The Wager

Here's something that's probably already been agreed with, disagreed with, ridiculed, praised, dismissed, dismantled, and distilled by every comics blog out there, but I figured I should note it here.

Steve Gaynor, a video game level designer according to his masthead, posted this thoughtful piece recently about the relative cultural significance of video games. Why is that interesting to readers of a comics blog (assuming there are any left visiting this poor site)? Because he draws some pretty astute comparisons between the two mediums.

I went into this article a little skeptical, imagining the worst sort of mouth-breathing dismissal. Comics are for kids!!! Superheroes are the be-all, end-all of the medium!!!! I was pleasantly surprised to find a knowledgeable and sensitive look at the similarities, one that encompassed the boundary pushing and forward thinking work taking place in comics and video games, but not shying away from examining their failures to gain broad cultural relevance.

Do yourself a favor and read the article. Even if you disagree, there's a lot of interest to be found there.