Simon Pegg is wrong – comics aren’t an escape from reality, they help us deal with it

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/21/simon-pegg-comics

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There’s something about comic books that seems to really unsettle people. As an illustrated medium, and one that has often been directed towards children, many people struggle to locate comics within the wider genre of printed fiction.

Comics have always been made by adults but are they really for adults? Conversely, the occasional historical intersections of comics with more salacious forms of expression (such as pornography), tempt many critics to ignore the diversification of the industry over time. Perhaps it is precisely this dynamic, somewhat slippery aspect of comics that has recently elicited two rather shocking descriptions of the industry from people seemingly invested in it.

In an interview with the Radio Times, actor and screenwriter Simon Pegg said the increasing consumption of “very childish things”, such as science-fiction and comic books, had infantalised society and was distracting adults from engaging in real-world issues. Unsurprisingly, many of Pegg’s fans responded with dismay, particularly as Pegg’s own career has primarily flourished in science-fiction and genre cinema. Pegg quickly followed the release of the interview with a post on his personal blog attempting to clear up his position. He argues that it’s not that he really believes “science fiction or fantasy are dumb” but rather, that people seem to be investing more energy in extending their childhoods than in engaging with real-world conflicts.

What it is about comics, and the ways they frequently explore spectacular fantasy, that led Pegg to make his initial remarks? Yes, comics can be a part of childhood, but is that all they are? And are we so certain that spectacular fantasy cannot play an important role in adult life?

In an article this month for the New Yorker, Jill Lepore also seemed to struggle with the polysemous nature of comics. She suggested that female superheroes, in pulp and on the screen, amount to little more than tits and ass, and that from William Moulton Marston onward, women characters in comics have been essentially pornographic. In response to Lepore, Marvel writer G Willow Wilson, argued for the need to understand comics in context. She suggested that as a part of genre fiction, comics are both laden with tropes and yet also totally self-aware. In other words, the power of comics lies in their ability to deal with the spectacular, but to do so in a critically questioning way. They simultaneously inspire dreams, as well as questions about reality.

I agree with Pegg that recent events such as the earthquakes in Nepal deserve sustained, meaningful engagement. And as a feminist, I certainly appreciate Lepore’s scepticism towards some aspects of the history of comics. But in a cultural climate where we are inundated through media with the evils of this world, while simultaneously being immobilised by neoliberal governmentality, rising social inequalities and economic instability, I have to wonder at the wisdom of marching to the same old beat. There is so much malady in our culture, so much bigotry and inequality, and trying to take it all seriously, trying to take it all in direct from the source, is often totally paralysing.

Comics, and fantasy more generally, can allow people to take on these problems creatively, to plan for a future that is not totally determined by the limits of today. Comics that raise pressing social issues – such as sexual violence, racism, or transmisogyny – can give readers the space to engage critically, as well as to dream differently. When we cannot solve our problems with the same old strategies, the situation calls for more imagination.

Sure, comics are not always that strategic – they are sometimes childish and sexist – but they can also be modes of expression wherein very sophisticated adult problems have been, and are, explored and expressed. Fantasy is a necessary part of a healthy human life and comics are a part of that for a lot of people. Comments such as those from Pegg and Lepore don’t explore that complexity.