In an recent series of posts on the site Bleeding Cool, Darin Wagner imagines possible books that will save the comic book industry from itself. Putting aside the unique view that he imagines liberal readers view conservatism, Wagner posits his world view with the aide of existing characters like Namor and Aquaman—clear tools for “escalating statism, mandatory multicultural indoctrination and environmentalism” ruining comics as we know it.
Readers, surprisingly, have been enjoying conservative comics for while now despite the collapsing trade. Look at the political leanings of writers to get an idea how their world view is put into their respective narratives. Bill Willingham is a good example of a conservative writer, and his ongoing comic book Fables reflects many conservative ideals: self-reliance, criminal justice, survival of the fittest, etc. Even with these conservative traits, Fables is an immensely popular title among all readers, liberal or otherwise. Why is that?
When liberals pick up the latest issue Fables and realize it’s an analogy of Israel, they don’t immediately react to the pro-Israel bias, exclaim to the shop owner about the lost sale, and stomp out the door to the nearest Starbucks and blog to their latte-sipping elite cabals. No. They buy it. It’s a great book.
Having books lean left or right isn’t what fills readers’ pull boxes. It’s good writing. Red-state readers consternating over their favorite “capes” not meeting politically-aligned expectations is the same kind of fanatic reaction that avid readers have been having since… forever. Be it politics, continuity, obscenity or violence, coming out of the closet, or even costume changes. It’s the same thing. The inability to look past these objections makes for poor reading. Such a shame.
If the call for conservatism alone is what really drove the market, Liberality For All would be still be ongoing, collected in Absolute edition, and in its third iteration of the movie trilogy adaptation.
Boldly Gone web comic