Who comes to mind when you hear the word "comic book?" For me, it's Superman, Betty and Veronica and Tin-Tin. But for today's children, the comic book heroes of our youth may be joined by the Justin Bieber, Robert Pattinson, Kristin Stewart and… Lady Gaga. These celebrities are a part of the recent Fame series, published by Bluewater Comics.
Uniting pop stars with comic books makes marketing sense: comic books are relatively inexpensive to produce and almost everyone, from small children to adults enjoys them. As demonstrated in this year's sold-out membership to Comic-Con, the world's largest gathering of comic book artists and fans in San Diego, the books' popularity isn't going away anytime soon.
Sure, Lady Gaga's life may be fascinating to some people, but is it really necessary for her and other stars to have their own biographical comic book, even if it is unauthorized? It screams "I want to make money quickly from hot, young household names!"
According to Bluewater Comics President Darren G. Davis, the reason for the Fame series is deeper than just cashing in on the celebrity of current pop –stars. "Over the past year we saw an opportunity to broaden the scope of who reads comics. There were many who had never picked up a graphic novel or comic book buy our biography titles like Female Force and Political Power. Fame is the natural extension of that trend."
Well-written and drawn comic books are masterpieces. Last year, I took Dr. McKinney's Bande dessinée course, which discussed the evolution of French-language and American comic books. In the course, we talked the intricate literary elements of comic books, from text of the book to the organization of the frames in each comic strip. It gave me a glimpse of how much work goes into creating an original, imaginative comic book, and makes the pop-star comic books pale in comparison.
Reviewers of the Fame: Lady Gaga aren't very impressed by the book, either. The only real facts we get from the book seem to be Gaga's real name (Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) and that she went to Catholic school, information easily gleaned from Wikipedia. The rest of the book looks as fictionalized as the drawings; Lady Gaga is not portrayed as a real person or artist, but as an awkwardly-proportioned superhero of the microphone and bare bones for something claiming to "broaden the scope of who reads comics."
Ok, the Fame series probably won't be studied in a class or follow in the footsteps of the Spiderman and Superman comics cum blockbusters. Even though the book may dramatize both Gaga's life and her image, does this really matter if the book is truly enjoyable? Maybe, maybe not. According to Amazon.com, the book is number 182,725, which is pretty impressive, considering the "millions of titles" Amazon claims to carry. Bluewater comics have certainly benefited from the popularity of Gaga, but the book may become the laughing-stock of the comic world and its popularity may last shorter than Lady Gaga's wardrobe changes.
On Amazon.com, the $3.99 comic book isn't expensive, but according to a reviewer, it isn't ever worth the small price. One reviewer wrote, "It definitely wasn't what I thought it was going to be. It barely talked about Gaga....mostly about some guy who nobody really cares about and him fantasizing about Lady Gaga. Let me just say, I don't recommend it."
My advice to Lady Gaga fans, comic fans and pop-culture junkies: spare yourselves from the money-hungry spin-offs and save your money for a concert, a trip to the theatre or a truly original, artistic comic book.
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