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People have asked me from time to time what I look for in a comic book or what I like about certain comics, so I thought I would address that.
First off, I’d like to say happy birthday to my mom, who was born on St. Patrick’s Day. I guess that makes Green Lantern and Green Arrow the patron superheroes of this festive, green holiday. Please watch over her for another year, boys.
Getting back to the topic at hand, one thing I look for is good writing and storytelling. I like comic books that, when I’m reading them, I can close my eyes for a moment and clearly picture the environment the comic book has taken me to.
For example, I love the character Red Sonja from Dynamite Comics. And no, for the hundredth time, it is NOT because of her chain mail bikini. Seriously.
When I read any of the Red Sonja books I can immediately picture what ancient Hyrkania (her home) was like. Seeing all the violence going on in the middle east with refugees and people being killed, I can easily get a mental picture of the evil (whoever it is that month) trying to take over lands and enslave people.
I can do that because the writer is painting just as vivid a picture as the artist has created.
Last night I took inventory of my comic books and found that, while it’s pretty even, I actually have more comics led by female characters than I do male and as I went to sleep I pondered why that might be.
I don’t think it’s a problem, but my Asperger’s brain wanted to know why. Boys don’t have to only like male superheroes and girls don’t have to like only the super heroines.
I finally came to the conclusion that it’s because I raised a daughter alone from the age of five (she’s now twenty-one) and seeing strong female figures and role models helps me see what values I, as a parent, still want to instill in my child.
And again, it’s not all about the cleavage.
I want it to be believable, even when it’s not. Going back to the origin of one of my mom’s patron saints, Green Lantern. Do I believe that an alien cop could crash land on earth and that his ring would find the most worthy man to take the place of the dying alien? Nope.
But, in the context of comic books, it’s a believable story. And Hal Jordan, the man the ring chose, is a character I can relate to because he’s a guy with some of the same feelings I deal with.
He’s a good guy, but not everyone sees the goodness in him. But the ring did.
Gwenpool is a perfect example of a comic I love because it’s so completely unbelievable that it’s funny. The writing is still good, but this is a character that is quirky, funny and so out of place that you can’t help liking her.
You see, Gwendolyn Poole is a normal comic book loving teen from Earth who somehow enters the world of comic books. She encounters all her favorite characters, but only Marvel characters as that’s who she belongs to.
As she encounters all these heroes of hers, she decides that if she’s stuck here, she might as well be a superhero as well. So she gets some pink and white fabric and has a seamstress make her a legless Deadpool-esque costume.
So now she looks like a superhero but has no actual powers. But does that stop her from kicking some booty and getting a little lucky as she fights? Absolutely not and that’s why I like it.
I can’t explain why, but I’m drawn to the mystical and magical when it comes to comic books, so I love titles like Justice League Dark, a group of magical heroes fighting similar battles to the Justice League, only against demons and darkness.
John Constantine, Exorcist, Demonologist and Petty Dabbler of the Dark Arts, and his Hellblazer series is another favorite. As is magician extraordinaire Zatanna Zatarra kicks some butt and who doesn’t love a humanoid/plant creature who fights to protect the environment and humanity from supernatural threats.
Finally, the Spider-Family. In the DC comics world, there are over 1600 different earths, all with the same people, though not everyone is the same on every earth.
For example, if we read Spider-Man we know that Gwen Stacy is one of Peter Parker’s best friends. Peter Parker is Spider-Man on our earth, earth one. However, on earth 65, Gwen Stacy got bitten by the radioactive spider and thus became Spider Woman, and when people found out her true identity, Spider Gwen.
Meanwhile, over on another earth, we have a Puerto Rican/African American Spider-Man named Miles Morales who, like Peter Parker, our Spider-Man is a high school student.
Again, this is the writer in my coming out, but I love the fact that his comic book is basically his journal that he has to keep for an English class. The book is full of his entries and is pretty awesome.
These are a few of the reasons I like comic books. Now I want to hear from you. What do you like about them? What floats your boat? Leave comments because we want to know!
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Photos courtesy DC Comics,Marvel Comics &Dynamite Comics.