Comics Influence on Romance: An Inside View From San Diego Comic-con

by Lorne Caplan

Director of Content

Comics do have an influence on romance, intimacy and passion

An area that is dear to my heart is the influence of comics, graphic novels and other printed media have on romance and relationships. One panel that dealt directly with this issue at the recent San Diego Comic-con, suggested that this issue was finally being recognized as an important issue. The comic industry would have to be at the forefront of building a bridge between male and female readership, as well as deal with real relationship issues, as opposed to promoting hermit like existences of live alone gamers and other fantasy hermits who shun human contact and inter-action for comic book worlds and visual media.

The first panel of it's kind, The “Paranormal Love Potion” session actually promoted romance, passion and intimacy with a star studded group of authors including New York Times bestsellers Andrea Cremer and Marjorie Liu. As much as relationships and couples are serious business, the authors made it clear that much of what they have published and the millions of readers that have become fans of their work, simply comes from their hearts. That isn't to say that they take their work lightly. Rather, their philosophy, almost to the person, was that they put their emotions and passion into each project. They may not use much of what they uncover about the periods that they are telling their stories in. Alternatively, every aspect of the environment in which their characters are developed are also difficult to incorporate into their comics, novels, short stories or other story-telling format. However, their research is second to none and they made it clear that the development of all of their characters are affected by the completeness of the world, emotions and other aspects that might affect the direction of the story.

Authors excited and enthusiastic about telling their romantic stories

The fullness and richness of their stories are complemented by the fantasy and fiction of a paranormal environment that ratchets the tension and anticipation up a number of notches. Comments by the authors that their stories are “friggin' awesome” and that they are hopeless romantics that “love to read fairytale romances” themselves, lent further credence to the intensity, commitment and validity of the effort that they put into each story about the development of romance, passion and intimacy that gives both the authors and their readers exactly what they want.

Unfortunately, when I asked the panel if they were familiar with how many of their readers were men, most didn't know. However, they did understand that there were a few, introduced to the genre by their wives, who had asked their husbands, boyfriends or partners to read the title with them or for them so that they could engage in the kind of romance that is being portrayed in a particular written piece. This seeming lack of interest and involvement in extra-curricular romantic activities is not unique to most men who don't seem to have the “romantic gene”. Those men that do participate in and enjoy romantic topics can usually point to a strong personality and self-esteem that is in part focused on support and effort that they put into their relationships. It does take some work to make any relationship successful and to infuse it with romance takes just that much more.

Panel leader Stephanie Perkins made it clear that romance titles sell more than any other type of book worldwide, yet men make up just a minute proportion of that readership. The panels particular focus, on paranormal romance would have even fewer male readers despite the addition of fantasy, horror and other forms of fiction that are usually elements that attract male readers. This particular gender exclusivity let's the authors develop their characters with their own perception of what is proper and right to female readers. They have built strong female leads that aren't in the form of traditionally weak female heroines seeking a white knight male to come swooping in to save the day. Elements of what has made the blockbuster Fifty Shades of Grey mommy-porn, so successful are also built-in, but not so obvious because there are so many other facets to their stories.

Overall, the panel was in agreement that they explore the animalistic nature and sexuality of human relationships. They work with these themes and ideas to structure love stories that are “enigmatic, awesome, mysterious and not boring” which is what old formats of love stories, along the lines of how comic books from the 1940's to 1960's that covered love to bring in women as readers, were typically presented as. They would be boring to today's more sophisticated, intelligent, broadly interested female readership and certainly the impact of media on our population has dulled our sensitivity to adult themes and intimacy despite the efforts of radical right wing puritanical groups, whether cloaked in religion or not.

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