Comics...

I just came back from the local "cards and comics" show and I'm thrilled with some of my findings.

One item I bought is a set of cards that I saw once at a con about ten years ago for $50.00 when I couldn't afford it. It's called "Famous Comic Book Creators", and was published in 1991. I've looked for it ever since, hoping for a better price, but prepared to pay $50 just because I want it so much. Today (thanks to Patti, who spotted a table of card sets at reduced prices) I got the set for $4.00.

No, I don't collect cards generally, but this has such special meaning for me. It's a thrill. Each card has a picture of a comic book writer, artist, or whatever, with his biography on the back. Many of these are people I've met - some of the great heroes of my pantheon, like Will Eisner and Moebius and Neil Gaiman and Scott McCloud and Stan Sakai - others who have become friends, and still others I have heard about for decades but have never met, like Howard Cruse and Matt Wagner and Marie Severin -I had no idea what they looked like. Some of the pictures are delightfully bizarre, like that of Trina Robbins. Larry Marder - I haven't thought about him in years. Fred Kida - I'd forgotten his existence, but enjoyed his work. Todd MacFarlane, trying to look like one of his own heroes - and not doing a bad job. Bill Sienkievicz, looking like one of his characters: a good trick. Jim Shooter looking more like one of his own villains - I don't even know what happened to him. Is he selling cars in Florida now? No, no, I mustn't be snarky. Mark Verheiden (now one of the Smallvile producers) is in there, too.

In his card, Neil Gaiman looks cool. You'd think that writing comics (and books) would be the thing he does best, but no. Brilliant as he is when it comes to writing, Gaiman's best thing is looking cool.

It's a trip down my personal memory lane and a long-time comic-fan's dream.

As to comics themselves, I got all the issues of the current series of Catwoman that I was missing, and some early issues of Gotham Central which got by me before I learned how much I liked Ed Brubaker's writing, and Superman/Batman #2, which I'd missed. I'll subscribe now; it's good, though I'm not mad over the art. But the writing by Jeph Loeb is superb.

Some days it feels really great to be a fan.

I also got to talk to two good friends who are comic book professionals whom I haven't seen much of in the past few years - I used to go to the San Diego Comic Con every year with one of them. They saw my Smallville tote bad and teased me for my fannishness, but that's okay, they're fans too.