A proposed exhibit...

The whole idea behind COMplexICS is to get you all fattened up with comics knowledge and enthusiasm, and then get you to go to this: a proposed, all-out interactive exhibit (ostensibly at the Portland Art Museum). It would happen on FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, which in 2009 is Saturday, May 2. There would be live music, local foods, tons of comic art and paraphenelia on the walls, and all over the place there would be gigantic magnetic whiteboards, big ol' dry erase markers, and magnetic stick on speech balloons and caption boxes so you could create your own comics on a grand scale. Oh, did I mention it would be FREE to the public? Sounds kinda cool, no? Here's some artist's renderings.

A timeline for The Code

In 1954, a horrible thing happened that set the development of U.S. comics back about 30 years behind the rest of the world: The Comics Code Authority was established. In response to a nation-wide wave of paranoia about comic books turning kids into delinquents, the Code acted as a censor board to keep the content of comic books pure. Here's a brief timeline showing how it came to be.

Comics Schools

Some people take comics seriously enough to offer programs of study about them!
Are you a teacher? A teacher of comics? Perhaps you already know about the amazing site for the NACAE (National Association of Comics Arts Educators). If you are an educator, you can create an account and make use of their myriad resources, and if you're not, it's an excellent leaping off point to starting link-hopping through the web presence of comics and the study of them in a, gosh, serious way! Late for class, catchya next time!

Comics are Elemental

...to our literary well-being! A funny cross-reference database between the periodic table and instances of the elements coming up in (mostly Silver Age) comic books. Very funny, have a look!
The Comic Book Periodic Table

An expert opinion

He's been busy for months on a new graphic novel, so posts are old. Fortunately all of the expert and insightful information SCOTT McCLOUD has to offer on comics is timeless.

Rude commentary...

...is not what it sounds like. Here's an interview with (my personal, all-time favorite) comic book artist, Steve Rude.
(conducted at the ginormous San Diego ComiCon)

BEWARE!

...read comics at your own risk (of enjoyment and enlightenment).
(also from Comic Book Confidential)

A little primer....

....from the fine Repressionists (there, I just made up a new classification!) of the Grand Ol' 1950's.
(excerpted from the amazing 1988 documentary, Comic Book Confidential)

Splash page

Page one, panel one: our hero steps into view to begin to explain comics.

No small task, and we'll need your help along the way.

Sequential art, or comics, comprise a unique and complicated system of visual communication. Produced in various forms over hundreds of years, they embody the very tenets of information design by fluidly crossing the boundaries of graphic art, literature, semiotics, mass media, and popular culture. In many societies worldwide, comics in myriad formats and styles have been embraced as a legitimate artform and viable cultural commodity.

In American culture, however, comics suffer a stilted popular image: mass media throughout the last century has all but permanently cemented in the public mind the idea of the comic book as children's fare, devoid of complexity and importance, potentially harmful, and ultimately disposable. In their immediate accessibility, visual facility, and mass availability, comics remain hidden in plain view.

COMplexICS is an effort to bring into clearer focus, for comics fans and the uninitiated alike, this "hidden" complexity of the comic book, and demonstrate the unique cultural impact it delivers as a result.

This blog is one arm of a greater campaign to put comics in the public eye. It is a blog, so that means you are as much a part of it as we are. We're just getting started, but soon we'll have posted tons of accurate and relevant information about what comics are, what they mean, and how to use them (by becoming a consumer, an advocate, or maybe even a creator of comics). It should get you thinking, and, by all means, comment away! We'll post question polls as well, and use the gathered responses to deepen and enrich the discussion.

Time to turn the page and get started! Join us, won't you?