Mark Dudley, an illustrator and sequential artist, read Steve Bennett's latest column (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--The Most Unexpected Black Lanterns of All") and it raised a couple of questions for him:

I just finished reading Steve Bennett's latest column and I got to tell you I'm kind of foggy on what he expects from comic books written circa 2009.  Steve complains about how "inappropriate" Hal Jordan's admitting, in James Robinson's Justice League: Cry for Justice #2, is to having had a threesome with Lady Blackhawk and the Huntress.  He even goes on to complain that NCIS, a primetime CBS TV vehicle, is far less risqué than the particular comic in question.

I have two questions.  If the comic book readership primarily consists of men, roughly age 13 to 40 and companies have to market to this demographic, then why should it be such a surprise that we are seeing more mature themes and dialog in comics?  I mean, look, it's no secret that the American comic market has undergone some changes since the comics code was tossed outtalk the window in favor of a rating system.  Because of these changes, writers have more freedom to really explore established comic characters in ways that the timid comics code would have never allowed.  I, for one, am extremely glad of this.  I am almost 40 years old and I love comics, but you can't expect me to continue to buy into the manufactured morality of the characters in these books.  I like my characters far more three-dimensional.  The world isn't black and white so why should I expect that in any literature that I read?

As for juxtaposing James Robinson's writing on Justice League: Cry for Justice with NCIS, I have to admit that I don't watch enough of the show to comment.  But I do watch Heroes and Lost.  Believe you me, each one of these shows has it's own brand of sexual innuendo and I am sure that more comic book fans, and more views in general tune into these shows than watch NCIS.  So as far as TV in general, Steve's argument just doesn't hold water.

Finally, Steve complains about DC's allowing three minor supporting characters to be killed off screen without any resolution by law enforcement or the other heroes regarding their killers.  He says that he has issues with the "senseless abuse of supporting characters."  I am inclined to agree, but I would also add that an even bigger problem, especially in American comics, is why nobody stays dead?  Steve also addresses this issue, although cursorily.

I believe that to service the increasing age and intelligence of it's readership, the comic book market must grow up.  Comics can no longer mire themselves in the McCarthy-ist dungeons of the Comics Code Authority.  Sure we must also take care to grow our markets, but not at the expense of losing what we already have.  I really don't believe that a great many people care about Green Lanterns sexual proclivities, beyond a mere raised eyebrow.  What I do believe is happening, however, is that people who grew up on comics during the advent of the Comics Code Authority are very nostalgic for the characters they grew up with and love.  They simply want these characters to remain the one-dimensional pugilists they have always been.

If comics is to remain viable in the face of manga, videogames and iPods, then the medium is going to have to grow out of the stigma of being "only for kids."  This will not happen if we do things Steve's way.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.