It was not too long ago that the world heard Frank Miller, the graphic novel writer responsible for Sin City and 300 (and mostly notably, the grittier incarnation of Batman), speak out against the Occupy Wall Street movement. In his little tirade against OWS, which anyone is free to read through at frankmillerink.com, he called the movement “a pack of louts, thieves, and rapists, an unruly mob, fed by Woodstock-era nostalgia and putrid false righteousness” and warned them “Wake up, pond scum, America is at war against a ruthless enemy” (by which he means al-Qaeda and Islamicism). Fans of Miller were—unsurprisingly—shocked by the attack.
Rick Moody, the author of this article in the Guardian, claimed they shouldn’t have been because Miller “was just voicing Hollywood’s unspoken values;” and after all, these are the people he has made the most money out of. In this same article, Moody continued by attacking not only Miller but Hollywood as well. He called the notable filmmaking factory’s output a “mindless, propagandistic storytelling medium,” and listed several movies to support his argument (among them, the adaptation of Miller’s 300, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, and James Cameron’s Avatar). Though the argument suffered from being pretentiously hyperbolic, it’s hard to argue with some of the points he made.
The author of this response in the Irish Times, Laurence Mackin, believes Moody’s argument de-railed when he claimed, “comic books themselves are so politically dim-witted, so pie-in-the-sky idealistic as to be hard to take seriously.” The author gives Moody the benefit of the doubt by suggesting that he may draw a distinction between comic books and graphic novels (“as straightforward as arguing about what is a worthwhile, and what is merely a piece of Hollywood cryptofascist propaganda”), but it is clear that this is pure mockery. Mackin’s own belief (and mine) is summed up perfectly in the paragraph that follows:
“Graphic novels are every bit as powerful and engaging as their wordier, pictureless colleagues. They bring a cinematic edge to literature, create an accessibility that it would be foolish to dismiss as puerile, and open up good writing to a much wider readership who might otherwise not engage with a straightforward novel. They also allow a writer a whole other level of creative freedom and offer a collaborative process where writers, illustrators, inkers and letterers are working in tandem to create something complete, satisfying and deeply meaningful.”
Graphic novels are not, as Moody suggested, without political influence or relevance. In fact, one of the most prominent features of the Occupy Wall Street movement is a mask, which many commentators have linked to Guy Fawkes but which also happens to be “a key piece of symbolism from one of the most vital comic books of the last few decades, one that drew on the ideas in books such as George Orwell’s singular Nineteen Eighty-Four and took them a step further.” By donning this mask, the protestors reveal exactly how they feel about their government (authoritarian, overly reliant on surveillance, etc.) and exactly what they intend to do about it (dissent, upheaval, etc.).
Photograph courtesy of the blog Whoa, This is Heavy! Confessions of a Movie Geek.
Most recently, the comic book/graphic novel medium has also become a vehicle for capturing the story of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Occupy Comics is a book that is collaboratively being worked on by a number of writers, artists, and business executives (among which are Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls; the painter Guy Denning; and Alan Moore). According to this FAQ on kickstarter.com it “is intended to be a time capsule of the passions and emotions driving the movement.” The book and graphic novel artists and writers “have been inspired by the movement and hope to tell the stories of the people who are out there putting themselves at risk for an idea.” Occupy Comics is about direct action.
Clearly, comic books are not as “politically dim-witted” as Rick Moody claimed them to be. Frank Miller’s tirade against the Occupy Wall Street movement may have been a little immature, but the work of his colleagues is anything but. Maus. Sandman. V for Vendetta. Watchmen. These are not for “pre- and just post-pubescent boys.” These are for intellectuals like us. They are a lens on the world we live in. And just as they offer inspiration for movements such as OWS to do something about the injustices that exist in our society, the Occupy Comics project may prove to do the same for generations in decades to come.
