In Review: 8/03-8/09

Finder: Talisman
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Vol. 1
The Dark Knight Returns


This week just reveals to me the importance of story. Both Talisman and League strive only to tell a straight forward story, while Dark Knight attempts to tell a more complicated story with themes weaved throughout. The trouble with Dark Knight Returns is that in attempting to be ambitious it ends up falling flat on its face. When the story fails it has to be compensated for in the story telling and the art.

League tells a straightforward adventure/espionage story and so only needs to be competent in the storytelling and art--it surpasses competent in both aspects. Talisman is different because it is an introspective story. There are three options in this comics: depend on text heavily, depend on pictures to convey the correct feelings, or attempt to find a balance between the two. In most cases in comics, the best choice is to find the correct balance between words and pictures. In introspective stories, many writers depend heavily on inner monologue because of a lack of confidence in the ability of the art to tell a story. Sometimes, however, exactly the reverse happens and the content of the introspection is lost. Talisman manages to strike the correct balance between words and pictures--giving content and expression to the introspection without either aspect overpowering the other. Because of its focus on character, Finder is especially suited to this type of story.

The Dark Knight Returns on the other hand is primarily an action/adventure story. Commonly, these types of stories can depend very heavily on the art, and this is largely true here. However, Dark Knight Returns also strives to layer an exploration of Batman on top of this story. Ultimately, the superficial story is used as a means to this end. As I've already discussed earlier in the week, the problem with this added layer is that it raises expectations at the same time that the execution of the layer dashes those expectations. The depth of Dark Knight Returns never reaches below the surface. The inability of the story to maintain a level of coherence in the themes only underlines the superficiality of the story as a whole. If Miller had only strived to tell a simple action story he may have been able to get away with the incoherence, but he invited deeper critique.

These three works just reveal to me the importance of story in comic books. If the story is light narratively, as in Talisman, it can be carried off well if the art and storytelling is up to the task. Likewise, if the story is good it is only amplified by excellent storytelling and art, as in League. However, if the story is lacking in coherence even the best art and storytelling can't make up for this absence.