A comic is a comic and nothing more

A lot of us have gotten in the habit of taking comic books very seriously. We treat them as collectibles, subset of literature, high art. We parse the texts for allegory and metaphor and attribute mythic qualities to the heroes.
--Jason Silverman in his critique of Fantastic Four at wired.com

Who the hell takes comic books seriously?

I guess I’m a little behind the times. I’m still reading comic books for entertainment not intellectual enlightenment. I like watching the great Superman kick the crap out of some evil-doer. I don’t try and figure out why kryptonite is green or red. I always assumed the artist just liked those colours and wasn’t trying to send out a subliminal message.

If I wanted to seek out metaphors and hidden meaning, I’d go back to my grade 9 literature class and actually read those books. I was two for five. I managed all 100 pages of Old Man and the Sea and George Orwell’s Animal Farm. The rest were way too boring. If I started looking for symbolism in comics, it would take away from the enjoyment value. Plus, I’m sure my head would start to hurt from all the thinking. Comic books are supposed to be a means of escape with no educational value.

I really don’t believe that Silverman collects comics. If he does, he probably is buying graphic novels rather than the traditional books.

As for the movie, the advertisements have drawn me in and I’ll probably go watch it. I’ve never been a big fan of the Fantastic Four. A stretch guy, an invisible woman, a rock guy and a flamer don’t strike me as the best group of heroes. Oh, invisible woman can also create a force field. Whoopity-do. Good superhero teams are the Justice League of America, X-men, the New Mutants and Ninja Turtles (not really superheroes, but still kick butt). Fantastic Four is about the 20th group on the list.

He goes on to not recommend the movie. Which is fair, it’s his opinion and it’s not going to stop me from paying the price. Maybe I’ll learn my lesson, again. The first time was at Elektra.