MONTREAL - Comic books, which have driven many Hollywood blockbusters in recent years, are in a kind of bizarro world when it comes to their future, according to one of the industry's top creators.
"The industry's in a very strange place," says Tim Sale, who is probably best known to the mainstream as the creator of the paintings used to propel the plots in episodes of the popular TV series "Heroes."
"Comics themselves are finding it increasingly hard to stay alive," Sale said in a telephone interview as he prepared to attend this weekend's Montreal ComicCon 2010.
People used to do most of their buying when they spotted the books on newsstands and in other non-specialty stores when the 54-year-old Sale was growing up.
"The idea of the comic book store, which once sounded so great, has clearly hurt the industry in that it limited new people coming in, new buyers coming in, new readers coming in," he noted.
Sale, whose dark, stylized artwork on such characters as Batman, Superman, the Hulk, Spider-Man and Captain America has made him a fan favourite, says comics are facing the same challenges as mainstream media who see eyeballs gravitating from the printed page to the Internet.
"I know Marvel and DC are very interested in trying to figure out how to use the web creatively to keep things going," he said.
On the other hand, Hollywood has cranked out an endless stream of money-making comic book-based movies in the last decade including "Batman Begins," "Superman Returns," "Iron Man," "Spider-Man" and "Kick-Ass."
More are slated for release, including the hotly anticipated "Green Lantern," "The Green Hornet" and "Red."
Many comic creators have also crossed into film and TV work, while movie and TV writers have done comic books.
Alex La Prova, one of the organizers of the Montreal ComicCon, says the prevalence of comic book movies is unprecedented.
"Comics books have become Hollywood's newest storyboards," said La Prova, who has seen attendance steadily rise at the three-year-old pop-culture convention he co-founded with partner Oscar Yazedjian.
Comics have faced challenges since Superman first appeared hoisting a robber's car above his head on the iconic cover of Action Comics No.1 in 1938.
The medium's death has been predicted periodically as other forms of entertainment surfaced. It even faced the ire of the U.S. government in the 1950s when a study blamed it for fostering juvenile delinquency with some lurid editions.
A study by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Boston recently slagged superheroes, criticizing them for the image they give young boys.
"There is a big difference in the movie superhero of today and the comic superhero of yesterday," psychologist Sharon Lamb told the annual convention of the American Psychological Association in San Diego last month.
"Today's superhero is too much like an action hero who participates in non-stop violence; he's aggressive, sarcastic and rarely speaks to the virtue of doing good for humanity. When not in the superhero costume, these men, like Iron Man, exploit women, flaunt bling and convey their manhood with high-powered guns."
Sale, who hadn't heard about the study before being asked about it in the interview, isn't buying it.
"I think it's silly," he said from his southern California home.
He acknowledged that comics, like any creative field, can fall into categories and cliches "but the best in any creative field rises above that sort of thing.''
"I think if a study looks for things to point to, it can find it but that's an overly simplistic way of looking at all of it."
He says he liked the first Iron Man movie but hasn't seen the second.
"He may have been sarcastic but he took being heroic seriously," the artist said.
La Prova says while comic book stories can be grim and gritty, the industry is well aware of the messages it send to its readers.
"They offer different lines for different readership," he noted, explaining that comic buyers span a broader — and older — age range than generally believed.
"All companies offer a children's line, all companies offer a general line and a more adult content line," he said, adding that any click on an Internet site can pose the possibility of an inappropriate image from anywhere.
"That's why we have parents, right?" La Prova said. "They're there to guide us."
He says the Montreal ComicCon is family-friendly and has something for everyone, "from children who like to dress up in little Spidey outfits to the 70-year-old who gets a big nostalgia kick walking around the room."
Besides comic book stars, the two-day show this Saturday and Sunday will include guests from film and TV, including Brent Spiner, who played Data in "Star Trek: The Next Generation."
While there is some debate on whether the future of comics lies on the printed page or on an electronic reader, La Prova says buying a comic still offers the chance of making a shrewd investment.
He notes that a copy of Action Comics No. 1, where Superman debuted, sold earlier this year for $1.5 million.
"It's not even the nicest copy that exists," he said. "The nicest copy belongs to a collector and he actually refused, I hear, up to $5 million."