Monday, May 10, 2021

ZAP! BLAM! ZOW!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: On a stroll around the town square with my daughter last week (oh, the liberation!) I discovered that a comic shop has sprouted up in the year-plus that I have missed doing such things. And a vinyl shop next door! (But vinyl is a whole other post.) 

I didn’t go in, but I will, because I can’t wait to see what’s new (or old) in the comic world. I was a moderate comic reader as a kid, and more Marvel than DC, which were always a little dark for me. My husband LOVED comics, and has never forgiven his mum for disposing of his huge collection during a move. (Maybe I shouldn’t forgive her either—those comics might be worth a fortune now…)  But I grew up and didn’t think much about comics except on the release of the latest Marvel or DC blockbuster.


But I have recently discovered the joys of the graphic novel. I’m a huge fan of the English urban fantasy writer Ben Aaronovitch, who has published a series of graphic novels that are interwoven with his RIVERS OF LONDON novels, short stories, and novellas. I had tried a couple of the graphic novels in paperback and found them a little unwieldy. Then one day, ZOWIE! it occurred to me that I could read them on my tablet! Duh. Welcome to the digital world. 


The color art is fabulous! You can make the panels bigger! They are so much fun! Before you could say BOOM I’d bought all eight of them! Now I have favorites among the illustrators, and I’m wondering what other treasures I’ve been missing.

Reds, did you read comics as a kid? What were your faves? What about current graphic novels—any recommendations there? And are there comic shops in your neighborhood? 

And wouldn't you love to read this story with the girl space radio operator?

LUCY BURDETTE: Archie, Betty and Veronica, those comics were my favorites--maybe a little Wonder Woman on the side. I would like to go back now and read them to see what I loved about them and how they’ve aged. 

The only graphic novel I believe I’ve read is GOOD TALK by Mira Jacob. She writes about raising a mixed race son--it’s a stunning book (I have the hardcover) and I highly recommend it to everyone.

HALLIE EPHRON: I reviewed a British graphic mystery novel when I was reviewing for the Boston Globe - “Britten and Brülightly” by Hannah Berry. I really liked it. And my grandkids are deep into the BONE series of graphic novels for kids. 

In my house growing up, we could pretty much read anything we wanted EXCEPT my parents refused to spring for comic books. I lusted after Archie and Little Lulu and those romance comic books. Superhero comics, not so much.

JENN McKINLAY: HUGE comic book fan as a kid and an adult. The Hub and the Hooligans, are, too. Mostly, I was a Spider-Man/X-Men girl but I really loved all the comics, which my brother and I devoured all summer long on our family vacations, which always seemed to include a lot of driving. 


Red reader Jay and I have discussed our favorite day, which is FCBD (Free Comic Book Day), which is usually the first weekend in May but has been bumped to August 14th this year because of pandemic concerns. More info: https://www.freecomicbookday.com  

RHYS BOWEN:  Oh dear--not a fan of comics. It seems like too much effort to read and follow along, plus it takes away what I love most about reading--the rich turn of phrase and description that lets me savor the use of language. I do occasionally enjoy the Sunday funnies--I always loved Peanuts.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Rhys, maybe it was more of an American thing? Comics of one sort or another seem like a childhood staple of every American generation before the Millennials. They were easy to pick up because they were everywhere - same distribution as those spinning racks of paperbacks, I bet - and the cost was around a buck, buck-twenty-five in inflation-adjusted terms. 

Then in the 90s prices shot up to four dollars (again, adjusted) and have stayed there (or gone higher!) since. So Ross and I read them frequently (I was a big Spiderman fan, while he was into the Fantastic Four and the X-Men) but our kids know the characters strictly from movies.  

One of the great joys of going to my grandmother's? She picked up comics whenever she spotted them at estate or tag sales. (Collectable? We would have goggled at the thought.) She had a HUGE pile in a box, enough to keep a kid happily quiet for an entire afternoon while the grownups visited. 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I devoured comics. Devoured. They were ten cents, and I used all my allowance. Justice League of America, Legion of Superheroes, Jonn Jonzz Manhunter from Mars. All the Supers: Man, Boy, Girl. Thinking about it now, they were mysteries. A bad guy, a bad thing, someone trying to stop them and get justice.

Archie, yes, but I was a Veronica girl, and was embarrassed by that because you weren't supposed to like her. And I never understood the allure of Archie himself.

Superheroes were more interesting--the characters and the stories.

I never read the war comics, or the romance comics. Which again, is revealing.

But MAD Magazine? I was totally addicted, especially to the musical parodies, and that's a whole nother blog.

Graphic novels don't appeal to me, but ...maybe it's a time thing.

DEBS: So interesting. I never "got" the Archie comics--much preferred superheroes. Readers, any comic fans out there? And who's discovered the joys of graphic novels?


 

76 comments:

  1. Ah, Superman comics were my favorite . . . .

    I haven’t read many graphic novels . . . a STAR TREK one [which I enjoyed], but I still tend to go for the books rather than the graphic novels . . . .

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  2. I never really read the comics growing up. So many of them, and they didn't take nearly long enough to read. But I LOVE the characters, so you'll find me watching all the movies I can, plenty of the older TV shows, and all the Arrowverse shows on the CW. I don't know all the ins and outs and cameos from the comics, but I do enjoy the shows.

    I've read a few as an adult. Darkwing Duck got a too brief continuation as comic books. Picked up the first during Free Comic Book Day and bought each volume as it was collected as a graphic novel. Also read the original Middleman comics and the graphic novel released for what should have been the season 1 finale of the show based on the comics. (Why am I the only one who watched that show. It was great!)

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    1. I'm surprised I missed it, Mark, because I am the QUEEN of the tribe of people who fall madly in love with a show no one else watches and it gets canceled after one season. I'm still bitter about FAST FORWARD.

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  3. Comics were a dime when I was growing up, but a local shop bought used ones and sold them 20 for a dollar. I loved all the adventure and horror ones, and I devoured the classic ones even though I was an avid reader of books. My parents disapproved but never forbid. That was nice.

    I've not read a graphic novel, but a few years ago I bought Julie a couple, no kidding. She had spent a year reading all of Proust. So when Stéphane Heuet produced Remembrance of Things Past and Swann's Way, I bought them both, more or less as a joke. They are beautifully drawn, and were an instant hit, pieces of art.

    I still haven't read Proust.

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    1. And in searching, I found the third volume is now in print, In the Shadow of YOung Girls in Flower. Ordered it.

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    2. I had no idea! Proust! But that's no stranger then movie or TV adaptations of classic books.

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  4. Hank and Deb, I know what you mean about Archie - he always reminded me of the Poindexter character in the Barbie game. Which, now that I think about it is pretty funny. I remember Poindexter - I can't remember any of the other male characters, including whichever one was my heart throb!

    Comics were verboten at my house. We could read anything except comics. I only know Archie from Bazooka bubble gum wrappings. And since gum was also forbidden, my wrappers were gifts from friends. We did read the Sunday funnies every week. Brenda Starr was my favorite.

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    1. Kait, comic BOOKS were verboten at my house too. But the Sunday color comics were the highlight of the week. My grandfather always read them to me or my father read them to me on Monday, when my grandparents passed down the Sunday paper. (Post WWII thrift). Now, on the iPad, so many sources for wonderful Sunday funnies.

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    2. I don't understand why kids were forbidden to read comic books. Comics were a gateway to reading for so many kids.

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    3. So agree..so many avid readers started with comics--

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  5. This is a fun topic. We bought and read and swapped comic books. Superman, Archie, but also the ones that were classic novels redone as a comic book. Robin Hood, Ivanhoe, Treasure Island, that kind of thing.

    And Mad Magazine was a staple in my house growing up. My brother still has a massive collection of them. After my boys came home fluent in French (at five and three) after our year in Mali (French language schools), we got them Tin Tin and Asterix comic books in French.

    An as adult graphic novels have no appeal to me. I cannot get into them, even though I read the comics in the newspaper religiously every day, and I love collections of Calvin and Hobbes.

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    1. Mad Magazine! Yes! I can still sing some of their song parodies 45 years on.

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  6. I loved comics as a kid. Casper the Friendly Ghost! And then Archie. I never got into the superhero ones though. And I have yet to "discover" graphic novels. You're making me think I need to work on that.

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    1. Annette,

      Yes! I remember Caspar the Friendly Ghost on TV.

      Diana

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  7. I wrote an extensive three post reply to Jenn's comic post last year so there's no need to go back into that here.

    But I am a confirmed lover of comics in both the "floppy" single issue version, the collected trade paperbacks and the OGN or original graphic novel that is a brand new and usually complete storyline.

    Unlike Hank, I actually do like war comics. I have been working on amassing a collection of the DC Comics series Sgt. Rock over the last couple of years. Also, The Unknown Soldier, The Nam and other series.

    I did read Mad magazine but I wasn't a devoted reader or anything.

    This past weekend I picked up a Firefly hardcover collection and the latest graphic novel in the Love & Capes series. It's billed as "The superhero situation comedy" and it definitely lives up to that billing. This one is called The Family Way and is set a few years after the previous book in the series.

    I'm still waiting for my copy of the DREADSTAR RETURNS by Jim Starlin to arrive from a Kickstarter that I backed.

    I'm also reading a miniseries called STRAY DOGS that combines a Disney style of art with a "Psycho" like storyline. It's FANTASTIC, though animal lovers might not like Issue 3.

    There's stuff like THE GOOD ASIAN, a nine part mystery series that just started this week that is set in about the same time frame as the Charlie Chan mysteries. I haven't read the first issue yet, but when I read what the series was going to be about I immediately added it to my pull list.

    There's just so many stories available in comic book form for people to check out and love. My pull list is filled with stories featuring superheroes, barbarians, far flung tales of the future, mysteries, Star Wars, Firefly, Star Trek and so much more.

    Just can't get enough of the four color funnies!

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    1. Jay: I love your enthusiasm for this topic! Makes me want to go out to the one local comic book store that I know of and explore (except it's closed at the moment due to the pandemic).

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    2. Firefly, Jay! I didn't know there were Firefly graphics!! I loved that show and it would be such fun to read more stories with those characters.

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    3. Jay, I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your post about your mom on yesterday's blog. If my mother had ever gone to bat for me the way yours did for you, sigh...

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    4. Deborah, there are so many Firefly comics that I looked up the chronological listing for all the comics and the prose novels so you can read the stuff in at least some kind of order. Here's the link: https://www.comicbooktreasury.com/serenity-firefly-reading-order-comics-joss-whedon/

      For me, I buy the Firefly comics in the single issue format, but when they publish the hardcover collection of the comics, I buy that and then sell off the floppies so that I can have a copy of the stories that will last for a good long while.

      Amanda, I am very enthusiastic about this topic and love being able to "talk" about it with people who while they may not generally be into comics per se, at least can have a coherent conversation about it. Let me know if you ever get to go to that comic shop near you.

      Judy, thank you for your words about the post about my mom.

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    5. Thanks up for the heads up on the Firefly hardcover. You know I'm a fan. Also, Whenever the subject of comics comes up, I desperately want to write one. The snappy dialogue is so my jam!

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  8. Comics were few and far between when I was growing up, but we read them cover to cover when available. Superman, Archie--any of those. I love the funnies, but haven't tried any graphic novels. These are popular books among the tweens and teens locally--the library regularly acquires new volumes in series--and new series seem to pop up frequently, so I don't think they're going away any time soon. My nephews were big readers when young, but preferred regular books over graphic novels. And Edith, I loved Asterix comics!

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    1. Both Asterix and TinTin are pretty racist, and I used those parts as a lesson with my kids.

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    2. They were n short supply--my French teacher used parts of them in our classes.

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  9. I have memories of buying and reading comics, but I cannot remember details. As an adult, I've explored graphic novels and just yesterday listened to an interview on the radio between the brilliant Eleanor Wachtel and the genius graphic novelist Alison Bechdel. Her work has been extremely highly reviewed. Link to the CBC radio interview here https://www.cbc.ca/radio/writersandcompany/alison-bechdel-tackles-the-world-of-fitness-in-her-new-graphic-memoir-the-secret-to-superhuman-strength-1.6007881

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    1. Thank you for the link, Amanda! I will check it out.

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  10. I loved the Archie comics, though rarely had access to them and I don't understand why. I read the funnies in the Newark Evening News every afternoon and MAD magazine was considered satire, not a comic (spy v. spy and the movie spoofs!) and suitable family fare.

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  11. two things - comics were a dime when I grew up. Hated the Marvel ones, loved disney, and really hated the stories that were to be continued in the next issue - I never got the next issue. Second thing - my 2nd child was a form of dyslexic or something. Couldn't read in Grade 4 - did not help that he was an english kid in french school. They had a reading time after lunch, and the enlightened teacher let him read Calvin & Hobbes books. As she said - "anything that he reads is a good thing". He learned to read in Grade 7, after he saw the Robin Hood Men in tights. The book that he desperately wanted was 400 pages, small print. He read the whole thing with just a few questions on what was this word. When I asked how he could read that book, his simple answer was "I know what will happen, so I know what the words will mean". By the way he has a genious IQ, but can't fix my ipod!

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    1. Anon, this made me laugh. Reminds me of my son a bit. God bless that teacher who knew reading was reading - so many kids, boys especially, never get over that bump if they aren't allowed to read what they like.

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  12. I'm like Mark - I never read comics as a kid (unless you count the Sunday funnies). But I adore all the Marvel movies and the character stories. So much depth there. Don't laugh, but I seriously considered a subscription to Disney+ just for the access to all the Marvel movies.

    I also haven't gotten into graphic novels, although The Girl read a few when she was in high school.

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    1. I haven't seen a single Marvel movie!

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    2. I'm with you, Liz. The movies tell a cogent and continuous story. I have also thought of getting Disney to access those movies.

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    3. I confess to getting Marvel and DC confused. Maybe watching a few of the movies would help, but I'm not that interested.

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    4. I love the Marvel movies, too, Liz, and have re-watched many of them. I think my favorite is the first Captain America. And they have a very different feel to the DC adaptations.

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    5. Karen in Ohio, the easiest way to know the difference between the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and the DC Universe movies is that if the movie is generally good, it is a Marvel movie. If the movie isn't Aquaman or all but the last act of the first Wonder Woman movie, then it is a DC movie and it stinks.

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    6. You nailed it, Jay! And really, Aquaman was all about the visuals. The dialog was pathetic and the setup for the adult Aquaman was full of giant plot holes. But it was visually stunning.

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    7. Perfectly said, Jay! I was being polite:-)

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    8. Jay, you just about hit the nail on the head. The only thing I'd add is, "if it is cinematically and thematically dark, it's a DC movie." The Marvel movies all at least have an element of hope in them (at least that's my take).

      Deb, my favorite might be Captain America: Civil War. But I change my mind so frequently...

      Judy, I wish I had the time to sit and watch them all in "story order," from the first Iron Man to Avengers: End Game.

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    9. I'm laughing - Jay has hit it on the head! And yes, Liz is also correct - if you can't see what's going on because the scene is so poorly lit, it's a DC movie.

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    10. Liz, I would love to re-watch all the Marvel movies in order. And I think you are absolutely right about the appeal. No matter how dire the circumstances, there is always an element of hope. And, they have a sense of humor.

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  13. It's so funny to see who loved what genre as kids and I'm afraid there isn't much I can contribute. Irwin, however, told me to tell you, Debs, that he got through high school English reading the classic comics versions of assigned books! (Engineer!)

    In our house, comics were allowed and my brother had a huge collection. I read some of the funny ones, but, even though I liked the super heroes, the stories seemed to contradict one another and I lost interest. As for Archie, I didn't like anyone so that also became tiresome. I did read the comics in the newspaper for years, but I think that disappeared with my love of TV during the early days of the pandemic.

    Kudos to comics lovers. I prefer books.

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    1. My brother did the same thing with the classic comics! I preferred reading the actual books.

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    2. I didn't like any of the Archie characters, either!

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    3. Count me in with the people who never related to Archie.

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    4. SO yeah, we are are iffy about this. What was the allure supposed to be, truly?

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  14. I always liked Archie and Veronica and Betty. We also read Donald Duck and I especially remember Scrooge McDuck! For some reason my mother refused to buy us any comics but my father always would. I never knew what my mother's problem was since I don't think she ever even looked at one.

    Does anyone remember comic books based on movies? I remember we had one on the John Wayne Wings of Eagles movie. Wish I still owned that, it would be worth quite a bit today.

    The only graphic novel I tried reading I gave up on; it was a rather depressing story and that might have been the reason more than the format.

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  15. The closest I've come to reading a graphic novel was Jodi Piccoult's The Tenth Circle, which is wrapped around a graphic novel about Dante's Inferno. It's an unusual book.

    I was introduced to comic books, and Mad Magazine, in fourth grade, when we moved into a relative's home for five years while my electrician uncle worked on a power plant in rural Argentina. My two older male cousins had stacks of comics and Boy's Life magazines in the basement. It was a treasure trove for me. While they were in South America riding horses back and forth to school I was curled up on a cushion in the cool basement in the company of Alfred E. Neumann, all the Supers, the Duck family, Lulu and Sluggo, Richie Rich, and my favorite superheroes: Aquaman and the Flash.

    I pretty much wore them out, which I've since apologized to my cousin for. But what a great way to spend rainy days in the summer.

    Hank, you're so right about comics being mysteries. But as Rhys says, all stories are mysteries, at least the successful ones.

    And I also never understood the appeal of Archie. Once I saw Ralph Malph on Happy Days that's who I always saw as a real life Archie.

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  16. I was obsessed with Katy Keene; the comic books were 10 cents, with the thicker special ones a quarter (and that was my weekly allowance)! Loved the Sunday comics, too - and Pogo especially.

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    1. KATY KEENE! Thank you! Loved those, and have not thought of that name in years. My mom used to call me that. Awww.

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    2. I never read those! What were they?

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    3. Katy Keene was like a..fashion model, or an actress, or a singer. That kind of thing. But definitely a fashionista. If I remember, readers would send in drawings of outfits for her to wear. Very glam. I totally wanted to be her.

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  17. My son is the comic book aficionado in our house, though his true love is not American comics but Japanese manga. For those who don't know, manga is the term for comics and graphic novels in Japan, where they are HUGELY popular. There are a bunch of sub-genres within manga, with many if not most clearly written for adult tastes more than for children. There is a distinctive artistic style used in manga and anime, the animated shows usually derived from a manga. My son told me with some glee the other day that while the US comic book industry is in decline and inner turmoil, manga had its most successful year ever last year and there is a great demand for new manga writers and artists.

    As for me, I never developed a taste for graphic novels. Comics were mainly something I shared with my dad. I liked them all right on their own merits, but I loved them as a way to have common discussion point with him. Mad Magazine was by far our favorite. I lost my dad when I was 13, so those are very treasured memories!

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  18. My cousin was the MAD Magazine junkie. I think he had every issue ever published and read and reread them, so all my memories of MAD are tied up with him. He grew up to be a very talented painter so it makes sense that he loved the visual story telling.

    We all process information so differently and I think comics are a great way to get kids (and/or adults) interested in stories. My daughter, growing up in the eighties and nineties, didn't read comics at all. But with all the comic stores opening, maybe they are making a comeback.

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    1. I give out comics on Halloween along with the candy so the kids love coming to my door. Whether it leads to a lifetime love of reading I don't know but most of them do love getting the book in the moment.

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    2. Comic books are wonderful gifts!

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  19. I just bought the digital version of Mira Jacob's GOOD TALK. I read regular books on my Kindle Paperwhite, but I've read the graphic novels on my Fire tablet. You need color, obviously.

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  20. I think the very first "book" I ever read on my own was a comic based on a Disney movie I'd seen and loved. We didn't have a lot of comics around the house, but a few filtered in from time to time. Mostly it was Donald Duck or Casper the Friendly Ghost, and other Disney things like 101 Dalmatians or The Sword in the Stone. My mom was an art teacher, and she brought home lots of picture books with very cool illustrations, but I guess comic book art didn't appeal to her.

    My dad had a friend with stacks and stacks of Classics Illustrated comics, though, so whenever we went to visit him my sister and I would go off to a corner of the rec room and read those. I remember Robin Hood, and a couple of others.

    As an adult I love the Marvel movies, but don't really know where I dip my toe into the comic books themselves. I had plans to borrow Deb's Aaronovitch graphic novels, but then she switched to reading them on her tablet, dang it!

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    1. Gigi, I have a couple in paperback. I'll see if I can find them for you. Like the novels, they really should be read in order.

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  21. I read all the comic books I could find! Which was pretty limited. Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge were favorites. My brother and I shared the adventure and super hero comics. Blackhawk anyone? The best thing was an older kid down the street had a bookcase full of comics and he (or their housekeeper) would let me sit on the floor in the hall by the bookcase and read comics by the hour. I also loved Mad magazine and all their terrible parodies. Is Paris Boring? In recent years I've been to local comic book stores, sorry, graphic novel stores. Just to transport my granddaughter though. I just have no interest in comics when I have all these books to read. And that extends to animated movies. It is rare I'll sit through one. I don't know why I have this 'prejudice."

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    1. Pat D,

      When I visited Germany for the first time, I found a Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comic book in the German language. I bought them for my young cousins, thinking that they may want to learn the German language. They were at the age when children easily pick up new languages.

      Diana

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    2. When we visited Spain years ago I found myself watching The Simpsons in Spanish. Aye caramba!

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  22. Deborah,

    Thank you for the recommendation of a new to me graphic novel Rivers of London. I am adding that to my reading list.

    Wonderful post about comic books.

    For me, the comic books were a challenge to read because I was not sure if I was supposed to follow the story left to right or top to bottom ?

    However, I did love the Sunday comics because they were easier to read - left to right. If the comic strip had double strips, then again, it was a challenge.

    There are many comics that I liked - Doonesbury, Curtis, Blondie, Peanuts, Wizard of Id, Luann, Family Circus, among many other comic strips. When I travel, I notice other comics in the newspapers that are not in my hometown papers.

    Watched the Sunday comics on TV and I loved Wonder Woman. I wanted to be strong.

    Comic books are wonderful because they give picture to the dialogue. They can introduce someone to reading. Some people struggle to read.

    Diana

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    1. Diana, this is so true. My son went through an "I don't like to read" stage starting around eight, when the books he was expected to read started getting more challenging. But he LOVED manga (Japanese comics.) My husband and I spent hundreds of dollars over the next years buying him as many manga as he would read. Meanwhile, I would read children's novels aloud to him, which he loved.

      This went on for about five years, and one day, when he was 13 or 14, he picked up IT by Stephen King - an 1100 page novel! - and dove into it. He's been reading adult novels and nonfiction ever since. But he does still love his manga :-)

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    2. Julia,

      That's wonderful! Thanks for sharing. Did the children's novels have pictures between the pages?

      Diana

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    3. Diana, I know what you mean about left to right or up to down. I had a little confusion when I started reading the Aaronovitch graphics, but left to right is pretty consistent.

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  23. I did read comics growing up, but I wasn't a collector. I read Little Lulu and Casper and Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck to begin with. Then came Archie. I never got into the super hero comics. I can't remember whether my brother did or not. My favorite of all comic books were the Classics Illustrated ones. Edith mentioned these. I still have The Pearl Princess, and I think I have King Midas, too. I wish I'd collected more of those and still had them all.

    Graphic novels were on the rise when I got my Masters in library science, and I thought they were great resources for kids who weren't sure they wanted to read. I've read Persepolis I and II and Maus I and II, ones I highly recommend. American Born Chinese is another good one. These are all a bit older, but again, I recommend them. V for Vendetta is good, as is the Fables series. Neil Gaiman was in on doing graphic novels and has lots of good ones, too.

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    1. Thanks for the great recommendations, Kathy! I hadn't thought about Neil Gaiman.

      Somehow I missed the Classic Illustrated comics growing up. Now I can't wait to check out our new comics store.

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  24. Loved Mad Magazine, such great satire. Any and all comics,inc. English ones sent by my nana. Also found a dozen or so Big Little Books in a bungalow we moved into. Little Orphan Annie. The Lone Ranger. Flash Gordon.

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  25. I'm going to show off my age, here, but I loved Nancy and Sluggo. Big on Little Lulu, too, because she had attitude. Decades later, I was riding a train in Italy and found a passenger had left an graphic novel that featured an American cowboy named Lupe Dent (wolf tooth, if my Italian serves) who wore a cowboy hat and boots, a muscle shirt, and a gold chain around his neck. I loved it.

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  26. As a kid, I read Classics, Disney, Archie, Gold Key, and DC. When Marvel started, I had to drop the others because of finances. When Marvel expanded their superhero books, I had to drop the romance, western, and war books. I still buy 30 to 60 books a month. I've read some graphic novels but most are regular books. Although I watch most of The CW's DC shows, I'm not that fond of DC movies. Am also considering subscribing to Disney Plus mostly for the Marvel shows. Stay safe and well.

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  27. A day late, as I often am lately. I remember the comic books mentioned but was not a big comic fan as a kid. Not sure why. So, naturally , as these things go...I worked at DC Comics for almost 4 years! My husband had a personal connection with the then-president of DC. I had been laid off from m long-time, expected-to-retire from,demanding, intl. corporate information job ( along with many other professionals) -powers thought all the info was now on the Internet for free! (Ha, ha) After a year of diligent job hunting,a single conversation over lunch and I had a new job. 'Isn't your unemployed wife a librarian? We have a library, it's a mess." Big culture shock. The two places could NOT have been more different! I discovered the Fables graphic novels, have some great posters on my wall,was well treated, a good 4 years. If you want more, PM me.

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  28. Deborah, I just discovered it too. Love it!

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