Interview w/ My Father: Comics as Family Tradition and More
I decided to interview my father since our mutual love of comics is something we’ve always bonded over and, as he is of a different generation, I thought he might have some interesting insights into how comics have changed over the years. Overall the main focus of our discussion was on comic strips but we also discussed the Marvel, DC, and MAD Magazine comics he read a kid.
When I asked him what he liked most about comics, my father’s first answer was “the humor.” But then he took it one step farther and said how much he valued how humor was often used in these comics as a vehicle for social and political commentary.
He also described how, in terms of long-running strips, he felt that he knew the characters intimately and had been, in a way, interacting with them for years. Interestingly, he often separated comics from other forms of literature in definition but also said “I particularly like the ones that make me think, make me imagine what’s going on with characters, what can I relate to, what can I understand about myself the same as with a novel or with a film.”
When I pressed him on what about comics, as opposed to other forms of entertainment, appealed to him he said he liked how they were easy to read and how he was able to get an entire story in a short amount of time. He also said he really appreciated being able to see what was happening on the page right in front of him and that it helped him really get to know a character. Interestingly, he also said that he felt that comics were more plot-driven than other forms of entertainment.
One of the most interesting things he told me was how educational comics could be. He talked about a few historical comics and also said that he actually learned vocabulary from comics. Specifically Invulnerable in the context of “Superman was invulnerable.” (Take that anti-comics people!)
When I then asked him how he used comics in his daily life I was actually shocked by the level of their importance. He told me, “they’re a part of my life. My life would be-I don’t want to say incomplete-it’s something that I have to do.”
He said that he only reads comic strips now but described all the different kinds of comic books he read as a kid in addition to comic strips and how important sharing comics with others was to him. I knew, of course, that he read the comics every day and enjoyed sharing them with me but he also described to me how comic strips have always been a huge part of his family life passed down from his grandfather to his father to him.
In fact, he described this typical scenario from his childhood: “we’d be at the dinner table talking about some comic characters and my mom was like ‘who are you talking about?’”
Finally, when I asked him about how comics expressed some attribute of him he talked about feeling a strong connection with comic strips because lots of them, particularly now, are very satirical and sardonic and that’s something that he identifies as and reading them allows him a way to express/relate to his satirical and sardonic outlook on things he enjoys in a way he doesn’t always get to with other adults. Comics give him “an outlet.”
He also talked about how many comic strips are family-centered, like baby-blues or For Better or for Worse, and he has always been extremely family-oriented. Family centered-Have a family-family oriented
As for when he was a kid, he talked about how the way Marvel comics dealt with self-doubt and identity issues really resonated with him when he was like 12 or 13. (Interestingly, he also said that when he was a kid DC heroes were too perfect but Marvel heroes had flaws and felt more real and interesting).
One final fascinating takeaway from this conversation was that, to my father, most comic-book violence did not feel like real violence. He did say that some of the EC comics were too violent for him as a kid, but, overall the violence was less upsetting in comic book form than in any other. This is very telling given all the historical controversy over violence in comics.
