Not Just Cinquo de Mayo

Last Saturday was Free Comic Book Day. Why I have not heard of this before, I do not know. As a matter of fact, I learnt about it through the New York Times (an article about comics in the NYTimes! How could I *not* click on that link?). As I was in Boston at the time, the Lady took me to a small New England Comics store off Commonwealth Ave (that area happened to be Boston University, her alma mater, and I got a bit of the nostalgic tour too, so it's all good).

Prior to this visit to a comic book store, I'd sourced my comics in graphic novel format (i.e.: collections of comic books covering a story arc forming a complete read without having to flip through multiple books) ... and mainly from stores such as Borders or Barnes & Noble. I'd visited Manhattan Comics a few times, but hadn't really spent much time browsing through there ... not really sure why the store never appealed to me. When I visited the store, I finally understood the importance of the local comic book store. To be able to converse with a knowledgeable comic book lover, I was quickly guided to titles I might find interesting ... Hellblazer, The Goon, and The Sandman (shamefully, I have not yet read The Sandman). I ended up buying quite a bit that day (most comics were on sale for the occasion) ... a couple of issues of Futurama, "The Sandman Vol. 1", and "Hellboy - Seed of Destruction". I also picked up a couple of free comics - titles that I'd never heard of

The Lady chose to continue her nostalgia trip by picking up a couple of Archie Digests. Most readers here are well into adulthood, so I'll pose this question to you - how long has it been since you settled back in your favorite chair/ recliner/ pillow-pile, and read an Archie?

Exactly.

On the subject ... of late, I've become a HUGE fan of Hellboy, most likely as it bases its stories in mythology and folklore, two boyhood fascinations of mine. As a result, the plots do not have to stretch themselves to seem ... for want of a better word, plausible. I mean, have you read a JLA comic book lately? Most JLA I've read in the last few years are too crap to even bear mentioning. And Hellboy isn't as dark, bleak, or ... angry, as Spawn or Batman. It's actually quite funny, in its own way.

Comments

[Kartik Anand]

>> how long has it been since you settled back in your favorite chair/ recliner/ pillow-pile, and read an Archie?

... too long.