Comics are cool

8/17/09 Four Star Wars comic books, sold on eBay for $0.99

In 1985 I got my first and only subscription to a comic book: the Star Wars series by Marvell. I must have let the subscription expire after that first year, and likely threw out most issues shortly after I read them. I wasn't much of a comic book fan back then and remained indifferent to the genre for most of my thirty-seven years.

Today, I'm completely into comics, and we can probably blame National Public Radio. About two years ago, I heard a review of the graphic novel series Y: The Last Man. The NPR guy gushed about how good it was (click hear to listen to the book review that changed my life), so I decided to dive in. I loved it.

A short while later, I was visiting my friend Chris, who deposited two seminal works in my lap. One was the complete run of Sandman by Neil Gaiman. He lent me all of the books and I devoured them. The other was Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (here's a preview: just try and not get freaked out by Alan Moore). Even non-comic fans may now be aware of Watchmen, since it was recently made into a movie after twenty years of failed attempts.

After reading those, I completely fell down the rabbit hole. My friend and local librarian, Wes, has served as my mentor, leading me deep into the world of Batman and Justice League of America, with stops along the way for Swamp Thing, Planetary, and Preacher. Green Arrow is in my sights next.

Joanna just roles her eyes when I come home from the library with another comic. I insist it's art.

Earlier this summer, in the midst of all this comic-passion, I discovered four issues from those old Star Wars comics in my parents' attic. I enjoyed rereading them, although they clearly weren't classics. If I'd had enough to represent a complete story-arc, I might have toyed with saving them, but the four random issues held little collector value in my eyes. Or anyone else's, apparently. Nonetheless, someone was willing to pay ninety-nine cents for them, and I shipped them off to their new owner in Indiana today.

May the Force be with them.