The library attached to the gym I work out in now has comics. I should read some at some point.
Comics and Me, Casual Acquaintances
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 On 07/13/2014 at 12:33 PM by daftman See More From This User » |
I was never into comics much as a kid. I dunno, guess I just kept busy with other things (like video games), and I was always on a pretty tight budget while growing up. Comics can be expensive! But within the last couple of years I’ve gone on two comics binges.
It all started when they opened a new library near my house. This was when I was living in Colorado (before marriage). They actually revamped the entire library system out there, rebranding it “Anythink,” and it has won some national library awards for excellence. Anyway, they opened a new branch near my house, so we decided to go check it out. While wandering around I came across a rather impressive graphic novel section. I started looking at some Batman books and before I knew it I’d gotten a library card and walked out with a stack of books. I read several, all Batman, before burning out. I started with the famous ones that even I had heard of, like Year One and The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller. Both are very good but his follow up to those, The Dark Knight Strikes Again, is absolutely atrocious. Avoid that one at all costs! The Killing Joke is an interesting look at the Joker and certainly a pivotal moment in the life of Barbara Gordon (AKA Batgirl). I also read Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? by Neil Gaiman, which is the last Batman story ever.
I know I’m forgetting a few and there were some others that I either didn’t finish or didn’t like, foremost among them Batman R.I.P. by Grant Morrison. I never understood what was going on in the story. Some guy was trying to drive Batman insane or something but it worked on me instead lol. Since then I’ve heard that you have to read Morrison’s Batman run in order, starting with Batman and Son, even though they’re labeled as individual stories.
Well, maybe one day.
Like I said I burned out pretty quickly, reading too much too fast, no doubt. I moved on with my life of playing games, reading novels, watching movies…oh, and working. I got married and eventually moved across the country. My fling with comics was over. I started listening to podcasts, though, while driving to work. After the recommendation of some folks around here, I gave Nerds Without Pants a fair shot and it’s stuck in the rotation. Well here’s the thing: They regularly talk about comics. A couple months ago they went on at length about The New 52 run of Batman, and it got that unfamiliar itch burning again. But what would I do without my snazzy, award-winning library?
I scoured Amazon, fueling my desire to read something but reinforcing the idea that comics were prohibitively expensive in any appreciable quantity. I made a wish list of things I’d like to read. I branched out and looked at things other than Batman. House of M? Red Son? Marvels? They sounded great! Finally I broke down and did the thing that I probably should have been my first course of action: Visit the library here.
The library I live near now is old and housed in a squat little building. It looks suitably dull enough that I wrote it off when I first saw it. The inside wasn’t much better. No high ceilings or large halls or anything I had become used to. The place felt claustrophobic at first and I couldn’t even find the graphic novels on my first walkthrough. Not a good sign. I knew I would be disappointed. But then I found them, a couple of bookcases tucked behind the DVDs, and discovered…
I discovered a surprisingly good collection! Not as good as what I’d left behind, granted, but much better than I’d expected to find. I signed up for a library card and walked out with another stack of Batman books to read, all by author Jeph Loeb this time. First I read The Long Halloween (a serial killer is knocking off mobsters on holidays), then Haunted Knight (a trio of shorter Halloween specials), and then Dark Victory (a direct follow-up to The Long Halloween in which someone is hanging cops). All those stories take place early in Batman’s career when he’s still solidifying his methods. They’re all good stories, though I enjoyed Dark Victory the most, I think. Then last night I finished Hush, another Jeph Loeb story but this time set much later in Batman career. Though I haven’t read most of the important moments in Batman’s life yet—Dick Grayson becoming Nightwing, the death of Jason Todd, his romance with Ra’s al Ghul’s daughter, etc.—I’m familiar with them, so there weren’t too many surprises. But there were some, like Lex Luther being president of the United States (wtf?!) and Jim Gordon not even being part of the police force anymore. And who the heck is Huntress? Batman's gaggle of vigilantes has certainly grown. And while I enjoyed Loeb’s other stories, this one was really great. It focused much more on the rogues gallery rather than mobsters or cops. It kept me guessing all the way to the end.
And that brings us to today. So far I haven’t burned out again, so Comics Binge 2 continues! I have the first Knightfall collection (where Bane breaks Batman’s back) as well as some non-Batman stuff (Marvel 1602 and Watchmen—branching out!). I doubt I’ll ever try to build up much of a graphic novel collection, but I’ve certainly enjoyed reading them. We’ll see how far this goes!
Cover for the Hush trade paperback
I thought the whole thing was a hot mess. (Well, the bit about the Flash being stuck in a giant hamster wheel to provide power to the whole country was a cool idea.)
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