c0m1x p463 #0n3
In my head , at least, I’m organizing my comics into several categorical collections. These include:
Collections By Character/Group
Most of these–most of all of these, actually–are comic books I had had as a kid but sold or gave away when I caught the occasional case of “growing up.” X-Men we loved for the metaphor we were unconscious of (and the swears); Cerebus we loved because it made references to X-Men; Batman in Detective Comics was the brooding loner hero (safe 70s/80s version) we all wanted to be; JLA was every power we ever wanted to have; Swamp Thing the man trapped in the monster’s body (how could adolescent boys not like this?), the plant creature connected to everything … Later Cerebus (still fascinating) and Bone, of course, I picked up later, and fell in love with. These combined probably explained more about life than anything save Whitman.
- Bone Collection
- Cerebus Collection
- Detective Comics/Batman Collection
- Justice League of America Collection
- Swamp Thing Collection
- X-Men Collection
Collections By Artist/Writer
Although there are more established or mainstream comix artists and writers I love (Bill Sienkiewicz, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, for example), less exposed, less prolific talent has a special, dark, twisted place in my heart. The artists and writers I include below are chosen strictly based on who excites me enough to make the effort to collect everything they’ve ever done. (Plus, who’s produced little enough that I can see maybe accomplishing that goal at some point.) Knudtsen is (if you believe his public persona) a vodka-swilling extended adolescent with a rough, sort of expressionist style with energy that makes up for its occasional technical misses. Burns, if you don’t know, does very strange stories with very strange characters in very strange, alienating, suffocating, paranoid cityscapes and landscapes.
- Charles Burns Collection
- Ken Knudtsen Collection
Collections By Genre
Horror is the only genre-as-genre I’m interested in (as opposed to a “theme”-based collection, like nurse comics, as nurse comics often straddled genre lines between romance, medical drama, and adventure). My main interest here is Charlton horror, specifically those published at the end of the Silver Age and throughout the Bronze Age. Many of them are not very scary, certainly not as gory as the pre-Code EC comics of the 1950s. But I like their innocence, and titles like “Creepy Things” and “Monster Hunters” have appealed to me since childhood. There are a few Marvels and DCs in this category, too.
-
Horror Collection
Collections By Publisher
- Charlton Favorites Collection
- Slave Labor Graphics Collection
Collections By Theme
- Devil Collection
- Halloween Collection
- Medical/Doctor Collection
- Nostalgia Collection (Mainstream)
- Nostalgia Collection (Alternative/Underground)
- Nurse Collection
Other Collections
- Mini-Comics Collection
- (Sentimental Favorites Collection)
