Comic Book Madness

Comics!

I love comic books. You might think it childish but I beg to differ. I think comic books are great because:

• Of the art! I love art and comic books give you that cinematic experience without the need to switch on the TV or to go to the movies.
• The writers are brilliant. They keep you coming back each month for more much like a Chinese soap.
• Comic book stories are rich with influences from a variety of sources. Comic book creators draw from history, science, folklore and all kinds of literary sources to make their stories interesting. Let’s not forget the human element.
• Superhero comics especially inspire me to be more than I can be. Don’t we all want to be heroes and do the right thing each and every single day in our lives? Sacrifice. Honour. These are lessons that comic books can teach us.

I used to read a lot as a child and I am trying little by little to get back to reading but I find that I’d much prefer to read books that teach me something about myself and life rather than fiction. I don’t do that as much these days cos’ I have to read & write as a living and I can’t stand reading pages that are made up of walls of text. I guess that’s why I prefer comic books to books these days which is a lil’ sad I suppose. I read so much less now compared to my growing up years. The only book that I go back to constantly is the Bible though so at least I’m getting some reading done daily from the good book. 🙂

Here are some good books I would suggest to anyone who wants to get into comic books as a start:. You might recognise some of them as they’ve become Hollywood properties in recent years.

• The Hellboy series written & drawn by Mike Mignola (Seed of Destruction, Wake the Devil, The Chained Coffin and Others, The Right Hand of Doom. Conqueror Worm, Strange Places)
  

  Hellboy

• The Green Lantern books written by Geoff Johns with either Ivan Reis or Ethan Van Sciver on pencilling duties (The Sinestro Corps War Vol. 1 & 2, Green Lantern: Rebirth, Green Lantern: Wanted)
  

  Green Lantern

• 1602 by Neil Gaiman with art by Andy Kubert & Richard Isanove
  

  1602

Interior art from the pages of 1602

Green Lantern is currently one of the most exciting titles I’ve read in recent years. I’ve written posts about the Emerald Gladiator before and if you’re a long-time comic book fan I can’t help but marvel at what Geoff Johns has done with the character. It’s amazing stuff cos’ he’s taken the Green Lantern mythos further. I’m in the middle of the Blackest Night saga and all I can say is wow.

Blackest Night - a Green Lantern epic

Before you write comic books off as childish give one a spin. You’ll find that there’s a lot more than meets the eye within its colourful pages. Nuff’ said!