Comics deal with fundamental archetypes. We've been called the myth-makers of the modern age.
Interpretation
Comics represent essential characters and themes, akin to ancient myths, influencing contemporary culture.
Chris Claremont's quote reflects how comics serve as a modern medium for storytelling, presenting archetypal figures and narratives that resonate deeply with our human experience. He likens comic creators to myth-makers, suggesting that through their art, they shape the values, struggles, and aspirations of current society, much like classic myths did for previous generations.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of comics in education, you might quote Claremont to emphasize their cultural significance.
People try to pigeonhole comics by saying they're just for kids. So is The Odyssey. So is the Labors of Hercules, the story of Fa Mulan. The advantage of those stories over the contemporary ones is that they've had 2,000 years of editing. All the crap has been weeded out over time.
We figured the audience would want good stories, great art, wonderful characters, people you could fall in love with that we would immediately put through hell.
The key isn't winning -- or losing, it's making the attempt. I may never be what I ought to be, want to be -- but how will I know unless I try? Sure, it's scary, but what's the alternative? Stagnation - A safer, more terrible form of death. Not of the body, but of the spirit. An animal knows what it is, and accepts it. A man may know what he is -- but he questions. He dreams. He strives. Changes. Grows.
Creative life should be more than preaching to the converted, more than going for a core audience of 100,000 people. It should be taking risks, challenging the readership and having enough faith in one's own talent and craft to take readers on that ride.
X-Men has always been about finding your place in a society that doesn't want you.
My desire as a storyteller is to always catch the readers off guard; to give them something they aren't expecting, and take them in a direction that is satisfying in the here and non.
There is something about a poet which leads us to believe that he died, in many cases, as long as 20 years before his birth.
When one lives in a society where people can no longer rely on the institutions to tell them the truth, the truth must come from culture and art.
You have to create the show anew, and find it anew, on a nightly basis.
Writing has certainly helped me explore about 20,000 versions of my authentic self. I suppose that's what most writers discover if they write long enough: there are a lot of selves roaming around in there.
There are so few roles out there. And even if it is a film that could be led by a black actress, how many times is that film going to get funded? Let's just be real. But it's not just black people. It's Asians, it's Hispanic people if you're not Salma Hayek. It's hard. It's hard to get films funded.
There is no greater joy than that of feeling oneself a creator. The triumph of life is expressed by creation.
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