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Column:
Comic Book Junkie
Comics in a Box
By Matt Yocum
Published: 2007-10-17
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As many of you know, I’m in the military, stationed overseas. I
receive my comics through a mail order service from Midtown Comics in
New York, sent to a post office box in the US embassy. Every time I
get a box of comics, I’m like a little kid at Christmas again, tearing
into the box to see what new titles came that week.
When I come home, I spend a few minutes savoring each title,
flipping a little through the pages to see the new art, the panels and
captions and dialogue waiting to show me the next stages of my
superheroes’ journeys. Then I determine what order I want to read
them, usually putting my must-reads on top, saving a few titles that
can wait awhile to the bottom.
As much as I love getting these weekly boxes, there’s still a piece
of my comic reading experience absent, and that’s my weekly visits to
the comic shop. There’s a communal aspect to comics that’s just as
much a part of the experience as sitting alone and reading the latest
issues. Everywhere I’ve been stationed, I’ve migrated my comics
buying to a local store, intent on making new connections and meeting
new friends from among the regular Wednesday customers.
If there’s one thing common among all of us who attend to this
weekly ritual, it’s that we have nothing in common save our love for
comics. I am often amazed at the variety of comics lovers, rich and
poor, old and young, accomplished and otherwise. The real stereotype
of a comic book junkie is that there is no stereotype. I remember
standing in line for a signature from a favorite artist at one comic
convention, and I stood in the middle of a rich businessman in front
of me, a starving student behind me, as we debated the JMS run on
Spider-Man. Only comics could have united us.
I miss this communal experience, this opportunity to socialize with
fellow comic lovers on a weekly basis and put the harsh realities of
this world behind if but for a moment. No matter how wacky a comic
fan might be, I’m a part of this group of comic lovers.
For now I’ll settle for my comics in a box, but I look forward to
returning to my home, where superhero comics were born, and
participating again in my weekly Wednesday pilgrimage to a local shop.
Depending on where I end up, maybe I’ll see you there.
Feel free to email me at myocum@comiccritique.com
and if you’d like to learn more about me, go to www.mattyocum.com.
—CCdC— Read all of ComicCritique.Com’s columns, old and new,
at our columns archive!
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