Comic books were labeled as such because their earliest forms were reprints of the Sunday Funnies, the COMICS from newspapers. Unfortunately, even after they started printing new material, much of it dramatic adventure stories, the term stuck.

As I mentioned, I expended a considerable amount of mental energy trying to find a more descriptive term than “comic books”. (I had grown weary of civilians wanting to tell me funny stories I could use in my comics.)

But “comic book” was too familiar and too user friendly. At least until the more pretentious “graphic novel” caught readers attention. Then, ironically, I found myself turning back to “comic books” as a defense against such nonsense.

The term, used for comics, got started just about the time I was starting out on Superman. Warner Brothers, DC’s parent company, had issued brand new (in 1986) MacIntosh computers to all the editorial offices. Suddenly computer terminology was everywhere. “Reboots” became all the rage.* And raging ennui got staffers calling the books “floppies”..

Guk!

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* That was the reason my time on Superman took the form it did. I’d signed up expecting to take over with whatever was the next issue, and over six months or so steer the books in the direction I felt they needed. But then the Powers that Were learned the word “reboot”.

And don’t even get me started on robots and androids!!