Things I Do When I'm Sick: Read Comic Books

Crisis on Infinite Earths by Marv Wolfman & George Perez (1985, DC Comics). I recently told Melissa that this was my favorite Comic Book Story Ever. After some reflection, there are probably some Frank Miller, Dwayne McDuffie, Warren Ellis and Brian Michael Bendis story arcs I like better but this is the story that made me a lifelong comics fan. I was 10 years old when this completely recreated the DC universe. I can't remember what super hero comics I was reading at the time other than the New Teen Titans (also by Marv & George) but this ambitious, complicated story is probably why I tend to be a DC comics guy.

Reading it again for the first time in maybe 16  years, I was in awe of how dense the language is. There is a whole lot of narration and exposition. The panels are packed to the gills with action and the stakes are incredibly high. The story has some problems -- destroying multiple universes is dirty business - and Perez's art falters a bit towards the end of the series but the shocks are still shocking. The final issue is incredibly moving and putting everything in context with what happened in 2005's Infinite Crisis and this year's 52 is awfully satisfying. That said, we've come a long way since 1985 and a comic tale written a decade later was a richer experience for my adult mind.

Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross (1996, DC Comics). I didn't read comics much in the 90s. I'd pick up a book here or there but a college student with limited income and space and time sacrifices some things he loves. I missed the rise of Alex Ross, an incredible artist who paints comic panels. Super heroes comes to life as real people in a real world, their powers and conflicts all the more awe-inspiring because with Ross's pen, you feel as if you could walk outside your door and see the Flash or Black Lightning rushing by to fight evil. Kingdom Come is an "elseworlds" story arc that imagines a not too distant future when batman, wonder woman, and superman have been replaced by the next generation on a world overrun by meta-humans - those with powers beyond our own. There's a political undercurrent to the dialogue between the heroes that is highly relevant to today's landscape. I don't even quite know where to begin. It's serious, grown up fare, and I highly recommend it.


Now, we shower.