Brief Thoughts: Tim Drake in "Two-Face Strikes Twice!"

Two-Face Strikes Twice! is a comic that I normally never would have picked up if it weren't for the internet. Published in '93, the comic is double-sided and two-volumed, meaning you read half and then flip it over and read the other half. Book 1 has the first parts of two different stories, Book 2 has the second half of each story. Since I have only been able to get my hands on Book 1 I'll only discuss that one. The story concerns Harvey Dent tormenting his ex-wife, Gilda Dent, but mostly serves as an excuse to trot out that giant Two-Face coin prop a couple more times. The story itself leaves much to be desired but it doesn't matter so much for this because the artwork is what originally caught my eye.

Each of the stories in the comic are drawn in a different style. Part one is in a more classic, Golden Age style while part two is done in the painted style seen above by Daerick Gross. Though the art style is not my favorite aesthetically the blocking is quite interesting. The left-hand scan at the beginning of this article is the one that originally made me track down the comic. While at first glance it might seem like a standard scene inside the Batcave it is Tim Drake's body language that has caught my eye. As you can see, Bruce has decided to go out and follow a lead on Two-Face and is discussing this with Tim, who was already in the cave when Bruce arrived downstairs. In the first panel, you can see that Tim is in a casual pose. His back is more or less straight, his head is slightly tilted, his feet are kicked under the bench and his hands are just flopped in his lap. In this same panel, Bruce is starting to get changed out of his civilian clothes and into his uniform. In the next panel, Tim is pointedly looking away from Bruce, and though he is still sitting up straight the tone of his body language has altered significantly. Now Tim's ankles are crossed, though his knees are still spread, and his hands are purposefully placed in front of his crotch, the left one holding the right in a somewhat nervous, uncertain gesture. Bruce, in this same panel, has stripped down to his underwear and is adjusting his jock strap, still not looking at Tim. In the final panel, Tim is looking back at Bruce, his chin is a little higher set but his body is now leaning against the wall behind him. Most significantly, his arms are crossed with his hands gripping his own upper-arms in a hug, another nervous, and this time self-protective, gesture. Yet, in contrast, his feet are now planted on the ground in front of him and his legs are spread wide, his reclining position now subconsciously presenting his crotch to Batman. Batman, meanwhile, is completely dressed and adjusting his cowl. In three panels we have managed to establish certain things about their characters that have nothing to do with the dialogue. First, we have established that Batman is far too engrossed in his own thoughts to pay any attention to Tim beyond basic conversation. Second, we have established that Tim is both a healthy adolescent male and also subconsciously sending Bruce signals that he is attracted to him.

Later, on page 14 (as seen in the image on the right - my apologies for the poor photo quality), Tim has been sent by Batman to a clinic where Two-Face and his hench-twins are up to no good. While Tim is checking the place out from the outside, Batman sneaks up on him, per his usual form. Except, Tim completely jumps out of his skin when he realizes Batman is there. Generally, slightly startled is the most you would expect out of someone Batman knows really well but Tim looks completely rattled. The dark knight is depicted as a mere shadow in the background of this panel while Tim takes up most of the foreground in a feminine-coded pose that is seen quite often in depictions of women in comic books but hardly ever for men. He has what is called "S-spine" going on which means that his back is curved so that his butt is sticking out and his chest is puffed up with his ribcage sticking out oddly to emphasize a tiny waistline. His arms are bent and raised level with his chest in a softer pose and his legs are elongated and have more of a feminine curve. His face has a soft jawline and his mouth is open in a gasp with a more definite pink tone added to his lips that there was before. All of this contributes a pose that looks as though the artist copied it from an image of a female character somewhere.

Now it is interesting to see a Tim Drake displaying sexualized body language towards Bruce and then, when he appears next in the comic as Robin, striking a typical pose for a woman in mainstream comics. (In fact, the sort of pose that many women grow tired of seeing in mainstream comics because, really, who pushes their butt and chest out simultaneously like that on a regular basis? It's not good for your spine.) There are two main readings that you can take away from these panels.

The first possible reading, the one that immediately jumps to mind for me, is a sexually anxious Tim Drake. When he first appears he is sitting in the Batcave watching Bruce change and it makes him nervous and uncertain of himself. He struggles internally, possibly without really realizing what he is struggling with, over his sexual interest in Bruce and his need to go hide somewhere and be embarrassed. Tim is still a teenager coming to grips with his newfound sexuality and his mind is easily distracted by it. When Batman sneaks up on him later he is more startled than he would normally be because the earlier scenario is the last time he saw him and it is still fresh in his mind; that level of discomfort, uncertainty, and embarrassment has not yet left.

The second possible reading (and the more likely one, if I'm being honest) is that the artist did not really realize what he was doing. He probably meant to show through Tim's body language either his mental puzzling through what Bruce was saying or else his embarrassment at sitting there while Bruce changes because while I would imagine they change into their uniforms in close proximity on a regular basis (time is of the essence) and have seen each other in various states of undress during medical exams Tim is still an adolescent and hasn't known Bruce too terribly long. Although this does not explain the startled "S-spine" pose later on I guess I can't complain too much about a guy being drawn in one of those awful poses for once instead of a woman. I suppose it would help my interpretation of Tim's blocking if I knew a little more about the artist and could guess at his intentions. However, I couldn't find much information on the web, or at least nothing very helpful for this analysis.

So what am I getting at with all of this? No, I'm not really declaring that Tim Drake is gay or in love with Bruce. They've established him as straight in the comics and I can accept that reading and move on. What I think I'm really saying is that blocking is everything and subtext is just as important as text. Different people tend to glean different meanings from a piece of media. When you combine images with the words several more layers of text and subtext are introduced. Delicious, flaky layers. Like a puff pastry. Mmmmm.

Comic Books: How Do You Rescue an Industry From Itself?

You know, these days the comic book and graphic novel industry is reminding me more and more of Broadway musicals. Bear in mind that this is not a compliment (neither is it a dig at musicals in general). Hear me out on this one.

For starters, both comics and Broadway musicals are a limited-access commodity. No matter what New Yorkers would have you think, not everyone gets to go to a Broadway musical. A musical starts out life languishing in development (part of which takes place during the show's first run - Weber says, a musical is never really complete). If it is lucky, a few years later it will be playing in some big-run theatres in New York. In all likelihood it could die right there before it even has a chance to be nominated for a Tony but the lucky few (and I do mean FEW get to go on). After playing for quite some time in New York the show either ends or does one of two things: goes to London or tours the U.S. Touring shows make it a little easier for the general public to see a show without having to go to New York. Yet, it will still cost you insane amounts of money, you will likely have to drive several towns or even a state over to see it, and if your venue is far enough down on the tour schedule you could be getting the 2nd- or 3rd-string cast. Of course, your other option is to just buy the cast album but that diminishes the experience by eliminating not only the visual aspect but huge chunks of plot.

If this isn't starting to sound familiar to you comic geeks yet, give it time. Comic books and graphic novels are just as much a limited-access commodity as musicals. Granted, there's a graphic novel/trade paperback section in the big chain Borders and Barnes & Noble bookstores these days but even that pales in comparison to the shelves and shelves they keep of Japanese manga for the teenage set. Comic books, trades, and graphic novels are still mostly relegated to those garish, often musty neighborhood comic shops. Shops which are few and far between in most locales. Shops which are often (though not always) run by those guys from High Fidelity. Even if you do find a comic shop "near" you (less than a day's drive, let's say) there's no guarantee that they'll even have the titles you're looking for or be willing to put it on order for you like a bookstore would. If the comic(s) you seek is/are in fact there, it will not be the most affordable purchase of your life. Remember when comics cost 12 cents? Neither do I. They sure as hell don't now. Trades and graphic novels can range anywhere from $17 to $100 (if you count DC's Absolute series which is the comic book equivalent of purchasing the Lord of the Rings extended trilogy). I think the cheapest comic book I have right now was listed as $2.25 but the store charged me $3-something. It doesn't sound as expensive as some things in this world but take that and multiply it by every monthly/weekly title you want to keep up with and see how much it costs. It reminds me of those exercises in health class where we calculated how much a cigarette habit could cost you in a lifetime. Is that nicotine high really worth it? Is that comics habit really worth it? Well, that's the problem. More and more it doesn't feel like it is. Many people take the cast album route and skip the regular runs of comics to wait for the trades for that ever so slight discount. Problem is, not everything gets a trade and not every trade collects the entirety of a storyline. Sometimes chunks of plot or subplot get left on the cutting room floor.

The two biggest problems plaguing the mainstream comics industry right now are readership and quality. The bottom line is that there simply isn't much of a readership. While every other avenue of pop culture out there has millions of people attracted to the most popular artifacts they produce, comics companies are letting themselves be satisfied with mere 6 digits at the highest tier and 5 for everything else. There are billions of people in the world, this is not really acceptable. The industry hasn't been showing enough interest in pumping up those numbers. They need to be bringing in outside experts to show them how to not only make comics more available in all markets but also how to market themselves properly. The problem is that the vast majority of people still have the same image of comic books that they had in the 1950s. The greater problem is that many people working in the industry do, too. Or else they are only creating the comics for themselves and not for the audience which is a fool's errand. Graphic storytelling is a remarkable corner of the ART world. In theory, it takes engaging writing and combines it with compelling art to achieve one of the most important things in the world - it tells a story. Stories define who we are and link humanity together. This graphic form of storytelling should be nurtured and encouraged. Great things can be accomplished with just a little bit of ink and paper.

Sadly, the quality of mainstream comics - the classic and all-important superhero comics in particular - has declined much over the years. Some people would argue that it was never much to begin with but that simply is not the case. True, much of the original superhero tales over the years were insanely wacky and bizarre but at least they were original. At least they showed some interest in consistent characterization. At least the writers honestly cared about what they were doing. Comics were never a lucrative business. Writers and artists got into the business because they cared about telling these stories. Superheroes are merely a modern version of characters and themes that have been with us since ancient times. At the moment in comics it seems as though the big companies have less interest in good storytelling and more interest in being more "badass" than the other guy or trying to use "shock" stories the draw readership back from "the other guys" the whole time working within the same small group of readers and constantly alienating them while they cling on, hoping things will get better again one day. "Quick, we need to rape and/or murder a character (bonus points if they are female and/or a token minority) and retcon a bunch of stuff or else have everyone fight each other so we can draw lots of people per page and get every issue out late!" Wee. That certainly instills confidence in the industry. Never mind their constant delusions of grandeur, like their perpetual notion that kids are still reading comics (I'm sure there are a smattering of them here and there but the most of the kids out there actually reading comics right now are reading Japanese manga comics) and therefore on occasion they can blame foolhardy editorial decisions on the old "think of the children" saw. I remain unconvinced.

So then how do so many people manage to be familiar with Spider-Man and Roxy Hart? How is it that there are still Batman pjs in the Penny's catalog and Hulk underoos at Target? Movies, that's how. People have been flocking to movies based on comics (in some cases, whether they realize it or not) in droves. That would be why studios have been jumping at the chance to transfer just about every comic they can to the big screen. That is also why Joss Whedon is working feverishly away on a Wonder Woman script right at this moment. However, an audience familiar with comic book-based characters via film and television is NOT the same as the overall comic book audience. You see, if you make a movie or even a TV show based on comic book characters or if you film a theatrical version of a Broadway musical then people who otherwise would have no access to those mediums before now have access in an affordable and wide-spread manner. Let's put it this way: a kid can easily go see Spider-Man 2 in the theater with Ma & Pa or see it on DVD at a price Ma & Pa can agree to. Almost everyone in America has access to a movie theater as well as millions of people all over the world (heck, most big movies count their success in terms of domestic and foreign box office gross). Now that the kid has seen the movie he wants everything relating to Spider-Man because he's just the coolest guy around. So Ma & Pa proceed to buy him the video games, the pajamas, the Underoos, the lunchbox, and everything else they can get their grubby little consumer hands on. That's the way our culture works. Yet the kid can't get the actual comic books that Spidey originates from because there is nowhere nearby that s/he can get them. S/he would get the trades but those cost more than his/her allowance and s/he can just as easily sit in the bookstore and read them there. What's more, society is still out there telling him/her that comics aren't for him/her, either they're for "babies" or their content is just too "mature" (which is somewhat ironic since the level of writing in those "mature" titles is quite often the farthest thing from mature).

So where am I going with this whole tangential rant? Right here: Yo, mainstream American comics! Yeah, you with the capes. Seek out new talent. Improve the quality of writing and art. Stop trying to bail yourselves out with stunt stories. Try to improve characters rather than killing them off. And, most importantly, change up your business practices. Don't be satisfied with those 6-digit readerships because you don't have to stand for it. Quit sitting around and moaning about the old days or how unappreciated you are and get your butts in gear!