On Comic Books

I used to remember when comic compilations or lengthy comics were called trade paperbacks. I was not an avid comic collector till I was introduced to it by my friends in high school. And even then did not get into to it till my late college years.

Before my serious comic collecting days. I bought comics that were on sale. My first comic book was the Spanish version Katzenjammer Kids trade paperback. There were of course the B&W comics revival of Tom & Jerry, Little Lota, and company. Majority of my comic reading came from the comic strip section of the local paper The Bulletin Today. Of course local comics with the exploits of Zuma, although I was only able to get to read those comics seldomly. My first serious collection was Nonoy Marcelo's Ikabod. And of course Mad Magazine.

My comic collecting in late college because of two reasons. A friend, Gobbie, introduced me the hobby and I had an income. I mainly collected DC comic stuff, Batman and a couple off-the mainstream titles - like Etrigan and Sandman, some eventually became DC/Vertigo titles.
Two things I like for when choosing a comic book. The story and the art. Maybe that is the reason my collection expanded to other comic books within and outside of the DC universe.

Then I stopped.

This was the day when Neil Gaiman's run on Sandman ended. I still buy from time to time, months will go by till I buy a new comic book, trade paperback or what they call now graphic novel.

My favourite comic books:

Ikabod, Dagang Sosyal
Barefoot Gen (lettered in Tagalog)
Batman: The Killing Joke
Bloom County
Sandman: Ramadan
Sandman Vol 6: Fables & Reflections
Grendel: Devil by the Deed
Ranma 1/2
Crying Freeman
Groo
MAD
Dilbert
Watchmen
Illustrated Classics: Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary
Baron & Rude: Nexus
MadMan

A great number of these comic books I still have and while the others seem to have slipped through the curtain of time. Borrowed and never returned or went missing or sold.
Still some recovered or re-bought, if such a term exsists.

I did buy a graphic novel during Neil Gaiman's visit. Maybe I will look again in a month or two or even three.

Comics are a wonderful and informative form of fiction, a blend of art and literature. In the past I used to encounter people who viewed comics as something juvenile and pedestrian, oh well that is their view on it. My take on it is they have not yet sampled the works of Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller or Alan Moore or Nonoy Marcelo or Keiji Nakazawa. Well, as they say to each his own. All I can say is they are missing a lot.