There’s this free paper that I occasionally read called The Reston Times. Since it is delivered right to my house free of charge, I occasionally read it. This week, this paper’s weekend section, called GO, has a cover story (using the cheesy rendition of Cap as its cover boy) on the dark/realistic turn by today’s comic books. So, it was practically screaming at me to read it. Other than the same tired clichés that are used by any form of mass media to describe today’s comic book community (older audience, adult themes, etc), there are some major holes in this so-called article that I cannot overlook:

• Manga (which has grabbed more than a foothold in the conscious of today’s younger comic readers) is only mentioned in a throwaway line near the end of the article. I thought that writing an information piece would require at least some research on the article’s subject.
• Another misstep is lumping independent artists with Web comics, which by most accounts are two separate things.
• Zero coverage of anything past the Big Two companies aside from the smattering of “Sin City”. Huh? Didn’t anyone hear of “Ghost World” or “American Splendor”? Or how about the upcoming “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”? Hell, there’s nothing about “Constantine” or “A History of Violence” which are both under the DC umbrella of publishing. It’s truly amazing that even local print media fails to look past superheroes.
• Lastly, and I know that this is a personal bias (and I will admit it without reservation) but how can you interview a couple of comic book owners in the area and not include Big Planet Comics? Again, I may sound biased (since I do work for them on a part-time basis) but let me explain: Big Planet Comics has been in operation for over 15 years. They are the only multiple-location comic book franchise in the Washington DC Metro area. They have been an integral part of SPX (Small Press Expo) since its inception. To flat out ignore their inclusion in this article not only shows ignorance but is nothing short of journalistic malfeasance.

My frustration with this type of sterotypical, cookie cutter coverage of comics is that it is so lazy. If any journalist, whether they work in print, TV or internet, would bother to dig a millimeter below the mainstream public’s knowledge, they would be probably shocked to learn that how vast this “niche” medium truly is. But then again, that would be just too hard for most people since the first thing that a reporter must determine is the right questions to ask.

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