Comic books:not just for kids

Many of Eric Devlin's nights are spent pouring over a sketchpad. His workroom is filled with flooding bookshelves, action figures standing guard and posters collected from various comic book conventions. A stereo fills the room with pounding rhythm as his pencil glides across paper-drawing life into the visual stories he loves to tell.

Mr. Devlin's love for comic books began at a young age. He immersed himself so deeply into the genre that he has trouble remembering what his first comic book was. "I am willing to bet it was a Spider-Man book though," Mr. Devlin said. He recalls feeling entranced by reading about wild adventures empowered with colorful images of fantastic characters and settings.

But reading these lively stories was not enough for him-he wanted to create his own. "My friends and I would be drawing characters and coming up with ideas for stories as young as 11 or 12. We were always coming up with new characters and drawing constantly." Mr. Devlin's passion continued with him throughout college. He attended the Massachusetts College of Art in pursuit of a B.A. in Illustration-having full intention of pursuing the comic book industry upon graduation.

But after completing college in 2002, contracts from Marvel and DC were not flooding Mr. Devlin's mailbox. He began working during the day at a mutual fund company, but eventually left to begin a new career as an administrative assistant at a nonprofit housing agency in Boston, while devoting many of his nights to art. His passion was not killed-it grew into the vision of an entrepreneur.

Devlin and Eric Robinson formed their own independent comic publisher that same year-A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Comics-producing such titles as Citizen Elvis, The Last Day of Albert Most, and Crash Damage. A.C.R.O.N.Y.M.'s mission statement tells of their devotion to publish high quality independent comic books. Competing in an isolated genre, A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. prides itself as being "all about supporting the independent scene, encouraging people to not only read comics, but to create comics." A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. further supports the thriving minds of comic book creators by advertising various independent publications on their website and offering advice to any inquisitive mind interested in the comic book genre-one that is widely misunderstood.

The traditional American comic book's birth in the 1930's has left a lasting impression on American popular culture. Even today, their esteem is strong amongst their loyal devotees-whether reminiscing of Superman or admiring the harsh storytelling and imagery of Sin City. But outside the genre's fan base, comic books are commonly associated with childish images of men dressed up like bats and spiders patrolling twilight cityscapes. They are passed off as juvenile flights of fancy-not capable of carrying artistic merit worthy of broader recognition. But writers and illustrators like Mr. Devin and his associates at A.C.R.O.N.Y.M.-and countless other young and old talents alike-use the comic book format as a dynamic medium to carry their messages.

David Sims, an associate professor of English at the Pennsylvania College of Technology does not ostracize comic books from his repertoire of literature-he embraces them. He believes the comic book genre is a medium that can carry both strong literary significance as well as powerful artistic expression. Having a B.A. in both English Writing and Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh and a M.F.A in Creative Writing from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Professor Sims does not put values on art based on generalized stereotypes. "[Art and literature] should wake us up and make us feel more alive. The trouble, of course, is that plural pronoun-who's the 'we,' after all? What wakes me up often puts my students to sleep, and vice versa."

Recalling memories of awakening to comic books in the early 1970's, Professor Sims realized then that the field was rich with ideas and talent. However, his love for comic books does not infringe completely upon his teaching. He believes that traditional literature should be taught in a literature classroom. He feels that teaching comic books in such a class has its limitations. "When it comes to literature classes, only words can take us deeper into the world and ourselves. Only words can lead the mind to other levels," Professor Sims said. But there is an educational arena for comic books and their brand of storytelling and artwork, and he tries to capture it.

Professor Sims currently teaches a course at PCT entitled "The Graphic Novel." The course examines the mechanics of what makes an illustrative narrative-speech balloons, typology, frames and juxtaposition along with looking at stories and their themes, styles, and moods. A variety of pieces are examined in the class-ranging from Eric Drooker's Flood, to Frank Miller's Sin City. Professor Sims believes in the course because he sees the value of offering students different outlets to understand the various forms of art.

Jerry Wemple, an associate professor of English at Bloomsburg University is more willing to let a literature class flow with a variety of texts. He holds a M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He has two published collections of poetry-You Can See It from Here and The Civil War in Baltimore-and various awards for his creative works. Professor Wemple believes that for literature and its variety of pursuits, there is no greater time than the present.

Understanding that different students learn in different ways, he does not hesitate to use comic books to introduce some ideas that will help learning minds. He reflected on a book of graphic poetry incorporating work from various poets including Shakespeare, Wordsworth and Blake. "Since poetry is so visual, why not use something like this to introduce students to some complex works."