I keep this book shelf right next to my computer desk at home. There are plenty of times I’ve wanted to reread one of my graphic novels or just appreciate the art on the page. The other reason this shelf is kept next to my person on a regular basis is that this shelf is a trip down memory lane for me. I can remember buying and reading these stories for the first time, and many of them can send me back in time.
I started reading X-Men comics in those giant, black and white Essential collections, first picking up whatever my local library had and then buying the new ones as they were released. The problem is the design for those collections changed multiple times and now my shelf looks like a hot mess. That third volume on my shelf is the original design of those collections and it looks crazy out of place with the others! Those collections are the reason I’m an X-Men fan, being the first comic books I ever read.
The Batman: No Man’s Land books were the first Batman comics I ever bought and were my first entry into Batman’s comic book world. I had seen the Batman Animated Series and movies up to that point, but I still had plenty of questions while reading that story. But, any confusion I had was overshadowed by how exciting it was to read, a huge story with a parade of classic Bat-Villains in a post-apocalyptic setting. The only problem was my local comic book store didn’t have the last volume, so I had to wait months for a copy to come in! No Man’s Land set my tastes for comics in a big way and influenced The Dark Knight Rises, Batman: Arkham City and the last season of Gotham!
I don’t own enough Hulk comics, but Future Imperfect was one of the very first comics I had ever read, just picking any random book that my library had. I didn’t know anything about the Hulk at the time, the move wasn’t even out yet! It’s a short read, with the smart, talking Hulk sent into the future to fight an evil version of himself. I was thoroughly confused but I didn’t care. I was just along for the ride (and the art is great)!
I remember going to my local comic book store and picking up the Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller’s Daredevil and Watchman all at once. The owner of the shop looked at the stack and said, “Hey, you have great taste!” I made sure not to tell him I hadn’t read any of them yet and that I was buying them because I saw them on a list of “best comics ever”. I preferred being thought of as someone with good taste.
I had been given some Christmas money a little early, so we went to the bookstore that afternoon and I picked up Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman, since I loved his other comics work. It’s an alternate take on the Marvel Universe, showing what it would look like if it had started in the year 1602. It’s not a short read, but I was hooked and stayed up all night during Christmas Eve reading that story. I’m still a fan of Gaiman today.
Then there’s the reference books, in case I ever really need a reminder about characters or stories I forgot. Because I’m an X-Men/Marvel fan with a love for Batman, I tend to need the DC Encyclopedia more when lesser known characters show up, but the Marvel one can be helpful for obscure characters. And I also have my copy of the 80s Marvel tabletop RPG, in case it’s needed (it’s not needed enough!).
Whenever I look at this shelf, I’m reminded of walking to the comic store with what little money I had, getting whatever looked cool and exciting and reading them over and over as soon as I got home.
Eric Mikols, Library Associate
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