Black and white and dread all over?

When the latest 12 rounds of Friday Night Fights ended about a week ago, ringmaster Bahlactus laid down the ground rules for the next bout by declaring all entries had to be in black and white. This, of course, made me think of Joe.

Joe is a friend of mine who I used to work with at a comic shop here in town. He's a great guy and has some of the best stories I've ever heard, not to mention a mean Schwarzenegger-as-Conan imitation. He's also a big comics fan, and like a lot of us he's got his quirks. His love of Batman is enormous, and his full-on obsession with sidekicks is even bigger. The guy loved him some Spoiler, and he was pissed when DC killed her off.

But the thing that threw me off was his refusal to read anything in black and white.

I'd seen this attitude before, of course. But it surprises me every single time. I don't get it. What is it about black and white comics that makes people — who will otherwise read just about any crap they come across — suddenly and violently allergic?

My theory is a combination of fanboyism and indieism (it's my theory, I can make up words if I want). See, I think a good portion (if not nearly all) of the comic reading population starts out with superhero comics. I know I did. And I'd guess that a chunk of those folks never stray too far from that genre.

(Quick aside: Can we all agree that comics are a medium and there are different genres within that medium? Thanks, that's been bugging me.)

Historically, these comics are in bright and energetic full color, which makes sense considering the stories tend to be cranked up to 11. It fits. So-called indie comics, on the other hand, are often printed in black and white. A lot of that has to do with smaller publishers and printing costs (as a very rough example, consider how much it costs to make a regular black and white copy versus a full-color copy at Kinko's), and sometimes the type of stories many indie comics are telling are better suited to black and white. It helps set the tone for the story.

Here's the crux of the problem, I think: Indie comics have a reputation. Even people who know better tend to think of words like "navel-gazing," "autobiography" and "whining emo-ass" when they hear the phrase "indie comic." They also think "no color." Right or wrong, a lot of people equate black and white with these preconceived notions and reach a simple conclusion: Black and white equals boring.

Which is a shame, because while there are some painfully self-referential black and white books out there (just like there are corny, immature and exploitative superhero books giving the good stuff a bad name), there's some excellent reading these people are missing out on. Just off the top of my head there's the Scott Pilgrim series, the Queen and Country series, Wasteland, The Damned, Pantheon High, Local, Emo Boy, Rex Libris, Phonogram, Action Philosophers and The Nearly Infamous Zango. And those books run from thriller to action to comedy to science fiction and everywhere in-between. Only one could be considered navel-gazey, but you've got to have a balanced diet, right? (Also, it's excellent.)

Don't get me started on the manga-hate out there.

Ultimately, it's a matter of preconceived notions that keep people from reading a black and white comic (and vice versa — it wouldn't kill the hard-core indie contingent to read Superman once in a while). Some comic book readers might think a black and white comic would be boring, but someone's buying all those Essentials and Showcases, right?

Which brings me back to Joe. At some point he got hooked on the Gunslinger Girl anime and tore through all the DVDs he could get his hands on. So one day we're at the counter and I overheard him talking to someone about the series.

"It's really, really good," he said. "But y'know, I read the first book and there was a lot of detail in there that was cut from the anime. There was a lot more about the characters' backgrounds. Really interesting."

My ears pricked up like a dog hearing a can opener: Was Joe saying he read the manga version of the series? The black and white manga version of the series?!

Joe gave me a look that made me think he was going to pat my head like an indulgent uncle.

"Yeah I read the book," he said. "It's good."

I'm curious to know what you think: Do you read black and white comics, or do you have a strict color-only policy? Do you only read black and white? Or are the racks your comics smorgasbord, where you pick up a little bit of everything? There's a new poll you can answer on the right, and I'd love to hear your opinions in the comments.