Comic books have notoriously been known to be home to America's favorite superheroes; however, comic book genres include much more than just Superman and Captain America. In fact, comics books were created with famous names, such as The Shadow and Dick Tracy, before Superman was even a working idea. Presently, although superheros are dominating the comic book genre, there is still a vast majority of comic books that are non-superhero related. Although superhero comics provide endless entertainment for their readers, it's important that we show these non-superhero related genres the same kind of love, because they bring very different elements to the table. Some of my favorite non-superhero related comics perfectly depict why it is important to read more than just the every day superhero hype:
Prez by DC Comics
Prez was originally created in the 1970s, featuring the first teen president of the United States, Prez Rickard. After a short lived series and several decades later, the concept has been reimagined to feature Beth Ross in the year 2036. Ross is elected to be president by her massive Twitter following, and now leads the great country of America. This is an amazing series that empowers young women along with exploring the idea of social media hype and the influences it can have.
Saga by Image Comics
Star Wars is not the only space fantasy featured in comic books. Saga follows a husband and wife from long-warring extraterrestrial races, Alana and Marko. They are fleeing authorities from both sides of a galactic war while struggling to care for their daughter, Hazel. In our present world, where the idea of love and marriage is still raising conflicts from a variety of reasons, this series deals with these issues while providing hilarious and entertaining dialogue.
Wytches by Image Comics
After his amazing Batman Arc, Death of the Family, Scott Snyder introduces his newest comic series, Wytches. The series follows a young girl, Sailor Rook, who is accused of murdering her vicious school bully, Annie. Although never found guilty, the rumors forced her and her family to move to a neighboring city where some supernatural secrets live in town's forest. She is met once again by her bully who has joined the supernatural beings in the forest and wants to finish her attacks on Sailor. Dealing with the issues of bullying and the influence of rumors, Snyder creates an entertaining and dark series to frame the commentary.
Non-superhero comics are so important to the comic book industry because they give a new and intimate look into issues that are not always disscused by our favorite superheros. With Superman and Captain America always fighting bigger issues like aliens and cosmic disaster, it is important that more local and societal issues are disscussed somewhere - and these fun comics do just that.
