Professor Bummer's Tenure Track

I have a new nickname. Or deejay name. Or maybe it’s a superhero name: “Professor Bummer.” The moniker was bestowed on me by Matt Fraction, writer of the comic books Iron Man and Casanova, at the comic creators panel, a part of the University of Oregon’s “Understanding Superheroes” academic conference that ran a week ago on campus in conjunction with the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art’s exhibition Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: The Art of the Superhero. The conference sported panels with names like "Being and Super-Beings: Existentialism, Temporality, and Eschatology." (Yes, really.)

In fact, I have written previously about the exhibition and conference for local media.

Fraction appeared with fellow Oregonian comic writers Kurt Busiek (Trinity, The Avengers, Astro City) and Gail Simone (Wonder Woman, The All-New Atom, Birds of Prey). In the panel’s wrap-up Q-and-A, I asked the creators what it’s like writing for these sprawling, decades-old mega-storylines, considering that the DC and Marvel Universes have been rolling along since the 1930s and 40s, respectively. I may have asked it a bit bluntly, I’ll allow, as I phrased it along the lines of “…considering that you could stop writing for comics at any time, take a break of 20 or 30 years, and come back to find the same story had been told in your absence?”

Fraction’s response: “I’ve ever thought of my work in such Sisyphian terms. Thanks, Professor Bummer.”

That kind of wit was on display through the whole thing. Prof. Ben Saunders of the UO English department, conference organizer and guest curator of the exhibition, opened the panel with, “I apologize for the less than ideal angle some of you may have of our esteemed guests.”

Busiek: “Head on?”

As often happens when comics geeks and academics gather in real or virtual spaces, much of the chit-chat revolved around the agony and ecstasy of comic book continuity, the sprawling web of interconnected stories that compose a shared fictional universe, the violations of which give fanboys ample opportunity to praise or lambaste creators.

“I think continuity is the devil,” Fraction asserted, his usual timid, reticent self. He went on to explain that, so long as characters and story scenarios operate in a basically consistent manner, he’s happy with his writing.

Busiek, who along with Mark Waid represents perhaps the largest walking repository of superhero continuity lore in the industry, countered with a quote his mis-attributed to John Donne, but which actually belongs to Ralph Waldo Emerson: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”

(Coincidentally, Saunders specializes in Donne and Shakespeare. Reckon he was gritting his teeth.)

“I personally get continuity fatigue,” added Simone.

Fans (including your truly) attempted to raise their hands at multiple points in the discussion each time the conversation would lapse for a moment, only to find the creators would get a second or third or fourth wind on the continuity topic. “We’re not taking another question!” quipped Busiek.

Fraction had the last word on the subject: “Let’s just let the Internet sort it out!”

The assembled audience was a curious cross section of the academic and comic book nerd cultures. Bookish, verbally expansive academics rubbed elbows with those guys who stereotypically looked like they just crawled out of Mom’s basement. One ardent fan who seemed to straddle the two worlds asked whether the creators, as the caretakers of their respective characters, considered themselves experts or scholars on the Campbellian hero monomyth. “This stuff is steeped in our unconscious,” responded Busiek, “so I don’t have to study it. It’s already there.”

For all his acerbic snark, Fraction still seems to see his life and his work as charmed, blessed. One telling comment: “We live a ridiculous lifestyle. Make no mistake, this is a ridiculous, wonderful way to live.”

As Fraction made the comment, I couldn’t help but nodding. My own writing, whether for this blog, or for the magazines, newspapers, websites, and marketing publications for which I write, isn’t nearly so culturally impactful as is that of Fraction or his fellow panelists. In fact, my work for the university, the material I write that even comes close to approaching the number of eyeballs Fraction’s does each month is, in fact, written anonymously.

Even still, there’s something seductive about writing, about knowing someone else will seek out what one has written. Yeah. A ridiculous, wonderful way to live.

Comments

[Paul Chadwick]

This situation sounds like it could be an excellent SNL skit, or at least an Onion article.

Erudite zingers interweaving with comics continuity arcana...

[Aaron Ragan-Fore]

Thanks for reading and commenting, Kurt. I just amended the entry to reflect your point.

[Kurt Busiek]

Right, it was John Donne who said "Comparisons are odious." I always mix those two up.

[And Donne wasn't the first to make the observation, and Shakespeare parodied it, so there's another connection for Ben.]

But when I said I don't need to study this stuff, I wasn't referring to character continuity and history, but to the academic idea of the Campbellian "Hero's Journey" monomyth. I tried to read the books, then realized that if we're drawing on the unconscious, we don't have to consciously follow some pre-set myth structure. It's there in our heads already.