Until recently it seemed that comic books were only read by children and socially inadequate middle-aged men who still lived with their mums. But change is afoot, and it’s no longer a social stigma to admit to reading the odd comic book.
Hollywood film-makers may be partly responsible for this. In their search for the latest blockbuster, they’re adapting even the most obscure comics to the big screen, creating fans of the original material in the process. Meanwhile, graphic novel authors, such as Watchmen creator Alan Moore and American Splendour writer Harvey Pekar, are being lauded as serious artists.
The UAE isn’t immune to the comic book craze, with local writers, such as Qais Sedki and his Gold Ring manga series, developing a distinctive Arabic take on the genre, and the comic book fever looks set to intensify next year, when the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre will host the first Middle East Comic Con convention.
Ben Caddy, managing director of the event’s organising company, Extra Cake PR, says stars who have expressed an interest in attending include Stan Lee, the legendary creator of Spiderman, Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, and William Shatner, better known as Captain Kirk from Star Trek. ‘If we could get these guys it would be amazing,’ he tells Time Out Abu Dhabi. ‘If you’d asked me 20 years ago who my dream guest was it would have been Carrie Fisher – Princess Leia in Star Wars. But these days I suppose it would be someone like Frank Miller, who’s the creator of 300 and Sin City.
‘We’re bringing the exhibition to the UAE because there are just so many fans here and we just couldn’t wait any longer for it. It’s going to be a show by fans, for fans, and we’re already getting a huge amount of very excited feedback.’ The event is tentatively scheduled for March 2011. Over the weekend, Ben predicts some 25,000 diehard fans, many of whom will be dressed as their comic or film hero, will visit the convention.
But why are comics so popular these days?
‘I think it’s partly a generational thing,’ reflects Ben. ‘People who were born in the 1970s have basically grown up on science fiction such as Star Wars or Star Trek. Comic books have also developed into a much more respected and serious art form, with longer and more adult storylines covering any number of areas. Graphic novels like 300 or Watchmen, for example, are definitely not for kids. But comics are also a form of escapism. Modern life is pretty stressful, so escaping into a fantasy world for a few hours is a necessary release. I think we’d all like to believe that Superman is going to fly in and save the day sometimes.’
