Toward the end of 1988, when I was about twelve years old, there was an article in our newspaper, The Oregonian, which reported that DC Comics was killing off Robin, Batman's long-time sidekick. There was even a color picture of the soon-to-be-published cover for Batman #426.
Intrigued, the next time I went in to get a haircut, I snuck down to the convenience store and bought a copy of my first comic book. The next month, I managed to do the same thing when part two of the story came out. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get parts three and four until many years later.
Fast forward a few years, and I had amassed a small set of books, that I was able to keep in binders. Occasionally I would hop on my bike and head to the nearest 7-11 to see if anything I saw interested me. I usually stuck with Batman, Detective Comics, or Transformers.
About a year later, I discovered a local comic book shop, Pegasus Books (which later became Things from Another World), and started buying regularly there. At some point, I opened up a subscription box, so all my favorite books could be set aside for me each month.
Since then, I have spent about $8,250 on comic books. My collection now has about 3,575 individuals issues. I have no idea how valuable the collection is. My best guess is somewhere between $10,000 and $15,000. Needless to say, I have been a devoted consumer of comic books and visual storytelling for a long time.
In the summer of 2008, while reading one of the issues of Abe Sapien:The Drowning, I realized I was tired of following stories month to month. Trying to remember the various characters and what had happened previously took too much memory. Plus, with my back issues crammed into boxes in the garage, it wasn't convenient to pull out the previous installments and refresh myself.
A few months later, in October of 2008, I closed down the subscription box. I now exclusively buy only comics published in collected form. Usually from Amazon or the local Powell's Books.
While the change is a bit sad, I much prefer reading the collected books for numerous reasons:
Around the same time I was moving away from collecting individual issues, I discovered that my sister's husband read comic books as well. As we talked about what he liked and what he had read, he asked me what books I recommend. I thought a lot about it, went through my collection, and put together a quick list of the best of the best.
Comic books are a wonderful, beautiful medium that I don't think enough people read. So, I decided to put this site together as a place where I can share my recommended reading list, highlight what I'm currently reading, and maybe talk about comic books in general. Who knows what's going to come out of this. Hopefully, I can inspire others to pick up a comic book or two.
Hoojaboose is total and utter nonsense. It is a word I made up with my son. I would shout it out when I pulled him out of his car seat, high chair, etc; pretty much anytime I caused his elevation to change.