Hickey: Comic books more than superheroes

As someone who got into comic books late, I always felt left out when my friends discussed… As someone who got into comic books late, I always felt left out when my friends discussed them.

When they debated the relative merits of different Batman storylines and pondered the mysteries that could be concealed in Alan Moore’s beard, I felt like I was missing out on something awesome.

Comics seemed to be something that, like a great TV show you didn’t hear about until the third season, I was too late picking up. But it wasn’t so. At 17, I got into comics gradually between the end of high school and the summer after freshman year, and you can do it at any age.

Debate over the distinction between “comics” and “graphic novels” is fierce, but it’s also quite unproductive. Some people believe the difference lies in the binding, and others apply the terms the way libraries wield “fiction” versus “literature” — as an arbitrary standard based on someone’s idea of artistic value. Mostly out of stubbornness, I use the terms interchangeably.

Thankfully, everyone agrees on certain units of comic book measurement: a single “issue” is the slim, staple-bound chapter that a series publishes monthly, while “trade paperbacks” are soft-cover volumes containing several issues.

I eased myself into  comics with a trio of “men” — “Watchmen,” “Sandman” and “Y: The Last Man.” The first two have had tangible impacts on the genre of graphic novels as a whole.

Alan Moore’s “Watchmen” examines the apocalyptic consequences of the existence of real-life superheroes and precipitated a shift toward darker and more sophisticated comic book plotlines. Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman” follows the struggles of the personified King of Dreams, while creating its own mythology and weaving beautiful, multilayered stories within it. Both works have challenged the literary community’s hesitance to accept comics as literature by winning awards intended for “real” novels. “Watchmen” is the only graphic novel to make Time’s All Time 100 Greatest Novels list, and an issue of “Sandman” won the 1991 World Fantasy Award for short fiction.

Brian K. Vaughan’s “Y: The Last Man” remains my personal favorite series. Its premise is a sudden plague that eradicates every mammal with a Y chromosome except for Yorick Brown and his pet monkey. Yorick is a great character, but his traveling companions, whip-smart Dr. Allison Mann and consummate badass Agent 355 delightfully steal the show.

Despite my focus on “men,” “Y: The Last Man” has feminist themes and both it and “Sandman” feature dynamic, interesting female characters. Alan Moore is less progressive — his work is often gratuitously sexual, he has a fetish for May-December romances and he frequently kills off his lesbian characters — but “Watchmen” is good enough to compensate.

Unless you feel a really strong pull towards the Hulk or Spiderman, I’d advise beginners to avoid superhero narratives. With their 1930s roots, thousands of incarnations, rotating writers and turbulent, death- and resurrection-packed storylines, superhero comics can be overwhelming.

I also suggest you begin with a complete, collected series. Trade paperbacks look and feel like books, and they spare you the trouble of tracking down individual issues, and the benefit of a finished series is that you don’t have to wait a month for a new installment to learn what happens next. Without the patience of an established comic dork, it’s easy to lose interest during that month-long wait, as life intervenes and that series you used to follow drops lower and lower on your list of priorities.

If you have a strong preference for traditional literary fare, I would recommend starting with a graphic novel memoir. Craig Thompson’s “Blankets” is a moving story about first love. Alison Bechdel’s “Fun Home” is lyrical and rich with insights about gender, sexuality and family. Also under this umbrella is Art Spiegelman’s well-known Holocaust allegory “Maus” — though I haven’t read it, it’s one of the most universally respected graphic novels.

When I picked my friends’ brains as a still-inexperienced comic geek, they recommended “Johnny the Homicidal Maniac” from Jhonen Vasquez, the creator of the popular cartoon “Invader Zim.” I’m told this graphic novel is exactly what it sounds like —.

To this list I add another of Moore’s works. “V for Vendetta,” now a hit movie starring Natalie Portman, envisions a dystopian future where the British government is ruled by a dictator. Another recommendation from the writer is “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,” which provides a fascinating take on several well-known literary figures.

Vaughan hits a home run with “Ex Machina,” the tale of a New York City superhero who prevents the second Twin Tower from falling and then runs for mayor — but this series is still ongoing, so don’t start unless you have the patience to wait.

If you never got into comics or thought you were too late, now is the perfect time to explore the genre.