Seriously funny: Comics get real

By MATT MOORE

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA

There are wedding bells in Riverdale, but it’s not Archie and Betty or Veronica. It’s Army Lt. Kevin Keller and the physical therapist who helped him overcome his war wound — Clay Walker.

Meanwhile, in the comics pages, Gil is an 8-year-old boy being raised by his divorced factory-working mom, and Dustin is 23 and living at home, unable to find a job after graduating from college.

Comics always have been a portal for escapism and fantasy but also have labored to reflect a contemporary climate, a process that shows no signs of slowing whether it involves super villains, breast cancer or other complicated realities of modern life.

Writers and artists fold real-world events into their fictional worlds, blending boundaries to make readers not just laugh and escape, but also reflect and think.

“Comics have always been a reflection of our world,” said Brendan Burford, comics editor at King Features Syndicate in New York. “People want to see a reflection and, chances are, if the reflection is something that rings through with their world, their life, their family and their friends, they can relate and laugh.”

The title character in “Gil” is an elementary-school student, slightly portly and always picked last for sports, who lives with his mom. He would love a nuclear family because it would mean he’d have superpowers.

“Growing up in a single-parent family during America’s first ‘Great Recession’ wasn’t always easy, but I look back on my formative years fondly,” said cartoonist Norm Feuti, who debuted “Gil” in January and has based it, partly, on his own experiences.

He noted that with the national divorce rate rising, there are parents and kids who probably can relate to his title character, an 8-year-old quintessential underdog who lacks the latest toys or electronic gadgets.

“Gil is a very personal comic to me,” Feuti said. “It’s a celebration of the resiliency and indefatigable spirit of childhood.” Sometimes, the topics can be rife with politics or challenge different social values.

In Riverdale, longtime home of the high school hijinks of Archie, Betty, Veronica and others, issues ranging from gay marriage to cancer are finding new readers and story lines, bringing up topics not typically found in the funny pages.