Comic Book Candy

“I hope this is the first comic you’ve read in a while. I hope you found it on a shelf in a real bookstore somewhere, and took a chance. I hope a lot of people are picking up comic books for the first time. You see, a lot of people think comic books are just for kids, like Saturday morning cartoons. And many of them are, though they’re usually better drawn and written. That’s great, but it’s hardly the whole story. Maybe you’ve seen a story in your local newspaper or a spot on TV that told you about the new kinds of comics that are coming up, all kinds, many of which have the kind of intense character involvement and sophistication of plot that you’d expect from a novel. Maybe you’ve heard of Marvel’s Moonshadow or DC’s Watchmen. Comics are growing up, expanding the borders to include the kind of stories that people of any age might enjoy. I hope you’ve enjoyed Wolverine. Chris and I had a lot of fun working on it. Just remember, if this is your first comic book in a while, tha

Lately I keep harping on about missing comic book stores in the states. It just goes to show how much actually visiting comic book stores on a regular basis effects my reading experience. Sure I'm getting plenty of reading in - I'm up to volume 4 of Scott Pilgrim - but I miss those fresh new books, talking to folks about them, seeing what sells out, and the satisfaction of knowing it will happen again the next Wednesday. Sitting in my apartment here in Tassie, unemployed and reading comics, makes for a very isolated existence. In addition to the usual comic book banter, my last visits also involved a bit of photography. I took some portraits of comic book store employees (a few of them old co-workers) and asked them to give a recommendation to an imaginary first time comic book reader. It's a hard thing to do, even with a real live person in front of you to find out their interests...but I let these guys be as detailed as possible, even saying they could give recommenda

This Wednesday is shaping up to be quite an impressive day for comics! In addition to Superman: Secret Origin making its debut (see previous post), we have a book making its explosive conclusion: Wolverine: Old Man Logan . Not everyone is a regular comic book shop visitor, so I'll give you a little recap. Set 50 years into the future, the bad guys have won, and all superheroes in the Marvel Universe have fallen. Enter a broken down farmer and family man who would hardly be recognized as the once killing machine Wolverine. The story hints at something having gone horribly wrong in Logan's past, something that has made him vow to never pop his adamantium claws again. Many of the villains in this story are descendants of past powerhouses, such as the "Hulk gang", inbred relatives of the Hulk who hound Logan's family for rent on their small farm. Though some of the issues are a quick read, and you may easily guess where this story leads (a once killer turned pacifist