Why It's Wonderful to Read Comics in 2023
First published in GRIND III, pages 192–193.
YOUTUBE @ArhivaBD FACEBOOK @ArhivaBD Why is comics H ey! Hey there, lovely people, hope you're having a wonderful day!
For starters, let me say that I feel honoured to be writing this article – whether it's any good or not remains to be seen.
I'm no expert in this field, but I'm trying to shed a little light on this entertainment niche, where many people still think comics are just for kids... little did they know.
You've surely noticed that every day there's a battle for our attention waged by every form of entertainment: films, TV series, books, increasingly odd short videos on all sorts of platforms... yet it feels like few people even mention the comics niche, aka COMICS, or fumetti to the Italians, or manga to the Japanese, or plenty of other names depending on where you are in the world.
In a world that never stops changing, where technology advances at speed and the pace of life is always hectic, reading comics remains a captivating and relevant experience in the year of our Lord 2023. With all the entertainment options wonderfully drawn that are available today (mentioned above), it's worth taking a look at the reasons why this form of art and literature deserves our attention; it's no accident that the master Umberto Eco called comics drawn literature.
Comics are a fascinating amalgam of visual art and narrative storytelling. On top of that, the sheer diversity of content is astonishing... if you think that reading in 2023 Netflix has a lot of content, then you should start taking an interest in comics. Lots of people (yes, we've got those types round here too) see comics as something for kids, but if you stop and analyse it for a moment you'll realise soon enough that it's a far vaster field. There are comics for every age.
A normal evolution (if I could call it that) would be to start out reading comics as a kid, with Disney characters.
Then slowly (in adolescence) migrate towards works from Marvel and DC; then migrate to the indie scene as well, and later stumble upon graphic novels and European comics (especially the Italian and French ones!), yes yes, as I said, there's something for everyone, the important thing is to go looking. Few people realise that reading comics isn't just a pleasure, but also a way of developing critical skills and your own imagination. But why is it wonderful to read comics in 2023?
My answer would be that, compared with other forms of entertainment, it gives you a bit of extra value. There are 2 types of comic reader: the first is the one who reads the comic, and the second is the collector (a cursed affliction, I'm still in treatment). The important thing isn't to get carried along by whatever's trendy, but to find something to your taste.
The idea behind the Arhiva BD project was to popularise this colourful literature and to show that, besides the 2 giants (DC and Marvel), there's other stuff out there too – Romanian comics in particular.
Even though Romania is still a long way behind the other, more developed countries (oh well, we seem to lag behind at pretty much everything, that's just how it is), in recent years Romanian comics have had a genuine renaissance, to a greater or lesser degree. When it comes to our industry, we can't not mention the people who contributed significantly to its development, such as Dodo Niță, Puiu Manu, the fine folk at BDC (Banda Desenată Craioveană), Valentin Tănase; all these creators had one thing in common, namely comics, and they tried as best they could to keep that flame burning here too.
Alongside them, in the modern era, we can name plenty of authors who will surely take comics to the next level: Tudor Vidoni (a young man with a style all his own, especially in his work “În întuneric”), Alexandra Gold (with a style leaning particularly towards fantasy), Felix Crișan (the historical style is what defines him, and he does an exceptional job with his drawings), Octav Ungureanu (a cool guy with an extraordinary sense of humour, but his drawings are also rather more noncon- formist) and many other artists. If I were to bring them all up to the blackboard, we'd run to several pages..
Anyone who says Romanian comics are absent clearly hasn't looked into it. Slowly, interesting things are appearing here too: people are experimenting, attempts are being made to define a Romanian style, but I guarantee you that homegrown comics are at work and in recent years have put out some absolutely mind-blowing works!
With all these positive developments of recent years, where we can note that an International Comics Festival in Brașov is already becoming a tradition, modern Romanian comics seem to have a bright future. The community keeps on growing, and young authors and artists bring energy and creativity to this world. All that's left now is for readers to discover them! Admittedly, we still have a big problem on the promotion side, especially from the publishers... but work is being done on that, one way or another.
But why is it wonderful to read comics? The answer is simple: because it's that dose of escape from the daily routine. A good graphic novel beats the arse off plenty of films; an indie comic, even a short one of a few issues, can give you more of a thrill than several seasons of a TV series. You don't have to take my word for it – I invite you, first chance you get, to take a look at what we're leafing through on the channel: who knows, maybe you'll find something interesting that whets your appetite for drawn literature.
All that remains is for me to thank you for the time you've spent reading these lines, I wish you the best possible day and GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!