I’ve recently gotten into reading a larger selection of comic books mostly due to the advent of CBR and CBZ, 2 comic book file formats. It’s been years since I’ve read many comics. I’ve found myself catching up on several story arcs of the last 5 or 6 years.
Before I get to far into this diatribe, I feel I should make a disclaimer. I’m not endorsing P2P, or the illegal acquisition of copy-written material. The comic book industry has been going through a notable recession since the boom of the 90s. I myself have quit buying comics almost wholeheartedly with the exception of the occasional TPB, Graphic Novel, Comp, or 1-Shot. In fact since the beginning of the year I don’t recall having bought one single comic publication. This is mostly because of a decay I’ve found in the quality of writing that leaves much to be desired. Things like secondary mutations and multiple ongoing universes destroyed my enjoyment off the Marvel line for me. That said, I have found a couple of story arcs (oddly enough primarily with DC who I didn’t like years ago) that make me want to go buy them.
In other words I feel that digital copies of comics are useful as a stepping stone for finding stories and titles that many wouldn’t have ever picked up. I’d all but quit reading comics a while back. I currently have plans to pick up 2 or 3 TPBs at the end of the week primarily because of the CBRs that I acquired via P2P. In truth the CDisplay RAR Archived Comic Book File is a decent way to read comics, much like PDFs, but it lacks the tactile feel of reading ink on paper, and I don’t find electronic copy nearly as enjoyable as paper copy.
Okay, now that that’s out of the way I offer up what I’ve been reading, Green Lantern (of which there’s several story arcs that I now want to pick up), Green Arrow (Planning on picking up Year One and Quiver at the very least), Elseworlds (Always a favorite, I need to look for and buy more), 100 Bullets (haven’t started it yet), Young Justice, Civil War (I’m hoping I can get into it, so far I don’t enjoy it nearly as much as I expected), War Games (not too bad, I may buy it in Comp form if I can find it).
In reading these comics I have a desire to write my own Batman story-arc, similar to what Jamie Dee Galey has done. The problem is that I want to write this one but not illustrate it. In my recent readings there are some things that have been done to Batman that I don’t care for. There are aspects of Batman that have been touched on and manipulated in recent years. My number one distaste for every non-comic property I’ve seen that Batman has ever appeared in is that he’s too public.
My vision of Batman is a dark detective. I like the idea of Batman being an icon. Maybe even a group of people. Not some person that looks at the evil-doer and says, “I’m Batman.” I don’t think that he should ever refer to himself in that way. He should be an urban legend, a shadow that haunts evil-doers. I’d prefer him referred to as “the Bat” more than Batman. In truth the villains should be scared shitless after an encounter with him.
These are thoughts and ideas. I may write my story. I think it could be a very good story. I’ll just get rid of all the things I don’t care for about Batman. Maybe I can get Daniel Clowes to illustrate it. That would amuse me. And if you don’t get that, you need to watch more Simpsons.
