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Dwayne's Reading List, Revisited
About a year ago, in an earlier incarnation of this column, I made a shameful confession: I spend a lot of time on Usenet. Whenever someone walks into my office and catches me online, I usually just pretend to be looking at porn. But the truth is I'm probably reading newsgroups. Worse yet, comic book newsgroups. In addition to my confession, I also have an observation: no one on Usenet ever seems to be talking about comics.
Or, I should say, no one there is talking about the content of comics. Lots of folks are talking about Marvel's debt load, or Paul Levitz's publishing decisions, or how we can save the industry by offering comics for ninety-nine cents, or for free (free might work, but ninety-nine cents definitely won't--trust me on this), or which big-name freelancer will never again work for which major publisher. Worthy and interesting topics all. And I, of course, posses the only defensible position on these controversies, and so many more. Eventually, I will share these magnificent insights with you, so you too can appear to be a knowledgeable comic book insider. You'll be the hit of the cocktail circuit. Imagine yourself sauntering over to the tall brunette in the black evening gown, offering her a fresh champagne glass, and wooing her with an arch insight into how much money Marvel is saving by reducing the dimensions of their comics one centimeter in each direction. But your implementation of romantic gambits like this one (and the remarkably swift and crushing rejections they will inevitably produce) have to wait for another day. As it turns out, I'm every bit as guilty as Usenet. While I regularly write about comics, I almost never write about their content. But I have an excuse.
I almost never read the things anymore.
Yes, I know. Shameful. But I promise to improve, if you help me. Here's the challenge I presented to my semi-loyal minions last year:
"You guys are going to help me get back into comics.
E-mail me and tell me what I should be reading and why. In a few weeks, I'm going to the comic book store with a couple of hundred bucks and a buy list made up entirely from your suggestions. Then I'll report back. I guess this is going to be a contest. Whoever suggests the book that I like the best will get a prize. I'm not sure what it'll be yet but I promise something substantial. This prize must be awarded. Even if I don't fall absolutely in love with something you guys suggest, I'll award the prize to the patron of the book I like best. In the event of a tie, the prize will go to whoever wrote the best recommendation."
This is a good time to inform new readers and remind old ones that when it comes to graft, I have a very liberal policy: I accept graft (and any reasonable obligations implicit in my acceptance) cheerfully and without question. It's genetic. I've got a lot of cops in my family. So publishers, if you want me to write about your publications, send me free stuff.
That's what I wrote and you guys came through big time, suggesting hundreds of titles for me to read (I've still got the list). Unfortunately, my old column died before I made it to the store. In the graphic novel-friendly spirit of the new Psycomic, I'm asking for fresh entries, but no single-issue comics, this time. Suggestions must be for either graphic novels or trade paperback collections. Old entries that meet these criteria are still good, but I'm looking for new ones, too. Since collections cost more than single issues of comics, I'm upping the spending limit for my shopping spree to four hundred dollars. Okay, maybe five hundred, but that's it. Your assignment is simple, suggest something good for my reading list.
Thanks to you guys, I'm in for hundreds of hours of top-notch comics reading. And you're in for it too; In future installments of this column, I'll pass along my comments on your picks. Look at this as a way to evangelize for your favorite stories and creators in a forum that gets thousands of hits a day.
This is going to be particularly interesting for me, since it's now been about three years since I made a serious trip to a comic store. I'll also report to you on my shopping experience, as well as how tough or easy it is to order the stuff that the stores don't carry.
See you next week.
I'll expect you to have done your homework.
Dwayne McDuffie is the co-creator of Static Shock and Damage Control. His new mini-series, Static Shock: Rebirth Of The Cool, goes on sale November 1st at a comic shop near you. Dwayne is still encouraging people to visit his web site, as he wants to reach 10,000 hits by the millennium..
