Jackson Free Press

When many people think of comic books, they may think of crime fighting, flapping capes and spandex. When they think of comic-book readers, the image isn't complimentary. That's one of the misconceptions that Deirdra Harris Glover hopes to combat with Graphic Content, a monthly book club that meets at Offbeat novelty shop (151 Wesley Ave., 601-376-9404, offbeatjxn.com) in midtown to discuss comics, graphic novels and, more often than not, social issues.

"A lot of people have these ideas about who reads comic books, and it's not exactly flattering," Harris Glover says. "They're usually this depiction of an unsightly, disconnected person who hangs out in their mom's basement. That's no one who comes to Graphic Content. That's exactly zero people who show up."

Given her enthusiasm for the art form, it may be surprising that Harris Glover has only been a regular comic reader for about five years, despite an eye-opening first experience in 1995 while she was attending Agnes Scott College in Atlanta.

"In college, I was very (into) literature," she says. "My friends used to laugh because we'd just read this really fluffy bit of fiction, and I'd be like, 'But oh, can't you see (the) overtones here?' I was never really into comics until way late into college. ... Somebody gave me 'Sandman,' and said: 'I know you think all these other comic books are stupid. If this doesn't hook you, I don't know what will.'"

Neil Gaiman's "Sandman," one of the first graphic novels to break into The New York Times Best Sellers list, showed Harris Glover that comics could be deeper and more challenging than she thought. The shift toward more profound themes trickled into superhero comics, as well. Harris Glover considers them to be modern-day myths—a juxtaposition of the traditional hero's journey and biting social commentary.

"There are so many social issues that have been brought up through those comics and discussed in ways that really changed people's minds about the subject," she says, pointing to the mutants' struggle for equality in "X-Men" comics, which has long been an allegory for the Civil Rights Movement.

Harris Glover enjoyed discussing these elements with friends, but she knew there was a larger group in Jackson that needed a natural place to assemble. Immediately, she thought of Offbeat. She and co-organizer Jasmine Cole approached owner Phillip Rollins with the idea in January and held the first Graphic Content meeting at the end of that month.

The club's reading selections have been as varied as its attendees. So far, they have included Brian K. Vaughn's sweeping fantasy and science-fiction epic, "Saga"; Bryan Lee O'Malley's quirky reality-altering story, "Seconds"; G. Willow Wilson's "Ms. Marvel" series, which chronicles the life of Pakistani American superhero Kamala Khan; and Kurtis J. Wiebe's foul-mouthed tale of swords and sorcery, "Rat Queens."

"What I hope comes out of Graphic Content is that we can like things not in isolation, that we can come together and discuss hard issues through the books that we read and the things that we love," Harris Glover says. "By all means criticize, because there are a lot of problems in comics. ... But it's really nice to have people who will say, 'I disagree,' and not have it turn into fisticuffs or rock-paper-scissors."

For more information, find Graphic Content on Facebook or visit offbeatjxn.com.