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Thursday, October 27, 2005
Nice to see you again
When reading comics it might always seem like “what’s next” is the most important thing. There’s the anticipation over what’s going to arrive in the Direct Market on Wednesday (the best of these posts are done by Jog and Kevin). There are cartoonists out promoting their latest graphic novels from companies like Pantheon (Hear Charles Burns and Chris Ware do it). I think it can be a lot of fun waiting for that new book, getting it in your hands and then cracking it open to absorb all that sticky comics goodness. As much as I love it I’m finding joy in what can be considered the opposite.
Let’s hear it for re-reading. Not just going through reprint material that’s new to you such as Showcase and Essential books; I’ve got plenty of that. I mean digging into that place where you store the comics you’ve already bought and read and enjoying a familiar story all over again because it’s just that good. Hell, we’ve already gotten one of the best blogs ever out of it. To go through that comic that isn’t just another story that a company had to tell about a certain character so they can still hold on to the copyright or a book that’s part of some crossover that seems dated as soon as the year is past (although I do love Scipio doing just that with Crisis on Infinite Earths). Instead there’s the experience of enjoying a comic that doesn’t necessarily fill you with nostalgia as much as it impresses you with the creators’ talent and storytelling on repeat readings.
For me it has been Darwyn Cooke’s New Frontier. It’s a big, epic story filled with DC Silver Age superheroes to take a look at post-WWII society. If it was a movie it would have been a “road show” epic. All the satisfaction that comes from reading it is simple. There’s the majesty instilled in these creations of Gil Kane, Carmine Infantino, Jack Kirby and others (each issue ends with dedications to cartoonists and writers from the time). Cooke writes forgotten or second-rate characters like King Faraday or Martian Manhunter into compelling personalities with conflicts and problems that reflect the larger goings on in the book on to a human scale. There’s the ending with all the heroes doing that “slow walk” into this fantastic action-packed ending sequence. Just reading page after page of Cooke’s art that combines the best of Kirby’s dynamism, Infantino’s sleekness and Alex Toth’s simplicity is pure comic book goodness. The way he combines that with that art deco, pop art '60s look is just beautiful. I remember being a bit hesitant buying this series of the stands because of the $6.95 price tag for each issue. Now I find myself getting more out of it than comics I’ve bought for far less. I took the comics out of the longbox a few months ago just because I knew they were great reading. I did the same thing a few weeks ago.
It’s a type of reading experience that’s divorced from any type of context. Any of the punditry or news articles you read about this or any other comics doesn’t matter anymore. There’s no need to compare this book to what you were reading alongside it at the time. There’s just your brain, the pages in front of you and a lazy Saturday with nothing else to do. It’s a pure type of comic book reading and one worth indulging in more often. There are a lot of great books coming out but that also means there’s this sense of trying to keep up that can occur. Slowing down and reading something you’ll know you’ll like is a far more relaxing pleasure.
Anything you’ve been enjoying for a second or third time?
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