Charles Yoakum takes a look at a notion of “bridge comics,” i.e. comics that somehow allow readers to magically morph from the type of guy who reads World War Hulk into the type of guy who reads Optic Nerve and wonders if such a fantastical beast actually exists:
It is, alas, the terrible fact that to be a true mass medium, you need the mass of numbers. Because without that, you’re a pretender, which is what comics have been for the last 20 years. It really is my answer to those that think that teh San Diego Comic Con should spin off the comics into their own con again: we’ve waited long enough in the wilderness as fringe media, don’t exile us again because you don’t like crowds. We need a huge number of readers, used to the conventions of visual storytelling to continue the tradition, and we need a great wealth of material to bring people back again and again. It is not the book itself a lot of times, but the habit of reading the book. If the habit is there, then they will go seek out the books themselves, and, thankfully, these days there are more and more books to fill in the gaps.
