welcome back, buckle down
Guys, the joints in my hands ache, seriously. I spent the last two nights back at the bookstore moving all the books. Including entire runs of shelves with the stock still on them. Of course, that last is not what hurt my hands (back and legs, a bit). No, I woefully abused my ridiculous handspan while transferring entire sections between shelves and carts and new shelves. Also, when I say I worked nights, I don't mean closing shifts - I mean I went in when the closing shifts were wrapping up and left just in time to see sunrise as I went to bed. Talk about jumping back into things.
And I'd do it again, too. I am ridiculously glad to be back, aches and pains and ruined sleep schedule aside. \books/
In non-working news, I have 12 hours to figure out what to ask for for dSSS. That's always my sticking point in exchanges. What will I write? Nearly anything! Easy! What do I want? Nearly anything? Somehow that's less easy to phrase as a request than an offer. Oh! I should ask for that Vecchio+/Turnbull AU story. Ok, there's one.
I spent the non-working, waking hours of the past two days reading Avengers slash and agony columns. (Oh, hey, are there any Avengers agony columns? I would read the hell out of that.) The agony columns thing makes sense, because my sib is reading Ask a Dude/Lady/Queer Chick/Clean Person on The Hairpin, and approximately one quarter of our communication is referential, so I have to keep up. Also, apparently Dear Sugar is someone I should have been reading ages ago.
So really, it's just the Avengers fanfic that makes zero sense because ... I never read the comics.* I know. And while I'm feeling all confessional - due no doubt to excessive exposure to agony columns - I never really read any DC or Marvel superhero comics. Except for Milestone? I read a ton of Milestone. But I gather that the Milestone imprint was not exactly part of the DCU. Oh, and Catwoman and She-Hulk, but She-Hulk was more meta-humor than traditional superhero stories. Exceptions aside, even when I identified myself as a comic book geek, when I was biking to the comic shop about once a week, and braving the weirdness of 'boy' territory (I adored the shop owner, still do, but his periodic new hires always gave me the whole 'who are you shopping for' thing when I came in which was annoying as fuck), and going to my first conventions... even then, I apparently managed not to read anything that everyone else read. The main reasons I'm not completely culturally illiterate when it comes to the major heroic figures of DC and Marvel are cartoons and movies.
One of the things that DC was purportedly trying to do with their relaunch was reach new readers who were intimidated by the high numbers and large (dare I say epic) history -- and honestly, that might have worked on wee!me. Because the comics I read were all new lines (Milestone) and new publishers (Valiant, Impact) and local presses (Artists Alley is still my favorite part of any comic con) - or relaunches like The Sensational She-Hulk. I really did find the idea of jumping in at issue 268 intimidating, so I just didn't. There were plenty of other stories to choose from.
And yet I've found myself wanting to catch up. So my question is, oh, wise and comics-loving flist, how do you do it? How do you figure out which comics you're going to try? How do you navigate fifty years (or just fifty pages) of backstory that may not be readily available? When graphic novel compilations are available, should I read those first, or just dive in to the current issue?
Basically, tell me what to read?
*Also, I missed Captain America in theaters, so I'm not even up on the movie universe.
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And I'd do it again, too. I am ridiculously glad to be back, aches and pains and ruined sleep schedule aside. \books/
In non-working news, I have 12 hours to figure out what to ask for for dSSS. That's always my sticking point in exchanges. What will I write? Nearly anything! Easy! What do I want? Nearly anything? Somehow that's less easy to phrase as a request than an offer. Oh! I should ask for that Vecchio+/Turnbull AU story. Ok, there's one.
I spent the non-working, waking hours of the past two days reading Avengers slash and agony columns. (Oh, hey, are there any Avengers agony columns? I would read the hell out of that.) The agony columns thing makes sense, because my sib is reading Ask a Dude/Lady/Queer Chick/Clean Person on The Hairpin, and approximately one quarter of our communication is referential, so I have to keep up. Also, apparently Dear Sugar is someone I should have been reading ages ago.
So really, it's just the Avengers fanfic that makes zero sense because ... I never read the comics.* I know. And while I'm feeling all confessional - due no doubt to excessive exposure to agony columns - I never really read any DC or Marvel superhero comics. Except for Milestone? I read a ton of Milestone. But I gather that the Milestone imprint was not exactly part of the DCU. Oh, and Catwoman and She-Hulk, but She-Hulk was more meta-humor than traditional superhero stories. Exceptions aside, even when I identified myself as a comic book geek, when I was biking to the comic shop about once a week, and braving the weirdness of 'boy' territory (I adored the shop owner, still do, but his periodic new hires always gave me the whole 'who are you shopping for' thing when I came in which was annoying as fuck), and going to my first conventions... even then, I apparently managed not to read anything that everyone else read. The main reasons I'm not completely culturally illiterate when it comes to the major heroic figures of DC and Marvel are cartoons and movies.
One of the things that DC was purportedly trying to do with their relaunch was reach new readers who were intimidated by the high numbers and large (dare I say epic) history -- and honestly, that might have worked on wee!me. Because the comics I read were all new lines (Milestone) and new publishers (Valiant, Impact) and local presses (Artists Alley is still my favorite part of any comic con) - or relaunches like The Sensational She-Hulk. I really did find the idea of jumping in at issue 268 intimidating, so I just didn't. There were plenty of other stories to choose from.
And yet I've found myself wanting to catch up. So my question is, oh, wise and comics-loving flist, how do you do it? How do you figure out which comics you're going to try? How do you navigate fifty years (or just fifty pages) of backstory that may not be readily available? When graphic novel compilations are available, should I read those first, or just dive in to the current issue?
Basically, tell me what to read?
*Also, I missed Captain America in theaters, so I'm not even up on the movie universe.
The Dreamwidth version of this entry currently has
comments.