Comic Books

For several years (from 4th grade to Sophomore year of high school)  I was really big into comic books.  My main comic books at that time were X-Men comics.  I kind of gave up on comic books for four reasons.  First, we moved to Ramsey and the closest place to buy comics was over 20 minutes away.  Second, my subscriptions ran out just after Marvel Comics had declared bankruptcy and  there was some question if they would continue publishing.  Third, I was getting tired of the soap opera nature of X-Men.  The comic had originally appealed to me because the X-Men were persecuted because they were different.  However, the X-Men story lines were increasingly becoming introverted and more about the inter-dealings of the X-Men, their friends, and personal enemies.  I was also annoyed that story lines that started when I was in 5th grade still had not been resolved by my sophomore year of high school.  The final reason is that I began to get into the Star Wars CCG and RPG and the money available to a high student without a job was limited. 

Despite that, I still enjoyed comic books.  I find comics as an avenue for story telling to be a great one.  The mixture of art and narrative is rather compelling.   A couple of years ago, I spent about 16 months reading the Walking Dead comic but it was troublesome for a couple of reasons.  First, I had to remember to go to the comic book store, and if I forgot then I might miss a month.   The second major issue was storage.  Comic books piled up. 

This year though, I have begun to get back into comic books some, mostly due to the iPad.  The iPad is a perfect fit for comic books.  One of the things I really like about it is the digital store never runs out of supply, so that I can get the issues I want at my leisure.  I also like that there is no storage issue. 

I have gotten a couple of one shots and mini-series, plus I have also committed to reading the first major story arc of  the Green Arrow series from several years ago.


I like the Green Arrow, because like Bat Man he is a hero who has no superhuman abilities.

I feel like this is a good time to get back into comic books because starting this week DC (one of the major comic book companies) is rebooting their entire universe.  All of their comics will start over at issue #1.  Instead of being shackled by 70+ years of  convoluted stories they will re-create everything.  I think that is an excellent and exciting idea.  I intend on getting  Detective Comics #1 to get in on new Batman story arcs.  I also plan on getting All Star Western #1, which is a pulp-ish Western.   In a few months  I might also check out Batgirl #1, mostly because I really like the cover.


The best part about the new reboot is that all of the issues will be released day and date on the ipad, so I can get the issues when they come out or I can wait and get them at some later date.  So I am looking forward to continue to tip-toe back into comic books.