Oh noes! You've got prose in my comic book.

After being sick for a few weeks, I've finally gotten around to checking out my comic book-related feeds and what do I find? The preview of Batman #663 posted at Every Day Is Like Wednesday. You know, the one with prose.

I am giddy. It'll be nice to have something different come along, especially in a Batman book, especially by Grant Morrison.

Now, I'm not exactly sure why Caleb is having what seems to be a negative reaction to the format of the book. Even moreso, I'm surprised by a reader's comment on the post saying, "What the hell is this thing?! I thought it couldn't get any worse than Arkham Asylum!" I think this comment is strange because the prose isn't exactly strange when compared to works by other postmodern authors. Is there a more widespread negative reaction to this preview, as I have been cut off from the comic blogosphere for a while?

Are comic book fans, especially those of superhero books, out of touch with prose fiction? Is it inaccessible? Or even threatening that it unnerves us should it appear in what we expect to be "comics only" spaces?

I don't mean to sound snotty or pretentious (although anyone talking about prose vs. comics is bound to), but I love a good ol' non-comic book now and then. I won't try to argue which medium is better, as that is a ridiculous discussion, but I will say that my recent reading of The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood was more rewarding than any comic I've read in the past year*. But I do know that many comic book fans do not read much other than comics, and then there are those who only read prose that is related to popular sci-fi/adventure franchises. Everything else seems to be considered either unaccessible or boring.

I have no solution to the problem, but I do implore readers to give Batman #663 a chance. Prose fiction may seem strange in your monthly publications from DC, but it's not that big of a deal. It could be good. It's Grant Morrison for Christ's sake. Give it a read, even if it's "not a fucking comic book."

*It is also the major reason I have not been blogging in the past few weeks, along with lessened computer time and being sick lately. And I only say it's better than any comic I read in the last year as a safe estimate, but it could very well be better and more rewarding than any comic ever. Seriously. Read it.