Secret History Lessons!

Television specials on comics are usually pretty lame. The broader populace doesn't grok the real nature of comic books and of superheroes which they (for obvious reasons) exclusively identify with the genre. But there's some small glimmer of hope and it comes in the for of the recent Robert Kirkman's Secret History of Comics on AMC. This show wouldn't have  happened without the fusion of Kirkman and AMC over the comic The Walking Dead. That comic-book inspired TV phenomenon allows the folks associated with it a glamour which the powers hope will support spin-off events like this show and others starring folks like Norman Reedus.

To be frank I expected this to suck and beginning with the tired debate about who was the true creator of Marvel Comics didn't give me much hope that I was wrong. But I was.

With the second show which explored the deviant and somewhat shadowy origins of Wonder Woman the show won me over a bit. This was largely brand new territory for TV when it comes to comics. Usually television cannot deal with comic books without copious amounts of "Bop!" and "Zing!" and "Zowie!" as the impression still left by the vintage Batman TV show still permeates the popular imagination.

It was back to familiar territory with the show on the creators of Superman and how they got screwed, a fundamental fable of injustice and (sadly) the American way, which all comics fans know by heart.

But the focus on those comics and creators who responded to the events of 9-11 made me realize for sure this was a show which was plowing some new territory. It was about more than just comics, but how comics reflected the times in which they happened and were shaped by those times.

And the focus on the important Milestone Publishing effort of the early 90's confirmed it. This was stuff I'd never seen discussed on TV before and really interesting and fresh and spoke to the original American sin of racism which bristles as always in our culture.

Somewhat less so was the show on Image, but it made sense since Image is where Kirkman landed and launched his highly successful zombie comic. This is an above average series, not perfect by any means, but better than what usually happens. Imagine a TV show about comics without "Zowie!". Now we can.

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