Before I get to today’s subject (Dean Trippe’s Butterfly) allow me to go on a bit of a stream-of-consciousness rant. If you want to get to the review, start reading right below the picture. Good? Good.

One of the greatest and most eternal questions regarding comic books (the print kind) is … why in the world are there so many superhero comic books? This has been the bane of independent comic publishers. They can complain until they’re blue in the face that the medium can do so much more: romance, horror, social commentary. Are comic book readers just uncultured zombies, flocking to the cheapest form of escapist fantasy? Or do the Big Two comic publishers manipulate the market to ensure that the only comic books that ever make it into the direct market retailers are the ones featuring their core competencies?

The X-Axis’ Paul O’Brien wrote, in my opinion, the definitive essay on superhero comics. Here’s a quote from the article at Ninth Art: “Many superhero readers might describe themselves as comics fans, but only because of the common error that superheroes equal comics. Most, in fact, are not comics fans. They’re genre fans. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a genre fan, but it doesn’t translate into being a fan of the medium. The reason why the North American comics audience is overrun with fans of the superhero genre is quite simple: where else are they going to get those stories? Yes, there’s a handful of TV shows and the occasional film. And there are some novels. But for the most part, those are just spin-offs of the comics. Comics have always been the driving force behind the genre. So if you’re a fan of the superhero genre, naturally you will come to comics for your fix.”

So, in a manner of speaking, the comic book is the best format for telling stories about superheroes. But if that were the case, how come superhero domination doesn’t extend to webcomics?

It seems counter-intuitive. But the reality is that webcomics actually boast more genre variety than print comic books. There are plenty of reasons for this. First, popular superheros tend to be long-term established ones, not newly created ones. Superman can penetrate the national imagination, but some blonde-haired jabroni named Sentry? Not so much. Secondly, most webcomic artists don’t seem to have the artistic chops to consistently draw someone with a superhuman physique. Hey, I’m in the same boat. When I took cartooning class, my art teacher once said that my “muscles” looked like hemorrhoids. And finally, interests change. Young webcomic artists aren’t necessarily reading comic books anymore. However, they are playing video games and reading manga… which, incidentally, explains why there are so many webcomics about both. Superheroes … that’s old people’s stuff.

However, superheroes haven’t completely disappeared form the webcomic page. At least, as long as you don’t take them seriously. Our costumed guardians live on in superhero parodies like the previously reviewed Year One, the silly Non-Adventures of Wonderella, the so-atrocious-it’s-pitiable Cow-Man… and today’s comic: Butterfly.
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