Missing out

I never read comic books or graphic novels when I was younger, and in retrospect I feel like I missed out on something. I’m not really sure why I never did; perhaps I hung out with the wrong crowd for that sort of thing. I was too busy reading books for English class, and in my spare time I was reading The Belgariad and other fantasy genre novels. More than anything, though, I think it was one aspect of being a self-hating nerd, where I scoffed at people who read manga and things like that. (Actually, that’s still true.)

The main reason I bring this up now is because it’s being thrown back in my face. In particular, now that Hollywood has run out of ideas, they’ve turned to adaptations of graphic novels as a way to generate cash, and I feel lame because I don’t have a personal connection with what they’re releasing. I only read Watchmen after the film came out. I know Wanted was a piece of crap, but I’m still vaguely interested in reading the book. Scott Pilgrim actually started coming out when I was in college, but I’d like to think that I would have read it. It’s too late now, though; reading it would make me a poseur.

And yet, at the same time, I sort of want to start reading some. Maybe I’ll start with Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.

Sunday, August 29th, 2010 11:36 pm - books

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1 comment

on August 30, 2010 at 9:29 am, sarah said:

YESSSS SANDMAN!

I am graphic-novel-geeky enough to have some recommendations: Did you have to read Maus for Challenge of Modernity? If not, read it. Also, Persepolis. Alan Moore’s other stuff (league of extraordinary gentlemen, from hell, v for vendetta). Ghost World. Blankets. These’ll give you a pretty good foundation and help you decide which direction you want to branch out into if you want to read more… and if not, you’ve read enough to be able to know why you don’t want to branch out. ^_^

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