I started reading comics when I was 10 years old with issue number 1 of the Invaders with Captain America, Human Torch and Sub-Mariner. It was a World War II story line, and I was instantly pulled into comics. That issue came out in the summer of 1975 and started my interest in comics and reading.
As I got older my taste in comics changed, and I started to read more superhero team books mostly from Marvel Comics. I was always more of a Marvel guy with Iron Man, Thor, Fantastic Four, and the X-men being some of my favorite titles. I was just never much of a Superman fan since he was nearly invulnerable and his being a newspaper reporter was not that interesting to me. I did read some DC books, but most of them were Batman related as I was always a Dark Knight fan. I guess I fell for the Make Mine Marvel ad campaigns they had in their books.
Initially, I was drawn to various titles because of who the artist was on those books. I was a huge fan of artists John Byrne, George Perez, Neal Adams and Frank Miller. Those names may not be that familiar to the average person, but they are legends in the field and brought so many great books to comic stores and many years later became the source material for many of Marvel and DC’s most successful movies.
One of my favorite series started with the Uncanny X-men # 94. This was the first time the X-men as most of us know them were formed with Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Marvel Girl (Jean Grey who later became Phoenix). Writer Chris Claremont had one of the longest runs on any comic series, and his work with artist John Byrne became legendary. Two X-men movies were based on their work the most recent X-men movie Days of Future Past (comics X-Men 141-142 now collected) and X-Men Last Stand (X-men 134-137).
I would be remiss if I did not list the work of artist and writer Frank Miller as some of the best ever done in comics. His work on Daredevil ( Daredevil 158- 181) in which he created Elektra and Stick were ground breaking. Although the Daredevil and Elektra movies were not that great, the source material is outstanding and well worth finding at your local comic shop or library. Without the books and creators mentioned above, you would not have seen the Captain America, Iron Man, Thor or Avengers movies.
When I started reading comics, there were few if any women writers or artists. Today there are a number of wonderful women artists and writers. Gail Simone, Jill Thompson, Kelly Sue Deconnick, Sara Pichelli are all doing great work. Kelly Sue wrote Ms. Marvel which will become a movie in a few years. Ms. Marvel was recently updated with Kamala Khan as the new Ms. Marvel which has become a very popular book.
Now there is a Women of Marvel Podcast which features women who work on Marvel Comics. Also ahead on Netflix will be the Jessica Jones series bases on the Alias comic written by Brian Michael Bendis. There are more female readers than ever following these titles and others.
I am still reading a number of books each month but often wait for a story arc to be completed and put into a graphic novel. Black Widow by Phil Noto, Magneto by Cullen Bunn, She Hulk written by Charles Soule are some of my recent favorite collected books.
The monthly titles I am reading would include Wonder Woman written by Meredith Finch. Thor, Old Man Logan (about Wolverine) and some of the new Star Wars books are worth checking out. Over the years I have been interested in more independent publishers who put out Walking Dead, Saga, The Bunker and Letter 44 which are all more adult oriented non-superhero books. I still love reading good stories with great artists and have no plans to stop as long as they are entertaining.
Ethical ELA talks to Paul:
EE: Do you remember who introduced you to comics or did you find them on your own?
PB:My earliest recollection was that I found comics at a drug store on the old spinner rack, and I think I liked one of the covers. I am sure my Dad probably had to buy it for me since I doubt I had any money.
EE: Were you allowed to read comics in school? Did you hide them under your books or homework? I have lots of students who feel like they need to sneak them.
PB:I never read comics at school because back then the comics I bought would have been valuable, and I would not have wanted them to be damaged, so I would read them and bag and board them for storage. If I had a tablet then, I would have access to them any where.
EE:Do you think reading comics made you a better reader, thinker?
PB:I started to read comics which lead me to be interested in art and also reading novels. I did not mind reading my school books, but I really wanted to read best selling novels usually thrillers or mysteries. I think my verbal SAT skills were above average because I read so much.
EE:Why do you think students should read comics?
PB:Students should read comics to be entertained and enjoy a good story just like anyone else would. They can learn to appreciate different types of art styles and increase their vocabulary without having to work at it. Comics can be addictive because you read them fast and if you like a certain artist or writer then you want to follow them from book to book be it Wolverine to X-Men.
Do you read comics with your ELA students? Which ones?