It’s the biggest unspoken secret amongst Comics fans: Comics are not for normal people. Comics fans are not normal, after all. Regardless of what they say about the special power of the form for communication the preferred content of the majority remains quite particular — Angry muscular dudes punching each other. Hey, don’t get me wrong, I’m a comics fan too, I’m all for the punching. I just don’t like pretending comics-reading is a normal past-time.
Of course, like always, I’m being incredibly unfair. Anyone who’s been to the bookstore in the past five years couldn’t help but notice the explosion of Graphic Novels. You know, those big fat comics marketed towards teenagers and adults. Most of them are, again, Super-Punch-Man Comics repackaged and dressed up for fancy folk — but not all. You may have noticed something peculiar of late. Yes, Comics for normal people are gaining in popularity.
It’s one such Comic that I’ve been just overtaken with recently, Flight Volume Two. Flight is a series of short comics by a multitude of creators with seemingly only one simple direction from editorial, let your imagination take flight. OK, that’s corny (and from me, don’t blame the publishers for that bit of corn) but what am I supposed to say? A quick flip through Flight is like a blast of the best in contemporary illustration. The stories are filled with wonder, sentiment, and overall a distinct lack of punching. No punching is, in this case, very good. Somehow a story about a sweet innocent robot that learns to dream or a friendly space-dog saved from destruction aren’t best served by punching. Anyway, I highly recommend Flight to anyone and everyone, normal and unusual person alike.
For more information check out flightcomics.com. They’re on volume four now.
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