Should I Be Embarrassed?
So I’ve recently learned to appreciate comic books. Well, I guess you’d call these graphic novels. And I guess you’d call my appreciation an obsession. I devoured Y: The Last Man, a series written by Brian K. Vaughn about what happens when a plague wipes out all the dudes on the planet except for a dorky boy and a capuchin monkey. When I finished the last book, I had myself a nice little cry, half because the ending was so damned perfect and half because I’d run out of comic book. Thankfully, I’ve been saved by The Preacher, which is about a preacher and some trouble in heaven. It’s also really fucking good. Here’s my problem though: I ride the Metro a lot. And rather than reading a book or the paper, I’ve found that the short waits for trains and short rides between stations are perfectly timed for consuming a few chapters of speach bubbles. Only I don’t ever see anyone else reading comics on the subway. Am I exposing myself as a huge dork? Will someone please help me start a trend?
7 Responses to “Should I Be Embarrassed?”
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February 22nd, 2008 at 10:39 am
The Preacher is maybe the best series ever. read it proudly on the train!
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:41 am
we need more people like us in this city. keep at it!
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:17 am
Be proud! I read Watchmen last week on metro. Reading graphic novels or comics is better than reading People magazine or US weekly.
February 22nd, 2008 at 12:20 pm
I’m with you. Funnybooks and public transportation go together like Grant Morrison and peyote.
I’m all for reading comics anywhere and everywhere — have been since I was a wee geekling — but you’re aleady way more hardcore than I could ever hope to be, AV.
Maybe it’s just my WASPy shame gene kicking in, but I’m pretty sure I’d be way too mortified to read Preacher anywhere where someone could look over my shoulder and see all those splash pages literally splashed with blood, cum, and offal. And boobies.
Now the new Blue Beetle series — that’s some primal, mainline superhero-fighty-fight joy that’s completely Metro-accessible. It’s got robots, aliens, magic, and magic alien robots. Only thing keeping it from greatness is its puzzling lack of super-intelligent telekinetic apes bent on world domination. But give it time.
February 22nd, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Angela, you’ve hinted at something that I find annoying: self-loathing geeks. If you like comics, read them on the metro. If you’re going to treat your reading material with porn-like shame just because it happens to have pictures and word-balloons, then you probably need to grow up. Not to sound like a jerk, but if you think people are looking at you and judging you for what you read on the metro, you might be paranoid, overly self-conscious, or both. I feel nothing but pity for people who would love Y: The Last Man but wouldn’t read it because it’s a comic. Their problem. Not yours.
I read comics on the metro all the time, and I’ve seen others out there doing it. It’s certainly less shameful than reading Dan Brown’s most recent turd, and everybody and their brother does that it seems.
Also, given your taste, might I recommend you check out The Invisibles. It’s a series written by Grant Morrison in the 90’s. It’s pretty far out stuff, but you can definitely see how it had an influence on a lot of other comics and on movies (i.e. the Matrix). I didn’t like Preacher that much because violence isn’t really my thing, but if you like Garth Ennis, I would check out his current series, called The Boys. Also, as Aquaman says, the new Blue Beetle series is off the chain, but it sounds like the pure superhero story may not be your bag.
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:05 am
Big Mike:
It’s not REAL self-loathing. It’s the faux-self-loathing that’s part of the yuppie-hipster-geek pose.
And it’s incredibly tiresome. It’s a kind of false modesty that’s really a form of egomania. Instead of following their natural instincts — to say “How COOL is this!” - they pretend to think it’s UNCOOL.
zzzzzzzzxzzzzz
February 25th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
The only caution I’d have about reading Preacher publicly is related to the observation that bored people seem more likely to peek over your shoulder longer if you’re reading a comic book instead of a prose book. If the comic you’re reading is going to have some good, graphic ultra-violence or flagrantly naked people, you’re going to get funny looks. This hasn’t always stopped me from doing it, though I may make more of an effort to make my reading material private if I’m expecting that kind of thing.