I am a comic book collector and happy to be sure. I might say “proud” if I hadn’t, over a year ago, switched to reading digital as opposed to print comics. I feel a bit robbed of the tactile sensations of the hobby – of the turn of the page, the sneaking look to the panel a page over, the bagging and shorting and stacking and filing.
Though I read my comics in a different medium than I used to, I still treat each Wednesday (comic book delivery day to specialty shops around the country) as different from the other days of the week.
I subscribe and now, rather than go to the comic store to be handed the books pulled for my “Hold Slot,” I click a button on my iPad and watch them (painfully slowly on my first generation device) download.
Then I read them.
Rare is the week that I don’t read them all between Wednesdays and some weeks I have, well… let’s just say more comic books in my digital downloads than a grown man should.
Comic book legend Will Eisner (creator of The Spirit) is one of the most influential men even to put pencil to drawing board in the pursuit of making comics. So influential was he that the industry awards (think the Oscars or the Emmys or the Grammys) are named The Eisner Awards. He called comic books “sequential art,” perhaps because he became embarrassed by his profession when he had to admit what he did for a living.
This is my weekly reaction to the comics I read.
I consumed 6 comics last week: Batman and Robin #23, Daredevil #30, Avengers #18, Indestructible Hulk #12, Superior Spider-Man #16 and Superman Unchained #3.
The comic that most arrested my attention, that I thought was the best read of the week and that I most enjoyed was Daredevil #30
Mark Waid writes and Chris Samnee draws this terrific title that is so good monthly that it’s become almost expected that it will deliver a great story counterpointed by perfect art. This is a book that is not encumbered by a crazy amount of continuity. You don’t have to have read four story arcs prior to understand any particular issue. If you have, it’s only a bonus, not a necessity. Waid has the feel of Daredevil and is using the concept of Matt Murdock’s “outing” as the hero to great effect.
In in the brainstorming phase of this issue, Waid seemed to ask himself: “Who is the most unlikely hero with whom I can team Daredevil?”
Ah, yes – the Silver Surfer.
I won’t spoil all the fun here, but this inspired Marvel Team Up is tonally perfect. Samnee’s art – which has been perfect for Daredevil, an urban vigilante – is equally well suited to the space faring, surf board riding Silver Surfer. And Waid’s characterization of the two leads in the book is spot on with Daredevil’s glee at taking the Surfer’s board for a spin balanced perfectly with the Surfer’s quizzical appraisal of the title character.
This is great stuff and should be noted monthly.
I expect Waid to be good. I forget that he’s often great.
And There Came a Day... 