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One of the few good things about being laid up after surgery is the chance to catch up on stuff I’ve been meaning to read but hadn’t gotten around to for one reason or another.
Now, first, a disclaimer: I graduated college with honors as an English major, and I have a fairly refined taste in literature. But, man, when you’ve just had your kidney forcibly ripped from your abdomen, sometimes you just wanna read a good old-fashioned comic book. (OK, yes, that’s a little dramatic, but it sounds more impressive than “surgically removed under general anesthesia,” so work with me here.)
Point is, I’m not ashamed to say that I’m up to my elbows in trade paperbacks collecting a few years’ worth of issues from some of my favorite series. It feels good to catch up with some characters from my teens and 20s and see what they’re up to these days.
Right now I’m really enjoying Dark Horse Comics’ revival of the Conan series. I’ve plowed through the first three volumes by Kurt Busiek and Cary Nord, and believe me this stuff is phenomenal. Nord’s artwork alone transcends anything I’ve ever seen in fantasy storytelling, and Busiek’s blend of original material woven amongst Robert E. Howard’s classic pulp stories creates an unusually rich chronicle of Conan’s journey from savage youth to adulthood, and all the stages of his career in between: mercenary, thief, pirate, wanderer, and eventually king. Phenomenal stuff. I have volume four on order from Amazon. It’s addictive.
I was also blown away by the new Buffy trade collecting the first six issues of Joss Whedon’s ”Season Eight.” This is Buffy like we’ve never seen her before, but at the same time it’s also a faithful continuation of both the story and the overarching themes of the television series. So far, for me at least, Xander’s Sergeant Fury act is stealing every scene. But reading it is a mixed bag, too. On the one hand, it’s awesome. No doubt about it. On other hand… it only makes me miss the TV series that much more.
I’ve also been catching up with Spider-Man (I’ll weigh in with a review of One More Day at a later date), Planetary, and a few others. I suppose eventually this could get expensive again—comics have a track record of taking over my life if I let them—but so far I’m keeping it under control.
Plus, hey, Christmas is coming!
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