FCBD08 -- Jay

I have a really long list of things I love.

At least, I say I love them, but then I don’t spend nearly enough time with them. I guess I love the idea of loving them more than taking the time to genuinely explore my love with them.

Like history. I love history! And sometimes I’ll get into a love affair with history and think, “I need to know more about the Renaissance!” Then I’ll do tons of research to find the perfect book about that time period, I’ll buy the book, and after twenty or thirty pages…I’m over it.

Or space. I love outer space! One of my friends teaches astronomy, and sometimes we’ll go camping and he’ll teach a group of us about the constellations, and I’ll think, “I need to know more about space exploration!” But pretty soon…I’m onto something else.

I also love comic books! As a kid, my favorite was the entire line of Archie comics. Riverdale High School rocks!!! But then I stopped reading any comics at all. Over the past few years, though, they’ve been piquing my interest again. Some of my friends are really into comics, and I always ask them to buy me the cream o’ the crop for my birthday. Usually, they’ll bring me their favorites titles from the previous year as well as a couple they think I’ll like. And I always love what I read!

But then I never go out and buy my own.

Last week, I saw an ad announcing Free Comic Book Day, which is always the first Saturday in May. For seven years now, all around the world, comic book stores have been celebrating FCBD. And this past Saturday, I finally enjoyed the festivities down at my local comic book store, Captain Nemo…

I spent a long time analyzing the titles on the racks from which we could choose two comic books created specifically for FCBD…

And then I went to the counter where the staff selected a non-FCBD comic just for me. That’s three for free!!!

Then I went straight home and started reading my new books while downing Mountain Dew (I guess it's a comic book culture thing...I saw a few people drinking it inside Capt. Nemo).

Now, if you're still one of those people who think comic books aren’t a respectable art, then you definitely haven’t read Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics. Go read it now! It's amazing!!!

- Jay



Bonus Coolness: Thirteen Reasons Why, along with Revolution is Not a Dinner Party by Ying Chang Compestine, just won the California Book Award for Young Adult Literature, given each year to books written by California authors. And that's really cool for two reasons. One, both books were represented by the same literary agent...the amazing Laura Rennert! And two, from what I understand about the population distribution of the United States...California is huge!!!