Independent comics have changed a lot over the decades. From the underground comix of the ’60s to the multimedia successes we have right now, indie comics have mutated next to the mainstream industry for decades, often acting as its Greek chorus, shining a light on parts the creators like and the ones they don’t. There have been times when the indie market presented things that the Big Two didn’t and other times when they tried to compete with them on their grounds, creating all-new superhero universes. Currently, the indie market is the place where you go to find any kind of comic you want; with the rise of Kickstarter, this has gotten more literal than ever.
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Companies like Image Comics have always pushed the envelope of what a comic can be, and mature themes have become a huge part of independent comics. Comics aren’t for kids anymore and indie comics prove that. Many of the most popular are full of violence, profanity, and nudity, as well as themes and stories that really won’t appeal to younger readers. These five indie comics are all awesome and your kid may want to read them, but you might want to have them wait on that.
5) From Hell
Alan Moore is known for amazing comics and his work is constantly being recommended. One of this greatest works is easily From Hell, with artist Eddie Campbell. It’s the story of the Jack the Ripper murders, one that doesn’t skimp on the brutal, bloody details. Campbell’s black and white original art (he’s since colored the series and you can get both versions) isn’t realistic, but it is perfect, capturing the feel of 19th England and the terror that was commonplace for the poor of London. From Hell is a book that I don’t say is my favorite Moore work, but it’s the one that I think is the best from a craft standpoint. Half the fun of Moore for me is the way he structures the book, the ideas he puts across, and how he does that. From Hell is an example of the writer at his finest. As far as it goes, the art makes most of the graphic parts of the book a little too stylized to be scary or tantalizing to young minds, but I don’t think they’ll like the story regardless. Moore isn’t doing a detective story, he’s talking about the brutality of the world, the birth of the evil that would define the 20th century. It’s a very complex story and your kid isn’t going to appreciate it until they’re older.
4) Lost Girls
Alan Moore has done every kind of story you can imagine. Moore is an artist; he likes to challenge people, challenge their morals, and use fiction to make us take a look at ourselves and society. He’s also a libidinous old buzzard, with sex playing a big role in a lot of his indie comics, if not all of them. One day, Moore and then-girlfriend, now-wife Melinda Gebbie decided that they wanted to produce top shelf pornography starring older versions of Alice from Alice In Wonderland, Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, and Wendy from Peter Pan. That’s what Lost Girls is and that’s why you shouldn’t let your kids read it. It’s pornography, but pornography with a classy, artistic bent, one that is more about women than men. However, that doesn’t change the fact that most people don’t want their younger kids reading anything like this, at least until they’re old enough to appreciate it for what it is.
3) Invincible
Invincible created a massive universe and fans loved it. The book from Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley is a pastiche of superhero stories from across the Big Two, taking the idea of a Superman-like alien protector and putting it on its ear. The story follows the titular hero in his costumed life and that of his civilian life as Mark Grayson, following him as he learns that his alien father is actually the vanguard for the most dangerous force in the universe, the Viltrumite Empire. Invincible was always popular back in the day because it took superheroes to a more mature place, with “realistic” violence, cursing, and sex (something that appealed to the edgy fandom of the ’00s). The success of The Boys led to Invincible hitting the airwaves and it’s now one of the most popular superhero universes around. Your kid is going to want to read this at some point and you should definitely have them wait. It’s a great comic, but there’s so much in it that kids don’t really need to see until they’re older.
2) The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead became a cultural phenomenon. The comic was massively successful right off the bat (or was just underprinted; I’m not sure but I know that it sold like gangbusters since one of my friends had been subbed to the series since the beginning) and kept getting bigger, helping incubate the zombie craze of the 21st century. It eventually became a TV show that just about everyone you knew watched. However, it was on network TV and that meant the stories were heavily censored. Parents who watched the show might think the comic is risque, like the show was, but isn’t that bad. This is not the case at all. The comic is much more profane and while the art is in black and white, it’s still quite graphic in a way the show never was. Honestly, one of my favorite conversations I’ve ever had was in a comic store the day after the first episode and people being really angry that it wasn’t as hard-edged as the comics (made all the better becase we already knew it was probably going to be that way).
1) Saga
Saga has become the most beloved indie comic on the market. I call it a “gateway comic”; it’s the book that you hand to your friends who don’t read comics, they love it, and then end up becoming a comic fan (it replaced The Sandman for a lot of the more moral among us). The series by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples follows the family of Marko, Alana, and Hazel, a family hunted by both sides of an intergalactic war. It’s an amazing book, a sci-fi epic that lives up to its name. It has an amazing emotional core to it; this is a story about a family and their trials and tribulations, something that everyone can understand. This helped it connect deeply to its readers. While the book’s cartoony art style could lull you into thinking its mostly harmless, this is a comic with a lot of sex, nudity, violence, and profanity. It’s not the kind of book that a kid should read, even though it’s an often heartwarming story about a family going through the worst things you can imagine.
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Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics -
Image Courtesy of DC Comics
