Radish

I alluded to this in a previous post, but I'm forced to ask this question again. I turn to you, my dutiful blogdience, to answer my query. But first, a bit of set-up:

I read comic books. It's exactly what you're thinking. The ones with the super-heroes, who fly, bend steel with their hands, change the course of mighty rivers, and fight giant apes all the time. Those books.

I could go into the non-super-heroic books that exist, but that would likely only confuse you.

Reading comic books in today's society is considered "abnormal," an aberration of proper hobbies and pastimes. If an individual over the age of 7 reads comic books, then there's only one of two explanations:

1) They have serious problems.

2) They avid collectors, speculating on a market that will someday make them rich.

Since I'm 26 years old, it would appear that the latter is the case. This results in the same line of questioning every single time I'm seen reading comic books:

Random Person: Hey, comic books!

Me: (Reading, not looking up) Yeah.

RP: Man, are those worth anything?

Me: (Still reading, still not looking up) I don't think so.

RP: How much do those things cost anyway?

Me: (Flip back to cover) This one costs $3.50

RP: $3.50?! Wow. I remember when they were [Insert Low Price Relative to Age of Random Person that Simultaneously Informs me that I'm Paying Way too Much and How Things Were Better Way-Back-When]. Wow.

Me: Yeah. (Back to reading)

RP: Oh, man, do you collect them?

Me: (Rolling eyes, getting frustrated, distracted from book) No, I read them.

RP: I used to collect comics. I have a copy of [Insert Stupid Title Nobody Cares About] #1 at home. Mint condition.

Me: (Stopped reading, trying to calm self down to stop self from killing individual) Great.

RP: Oh, yeah. How much do you think it's worth?

Me: (Finally look at person) Not much, probably. There's, like, 5 million copies of it out there. They're not really worth that much when there's--

RP: --Some guy told me that it was worth at least $50.

Me: Maybe it is. I don't know. I read them.

Random Person: Oh. Well. That's cool.

Me: (Back to reading) Yeah. Cool.

It bothers me. Very much. Why is it considered wrong to read comic books? They're no worse than any other form of disposable entertainment. Magazines routinely offer complete fluff, seventy-five times the advertising, and no general redeeming value.

At least comic books are an art form; a melding of words and pictures to craft a story in a unique way otherwise unattempted in any other media. And I like to read them.

Sure, I like Superman. Correction: I love Superman. I read other books, though. Stuff that people would actually be entertained by or -- gasp -- even challenged mentally. There are a copious number of books that can reflect the tastes of any individual, and they're all out there for people to read.

Yes, read them. Try it. You might be surprised.

Posted by Jack Tango on 1.27.2005 at 13:36 | Permalink