheros," Colbert said. "They're not supposed do stuff like use their powers to have sex. But I guess sex does sell."
Marvel Comics, the publishing house behind such superhero mainstays as "Spider-Man," "X-Men" and "The Incredible Hulk," has lately chosen to pursue controversial ideas and stories and in the past few years has not shied away from publishing different titles that evoke different reactions. According to marvelcomics.com, these titles include the recently collected miniseries "Truth," in which several black World War II soldiers are experimented on with a super-soldier serum that would eventually be used to turn a more "suitable" white man into Captain America.
Always willing to push the boundaries of the mainstream market, Marvel can arguably be called today's most successful comic book publisher. With several blockbuster movies, hit video games, action figures and other paraphernalia under its utility belt, Marvel has created a vast merchandising empire for itself, and this is all from a company that was bankrupt five years ago.
Aside from its aging demographic, Marvel's success in recent years is largely due to its recent brush with success in the movie industry. Yahoo movies reports that the comic chain's zenith, "Spiderman," has one of the highest overall box office collections - more than $403 million - in history. Yahoo movies also reports that following closely behind everybody's favorite mutant, is the second installment of the popular X-men series, "X2: X-Men United," with overall collections of nearly $215 million.
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