Originally posted by Darren Lewis
"aren't they just for kids?"
Just for kids? Depends on the subject matter- comics such as Beano and the Dandy are aimed at children, but if you look around, there are a number of comics aimed at adults (and not just the ones that try to be sensational with sex and violence either). Granted there's an obsession with superheroes, but a diverse set of genres is represented across the board - it all depends what floats your boat.
Comics are an art form in their own right and tell a story in a different way. The best ones possess the ability to display a series of still images in such a way as to make you fill in the gaps in between panels. Not all utilise words and dialogue boxes (though the thought bubble is an incredibly good storytelling device that seems to have gone out of fashion).
Besides, what's wrong with children's stories? Last time I checked comic book adaptations are making a killing at the box office, and young adult fantasy was on the rise in terms of popularity (Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl and His Dark Materials to name a few).
The main problem with comics at the mo IMHO is the price- buy a book, pay the publisher and the writer. Buy a comic and you pay a writer, penciller, inker, colourist, letterer, publisher, printer (colour pages cost more than a few pages of pure black and white text)- hence a comic on average is 22 pages without adverts, costs approx £2 to £2.50 and lasts around 15 mins.
Though realistically it's about the same as a video/dvd in terms of cost per min.
In every medium, 95% of everything published is pap. Same with comics. You have to dig deep to find the good stuff.
Particularly the Clone saga
Going to have to disagree with you there- clone saga was one of the biggest piles of s*** I've had the pleasue of reading