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This is an interview with one of my favorite blogers in the field of the comic.
Chris Schillig from the Left On Cyber Center blog. I hope you’ll enjoy his blog and his experience as much as I do.
1. Tell us something about yourself
I am a 40-year-old English teacher and wannabe writer, happily married, with a 17-year-old daughter who will be a senior this fall. For the last seven years, I have written a weekly column for my hometown newspaper, The Alliance Review.
2. How long are you into comics?
My first comic books were tabloid-sized reprints from DC Comics in the early 1970s, when I was probably 4 or 5 years old. The first standard-sized comic book I recall reading was an issue of “Spidey Super Stories” where Spider-Man and Doc Ock tangled in a boxing ring. So I suppose you could say I’ve been a lifelong reader.
3. Why the blog?
I like the freedom of having no space restrictions and the ability to blog as often or as infrequently as I want. I cross-promote my print column in the blog, and vice versa. Since the print column is intended for a general newspaper audience — most of whom aren’t interested in comics, books and movies to the extent that I am — the blog gives me a place to write about all the pop culture stuff I love so much.
4. What comics do you love the most and why?
First and foremost, I enjoy comics that are written and drawn well. I enjoy a variety of genres - from Harvey Pekar’s confessional, autobiographical works to Jim Starlin’s time- and space-warping epics, and all stops between.
5. Who is your favorite superhero?
Why As a kid, the Incredible Hulk and the Batman were my two favorites. I still enjoy both of those characters today, although I don’t read their monthly adventures. I’ve become more of a trade paperback kind of reader.
6. What you would like to see changed i.e more independent comics, less or more movies?
The movies and video games have been a great way to get comic-book characters into the mainstream. Unfortunately, this comes at a time when most potential future fans can’t find a comic book outside of a bookstore or a specialty store. Comics publishers have to find a way to get the books back onto newsstands. This is an old concern, I know, and the trend today is moving toward digital downloading, but you won’t have people willing to pay for a file of the latest adventures of, say, Iron Man, until they realize that comic books still exist. Marvel has been packaging some of their Ultimate and Adventures titles as magazines, and that’s a good start.
7. Where do you think the comics and superhero industry is going ?
As I wrote above, like the rest of the world they are headed toward the digital. At first, I was resistant to reading comic books on a computer screen, but after a little practice, I’ve become accustomed to it. I still vastly prefer having an actual pamphlet, paperback or hardback to flip through, but I recognize the change is coming. As for the superhero industry, I hope it continues to thrive, just as I hope that other genres - war, mystery, westerns, etc. - can overcome the stranglehold that the four-color heroes have on the mainstream market.
