Reading comic books falls into one of those slightly secret things I do, and I when people find me reading one they often seem quite surprised.
When Bill and I got married, I very much looked down on comics. Over the years, he took up the challenge to find graphic novels could suck me in. He won - I now own most of several series.
The first character and story line that won me over was
Usagi Yojimbo. Simple line drawings matched with a complex and admirable hero seeking honor and justice in the world hooked me. Just reading Stan Sakai's work isn't enough for me, it turns out this delightful comic ignited an interest in feudal Japan. I've read many great books from the young adult fiction section on the subject, but this rabbit samurai is by far my favorite.
Elfquest, introduced to my by one of the plethora of Jen's in my life, captured my interest, both for the storyline and the lovely art. Additionally, Theo took up reading it and it was the first comic interest we shared. This is a long running series and there are something near a trillion of them. So far I've stuck with the earlier books as the story takes some twists and turns I'm not sure I'm ready to follow. I really love the art.
Girl Genius combines compelling art with a smart, strong and sexy heroine. Theo and I both love the storyline and the creations by the inventor heroine. So far, I'm current on all the books and anxiously awaiting the publication of the next. I was years into enjoying this book before it occurred to me I'd fallen prey to the enjoyment of a serious sub-genre called
steampunk. I fear I grow geekier by the minute.
How about you? Any comic book lovers out there? What do you read?
3 comments:
Hi Sara! I thought I'd leave my comment about comics.
I married a huge comic book fan too. :)
My recent read was the Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan. I found the concept very interesting, the writing engaging, and the artwork fairly good. I could tell the entire time that a man had written the story because I feel (being the strong woman that I am) that the world would be different than the perspective the author gave.
I enjoyed reading The Runaways by Brian K. Vaughan and later by Joss Whedon. But since other authors have been writing them, I haven't enjoyed the story lines. The original ones were about the kids and how they were coping with their new situation. The later ones are cheesey storylines with lame plots and hardly any character growth, in my humble opinion.
I am also reading Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8. :)
I am a huge fan of Joss Whedon, so I've also read Fray, Tales of the Vampires, Serenity, and Astonishing X-Men. And Angel, though those are getting boring too.
I remember seeing Girl Genius at Comicon. I've got a note to check them out from the library.
One last word -- about Archie. I used to love Archie. I always rooted for Betty and just adored them. Recently I have been reading them to Amelia and now that my perspective has changed on relationships, I struggle with the ways of Archie and how he kisses all girls, not just Betty & Veronica! Plus, I wish B & V were friendlier to each other rather than putting each other down all the time.
Okay, enough said. Hope you are well. :)
Have you seen this?
http://www.earlyword.com/2010/06/08/are-you-buying-comics-for-women/
Geared toward librarians, but relevant to your post.
Girl Genius rocks.
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