My Comic Book History
I remember my first foray into comics. It began when I was in middle school. A fellow school mate of mine had in his possession what I took to be a magazine of images of one of my favorite animes, Robotech. It was produced by a publishing company called Comico. (I don’t think it is publishing anymore.)
Now, mind you, I had knowledge of some of the comic book super heroes through Saturday morning cartoons and other television shows and movies. I remember loving to watch Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends and the Super Friends. I faintly remember watching Spider-Man movies and the Hulk and Wonder Woman television shows. But I never made the tie between these shows and comic books.
Before seeing the Robotech comic book, I never really understood that these books existed. I had to have it, and I made a deal with my school mate to purchase the book from him. Later, I would gain employment as first as a lineman officiating at soccer games and eventually as a referee to save money to buy comics. Because I wasn’t old enough to drive at the time, I had to convince my father to drive me to nearest comic book store one town over and then convince him again to let me spend the money I earned.
Oddly enough, I did not spend my money on Marvel or DC comics, but on the ones published by Comico like Robotech and the Elementals. Later, I had a friend who collected a Marvel series called the New Mutants. He had every issue which was quite a few at the time since it was winding down at the time. And I remember how he cherished each one, so much so that he would not even let me touch them. At the time, such items only belonged to adults, and so, for me, to own a comic book was directly connected to growing-up and adulthood.
In high school, I found my way to the comic book store on my own. It was a way to connect with my other friends. We would wait for the new comics to come out and then spend the evenings reading them. A favorite was Doom Patrol and the Demon. I received as a gift the Watchman and read it while at an outdoor rock concert, though I am not sure how.
And then, the nineties came and I got married. Because money was tight, I (and my wife) had no room in the budget for comic books. I still kept my comic books in a long box, hidden in a closet among the many other items I collected over the years. Occasionally, I would pull out the box and flip through the comics and think of the good times I had reading them.
And then came Free Comic Book Day, and a store called, Myth Adventures, who had on their hands a load of the nineties comics which had bloated everyone’s stores of back issues. I loaded up on comics then buying up what I missed at a fraction of their cover price. I felt guilty about it. But if not me, then someone else, right?
And finally, DC released Blackest Night #0 along with a Black Ring. It was the cheese in the mouse trap. I remember I was out of town with my wife in Kansas City, Missouri and found a comic book store and talked with an employee who talked me into buying Batman and Robin by Grant Morrison and Gotham City Sirens.
Steadily, as anyone who is a comic book collector knows, one series led into another, one event led to the next, and, slowly, I began collecting more and more series. Now, it has gotten to the point to where I am not deciding which books to collect; rather, I am trying to decide what comic books not to collect. And so, it is, I am back into collecting and reading comic books again…
Where I am Now
Comic books been one of those things that I always felt like I was missing out on. Maybe it was because at certain points in my collecting life, I was excluded, whether it was my friend who refused to let me touch his collection of New Mutant comics or whether it was my failure to fully comprehend the Grant Morrison run of Doom Patrol or Ted McKeever’s Metropol.
As English major, I have the skills to analyze and understand great works. However, there was something about putting dialogue to pictures in a short piece of work that caused me trouble, and, still does. Unlike a book, a comic book puts certain pictures in your hear for you. Essentially, it is like a television, only without televisions fluidity.
And yet, like a book, a certain amount of participation which television may not require of you. While writer's and directors of television series and movies are inclined to reveal everything you need to know so that you don’t have to really think about what you are watching to follow what’s going on, comic books, from the simplest story to the most complex, require active thinking. Perhaps it is because, unlike television, the reader has to provide the voices and the movement. To a certain extent, the reader has to provide the context.
I also think that at least one half of comic books is art. Mind you, I am not saying pictures or images. I say art because unlike the terms pictures and images, art implies that a certain amount of interpretation is required. Stated another way, when you are reading a comic book, you are not viewing the world as it really is, but as the artist wants you to see it. And it is in the interpretation that the full meaning of the book is supposed to come out.
(This is not to say that comic book artists cannot be realistic in their depiction of the world. The recent work of Alex Maleev comes to my mind as I think about this. It is to say that each stroke of the pen, each color used contributes to the reader’s understanding.)
Will Eisner discusses in his book Comics and Sequential Art that understanding comics is really understanding the language of comics. Accordingly, if you don’t have a knowledge of the language, you can’t hope to understand comics. I can’t say that I have a thorough understanding of the language of comic books. (I am not sure that anyone can make such a claim as that language is constantly changing as comic book industry adapts and changes.)
Furthermore, although I do write fairly often, I am by no stretch of the imagination, an artist. Nor do I understand what an artist puts together a piece of work.
As a result, the thoughts and opinions expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect those of an expert and should not be taken as such. If by chance you have stumbled upon this blog seeking such criticism, you are in the wrong place and should seek such criticism else where. Rather, this is a blog by a layperson.
The Purpose of this Blog…
This blog is for me. It is a journal of my trek through the world of comics. It is my way to try to work my understanding of the comics I buy. However, this blog can be for you. Perhaps, through expressing my ideas about the comics I purchase, you may find meaning of the same comics or comics as a whole either by agreeing or disagreeing with me. I welcome feedback from you about the blog or my reviews so long as said feedback is productive and not unsubstantiated jabs.
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