At what point does the trend towards more “realistic” comic book stories clash too harshly with the fantasy elements of the super hero genre?

There is a concept in robotics referred to as the “uncanny valley”. The basis for the uncanny valley is the notion that as a robot becomes more “human” in appearance; the stronger and more positive emotional response real humans will have towards the robot. Up to a point. At some point the robot becomes close to human, but not quite, and becomes repulsive and disturbing. That range, where a realistic robot comes close enough to lifelike to be repulsive is called the uncanny valley.

I think that there is a similar concept that can be applied to comic books, which I like to call the Uncanny X-Valley (no points for being clever). For many years, super hero comic books have tried to be more and more realistic, both in story and art. And for the most part, fan response to this trend has been positive. But I think we are beginning to see these types of stories entering the Uncanny X-Valley, where the realism begins to bump up against the fantasy elements and magnifies the areas of required suspension of disbelief enough that the enjoyment of the story suffers.

I really started to think about this concept while reading Marvel’s Civil War (which just ended, for those of you in the distant future reading an archive of this post and want to put it in historical perspective). The basis for Marvel’s Civil War is that after a tragedy involving super heroes and villains (which resulted in many civilian deaths), the US Government passes a super human registration act, where all super powered individuals need to register with the government and if they want to fight crime they have to do it under the supervision of S.H.I.E.L.D. I like the high concept idea behind Civil War, but while reading it, I found it harder to suspend my disbelief. If the story is going to get into lobbying and congressional politics, then where was the ACLU lawsuit challenging the registration act? If super powered battles can cause huge tragedies, then how come villains still don’t simply kill captured heroes? I think that they might be going too far in realism in one area, but not going as far in other areas and that discrepancy is starting to become too jarring. This range, where a story’s realism actually makes suspension of disbelief more difficult rather than less, is the Uncanny X-Valley.

This is not an attack on Civil War. I don’t think that Civil War has descended to the bottom of the valley. (I’d like to do a more thorough analysis of Civil War, but I think I needed to explore this concept first.) And there are plenty of other examples. I think that the reason super hero movies pretty much sucked (with the exception of Superman) before CGI is the presence of the Uncanny X-Valley. Putting an accurate comic book costume on a real actor almost always looks goofy because everything else in the movie looked real. One of the ways the X-Men movies tried to avoid falling into the valley was by avoiding spandex. Also in the first X-Men movie an extra effort was made to avoid the valley by openly acknowledging the silliness of code names. In Batman Begins, Gotham City was given a very distinctive and not overly realistic feel. Batman Begins also went to great lengths to justify and explain Batman’s gadgets in a way that avoids the valley. The Uncanny X-Valley isn’t just a comic story phenomenon either. Some people find Alex Ross’s super hero paintings “too realistic”. (I’m not one of them.)

Maybe using anthropomorphic characters is a way to avoid falling into the valley. Usagi Yojimbo stories have a lot of components and elements that are historically accurate and thoroughly researched. However, not matter how “realistic” an Usagi Yojimbo story might be written, the title character is still a samurai rabbit. Wouldn’t it be ironic if the fact that the main character is a rabbit is one of the keys to telling more “human” stories?

I think it will be interesting to watch and see if a rapid descent into the Uncanny X-Valley occurs for mainstream super hero comics. I think it is more likely that the pendulum will swing back the other way and more fantastic (and less realistic) stories start coming back in style. Time will tell.

And I’ll be watching.

There’s more than one way to become a super hero.

Personally, I’m a fan of the technological approach (see part 1 and part 2 of the battle armor series). But not everyone wants to build a high-tech laboratory and invent crime fighting super gadgets. (I find it hard to believe that there are people who don’t want to invent crime fighting super gadgets, but I guess it is true.) Some people want to achieve superhood through a more natural, organic, and possibly spiritual process.

I’ve read a lot of comic books, so I feel eminently qualified to distill out the essential formula. The first thing you need to do is go somewhere strange, mystical and exotic. I should point out that my view of “strange, mystical and exotic” is from an American perspective, so if my idea of “strange, mystical and exotic” is actually your hometown then you’ll need to figure out a different “strange, mystical and exotic” locale. I recommend International Drive in Orlando, Florida. (It’s a little light in “mystical” and “exotic”, but it has plenty of “strange”.) Some of the options are places like Stonehenge, an African jungle (preferably one with a lost city of some sort), and Milwaukee. But if you are serious then you need to go straight to the top. I’m talking about the Himalayas.

Once in the Himalayas the first thing you need to do is find yourself a wise teacher. Even though I have never actually been there, I’ve read enough comics to feel confident that wise teachers are coming out of the woodwork in the Himalayas. You’re probably fine teaming up with the first one you run across.

The casual comic reader would think that you have to spend at least 10 years in the mountains studying. You know, reading ancient texts, practicing kung fu in the snow, getting hit with sticks. The usual. However, this being the 21st century and the age of instant gratification, I’m going to pass along to you, dear reader, a short cut.

Amazing Spider-Man 252

Goji berries. That’s right, Himalayan goji berries. You see, comic books also teach us that a rare and exotic food, preferrably a fruit from the Himalayas, can accelerate the superification process. Goji berries are supposed to be chock full of nutrients and whatnot and good for what ails you. (And by the way, this site tells the story of a man named Li Qing Yuen who dined regularly on goji berries and lived to the ripe old age of 252, which also happens to be the issue number of the Amazing Spider-Man that debuted the black symbiote costume. Coincidence?) Clearly, wild goji berries, plucked fresh from the vine will make you extra special super.

So for those of you who don’t want to build your own technology, I recommend that you travel to the Himalayas, find yourself a wise teacher, get hit with some sticks, and nosh on goji berries. And in some amount of time (less than 10 years with the berries), you ought to be ready for a rewarding career in costumed crime fighting.

Let me know how it works out for you.

The staff of ComicBrain attended the MegaCon in Orlando, Florida this past weekend and an excellent time was had by all.

I usually don’t spend much time in Artist Alley at conventions. I’ve just never been all that interested in meeting industry professionals and getting autographs. Now, before anyone gets all worked up and wants to argue, I have nothing against people who get autographs and like meeting the pros. It’s just not my thing. (Usually, when I go through Artist Alleys I’m much more interested in looking for cool independent press comics than anything else.) However, with that preamble in place, I have to say that the highlight of the whole con was meeting Stan Sakai. For those of you not in the know, Stan Sakai is the creator/writer/artist of Usagi Yojimbo. Usagi Yojimbo is one of my absolute favorite comics, and if you don’t read it, you should.

UY 100

Art of Usagi Yojimbo

As a matter of fact, I’m going to make the evangelism of Usagi Yojimbo a full-fledged ComicBrain cause. I have to believe that there are so many more potential Usagi readers out there. If you like stories about feudal Japan, you will love Usagi Yojimbo. If you like stories about samurai warriors, bushido, and honor, you will love Usagi Yojimbo. If you don’t care about feudal Japan or samurais, but you do like stories about interesting, likeable characters I still think you’ll love Usagi Yojimbo. I’ll write more about Usagi later, but in the meantime, if you haven’t read the series, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy (either of the monthly comic, or better yet pick up one of the trades).

Back to the con. Mr. Sakai was as gracious and friendly a person as I have ever met at a comic convention. He drew an amazing sketch in my copy of “The Art of Usagi Yojimbo” hardcover, which makes that book even more cherished. Perhaps someday I’ll scan it and post it to share it with the world.

Ok, I’m done gushing.

Buy Usagi Yojimbo!

Iron Spider-Man

Ever since I was a kid, my two favorite Marvel characters have been Spider-Man and Iron Man. For most of the time Spider-Man and Iron Man have lived in very different worlds. Spider-Man/Peter Parker is a loner outcast hero who’s always broke. Iron Man/Tony Stark is a founding member of the Avengers with tremendous influence and one of the richest people in the world. Occasionally their paths would cross (seeing as how Spider-Man has teamed up with just about everyone at least one time, often in the appropriately named “Marvel Team-Up”) but overall there was very little interaction between the two characters. Then that New Avengers business started up and suddenly Spider-Man was thrown into Iron Man’s world. The characters hit it off and became quick friends. I really liked this part of the story. Part of why I liked it was that it combined the stories of two of my favorite characters. Another part of it was it made finding Iron Man stories possible during the ridiculously delayed Iron Man series relaunch-for-the-sake-of-a-relaunch. But I mostly like it because it “felt” right for the characters. I don’t know how much planning went into the Peter Parker and Tony Stark friendship, but it did not stink of editorial interference. That’s either a compliment to the creative teams or the editorial staff (maybe even both). I guess things were working out too well for our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, and a monkey wrench had to be thrown in there.

The Marvel Civil War will be over in a couple of weeks, so those of us outside the company don’t know how it will end, but it looks unlikely that Peter and Tony will remain pals. In many ways that’s a shame. It’s a shame for many reasons, not the least of which is the loss of Spidey’s new duds. I like the Iron Spider-Man suit. I respect the iconic status of the classic Spider-Man suit, but it is not impervious to improvement. I should admit that I loved the black symbiote suit when it first appeared as well. (And the fact that it looks like Spider-Man is going to be spending some time “back-in-black” gives me hope that the Iron Spider-Man suit might be revisited in 20 short years or so.) Although I have to admit having only three mechanical “legs” sticking out of the back of the suit was a bad idea. I recall reading that Marvel EiC Joe Quesada designed the costume like that because he liked the way it looked or something (I’m still trying to find the original article, and until I provide a link you should consider my memory suspect). The problem is, the lack of a fourth leg is distracting. We expect bilateral symmetry in humans and spiders, and we expect eight legs on arachnids. The lack of a fourth leg makes the whole Doc Ock-ish leg thing seem just plain wrong. But I digress.

Regardless of Spider-Man’s fashion choices, I’m afraid I’m going to miss the Spidey/Shellhead camaraderie. I know that things need to change to keep the stories fresh and all that, but I wish we could have gotten at least another year or so of the Spider-Man Iron Man show.

July 21, 2007. That’s the date. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, the last Harry Potter novel, will be released on July 21, 2007.

Now, chances are you already know that, what with having Internet access and all that and not literally living under a rock. If you haven’t pre-ordered it already, then take care of that immediately by clicking on the banner to the left.

I’m a fan of the series. The books are amazing and the movies are a load of fun. I’m excited to see how the books end, but I’m also a little down about the end of the stories in the marvelous world of Harry Potter and pals. The perfect solution for me would be a comic book series set in the Potter universe.

One thing that those of us with an appreciation for graphic literature regularly contemplate is how to get more people to enjoy the comic book medium. The first thing to do is to get more people into the shops. A Harry Potter comic book would do that.

J.K. Rowling has developed such a rich, wonderful world that there are no shortages of story opportunities. I’d love to read stories taking place in different times and different schools. There can be stories all around the wizarding world.

(I’m trying to resist the opportunity to make a cheap joke about a story line called “Welcome Back, Potter” where Harry returns to Hogwarts as a teacher and head of Gryffindor House, which has become overrun with delinquents calling themselves the sweathogwarts.)

Now that Stephen King has sort of entered comics with “Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Reborn” being published by Marvel, I thought it just might be possible that the world of Harry Potter might come to comics. So, I decided to check with my literary world inside sources to bring you, faithful reader, the inside scoop. Unfortunately I don’t have any inside sources in the literary world so I’ve got nothing. But when it is announced that the wizarding world will live on in comics you can rest assured that I’ll probably get around to writing something about it. Eventually.