Going All In with Comics, a Blog by Mark Fuller
For a young Star Wars fan in the 1980s, a chance find of a comic about Star Wars at a school jumble sale opened up a world of possibilities, allowing me to go all in on my passion and discover new ones. Comics are going from strength to strength and play an important role in children’s enjoyment of reading and the National Year of Reading.
Now an all-encompassing part of our pop culture, to the childhood me of the early 1980s, Star Wars was simply an adventure film I discovered in the Christmas TV schedules. I gasped at Darth Vader emerging from the smoke; was thrilled by the adventures of Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie; and watched in wide-eyed delight at the climactic space battle. I immediately wanted more, wanted to know what happened next, to explore further reaches of this galaxy far, far away. But, in those pre-streaming, pre-DVD, pre-VHS (ask your parents) days, I was out of luck. There was talk of another film, but that seemed a lifetime away – particularly as cinema trips were an expensive rarity for my family. The story looked set to be done for me for the foreseeable future.
Until a chance find of an issue of Marvel UK’s Star Wars Weekly comic in a box at a school jumble sale opened up a new world of possibilities. It turned out that for just a few pence and a weekly trip to the newsagents, I could carry on following the Rebellion’s battle against the Empire. I never had to stop indulging my love of Star Wars – I could go all in.
“That is what the National Year of Reading is rightly all about – celebrating the power that literature of all kinds gives people to further their enjoyment of whatever it is they love. And in doing so, take people on journeys to discover new passions.”
For what began for me as a way to get more Star Wars stories led to a lifelong love affair with comics. From Star Wars I cycled through titles featuring other heroes of my 80s childhood into worlds and stories that originated in comics themselves, building an appreciation of this unique artform along the way. Because more than simply telling stories with pictures, comics are a language unto themselves.
It’s a language that resonates with young people even as other forms of reading appear to be in decline. As research from the National Literacy Trust has shown, comics are being enjoyed by growing numbers of children across a widening variety of platforms.
Perhaps as a result of this, comics in the UK are having something of a moment. Just in the past few months we’ve seen the news that new publisher B7 is set to revive the classic Dan Dare character; start-up online platform Comixit has struck a deal to create webtoons with global entertainment giant Disney; and the best-selling Bunny Vs Monkey series, spun out of the weekly Phoenix Comic, became one of the most successful titles in the history of World Book Day. All as enduring British comic icons go from strength to strength, with the 75th anniversary of Dennis the Menace just celebrated and 2000 AD’s Rogue Trooper preparing to take the world by storm on the silver screen.
We’ve also seen the announcement of Barrow-In-Furness as the UK’s Comic Book Town, a new initiative to inspire further love of comics and promote the value they bring to our society.
But, there is still more to do to make sure that comics are fully appreciated. A friend recently mentioned that her young children love comics but have been told by teachers that they do not constitute ‘proper reading’. As more and more evidence emerges of just how powerful comics can be in education, I hope this view is in decline. All of us that share a passion for comics need to keep making the case for the place they deserve in classrooms.
“So, comics are a unique form of storytelling that combines visual and written literacy; they are an ever more accessible way for young people of all backgrounds to enjoy reading; and they are a proven means of extending the enjoyment of things people are already passionate about. “
All of this adds up to a form of reading we need to cherish and support. We need to celebrate all kinds of comics, be they weekly magazines, online webtoons or book-format graphic novels; and encourage people across all parts of our society to enjoy them. We also need to back our domestic comic industry – making sure that comics play an ever more important part in our creative economy.
For just as comics gave the childhood me a route to new Star Wars stories, they give today’s young people opportunities to grow their love of Heartstopper, Invincible, One Piece and much, much more. Let’s use this National Year of Reading to build on that so that generations to come can also Go All In though comics.
Mark Fuller is Chief Executive of Comic Book UK, a membership body of the UK’s most significant comic companies