I used to read a lot of comic books. I would spend soooooo much time money on those things (I spent an average of $30-40 a week on the funny books - no exaggeration). Then I lost my job almost two years ago, and the comics ended. And I found I didn't miss them all that much. Sure, I would slake my thirst for sequential art by borrowing from the library or a friend, or occasionally buying a trade paperback, not a graphic novel (the difference will be explained in a bit), but for the most part I realized that I was spending a lot of money for very little payoff.
Six months after The Movies closed its doors and I was collecting money from the gov'men' I went back to driving cab, but with the exception of the rare "trade" purchase here and there, my comic book buying days are over. I exhausted the selection at the library long ago. But my friend David came over last weekend and we hung out, and he gave me a trade as a belated birthday present and lent me a few more.
Graphic novels and trade paperbacks are both narratives told through sequential art. Trades are collections of stories originally published in serial format, usually as monthly issues with a page count of thirty-two including the ads, whereas graphic novels are self-contained stories and not part of an ongoing series. For example, The Watchmen, originally a twelve-issue limited series (and the best superhero story EVER), is a trade paperback, but Arkham Asylum is a graphic novel. Yet much, if not all, of Charles Dickens' work was originally published in serialized form, but who would say Oliver Twist and Great Expectations aren't novels (albeit boring and unnecessarily wordy ones)?
It was dreadfully slow at work last night so I cracked open the trade David gave me and read the whole damn thing. It was called Battle For The Cowl and involves Batman. Batman, for those not in the know, is my favorite superhero, so I was excited to read it even though Batman isn't even in it (or at least Bruce Wayne is absent). I must say,I was disappointed with the whole thing: the story was ho-hum, too much was going on with little explanation, and there wasn't nearly enough Catwoman. But still it was nice to touch base with some old friends. Even better, it was great to escape. Much of my free time lately has been focused on the real world, whether it be reading the news, both online and in hard copy form, or concentrating on my personal life (with varying degrees of success and failure). I watch a few TV shows a week on Hulu, which aren't really long enough to completely transport me to another world (DVDs are better for that), and it has been some time since I've seen a movie (Damnationland being the notable exception). Sure, I've been playing Fallout: New Vegas, but not so much lately and that game sure is bleak.
It was great returning to Gotham City, reading of lunatics and madmen (and -women), some heroic, mostly villainous, and for maybe an hour and a half, mostly broken into 10-15 minute chunks, my worries and frustrations were gone. And it was awesome.
I, too, bailed out of the weekly comics splurge ("Splooge"?), mainly for financial reasons. Also space reasons, E&I have a really small place. Also, well, a lot of the comics weren't that good. I'd hook into one that looked promising and then realize before I knew it, that I'd dropped thirty bucks on a book I was now going to bail on.
ReplyDeleteBlog on, O wise one. I shall read thee.