Day 7: Faster Than A Speeding Bullet

Yesterday, Flash #225 hit the comic book stores. Since resourceress and cheshcat were going to be right next to my comic book store, I asked them to pick up a copy for me so that I could have it waiting for when I got home. This is the first time in I-don't-know-how-long that I've been anxiously awaiting a specific comic book to come out, and sweeping it up immediately after it hits the stands.

Honestly, it brings back memories. In recent years, I have picked up several weeks worth of comic books at each trip to the comic store, and I rarely read a storyline until all the issues in hit have come out (single issue comic book stories are quite rare these days). However, back in high school and college (and even part of grad school), the weekly pilgrimage to the comic book store was very much apart of my pre-nomadic existence. In my Hampshire College days, new comic books came out on Thursdays; RRG and I would go pick up our books, then she and I would spend the rest of the evening in my dorm room reading them.

Even back then, though, having one particular issue that must be read now is an uncommon occurence. I remember, back in 1988, walking the mile trek to the comic book store to pick up Iron Man #240, because I had to know how the Iron Man / Justin Hammer / Ghost storyline played out. I remember, back in 1993, buying a copy of Batman #497 during an outing in Manhattan with some friends because I couldn't wait until the next day to see Bane break Batman's back. Moments like these are few and far between. Actually, I can't remember the last time there was a comic book that I had to read immediately. Must be at least a few years...

So, then, what spurred all the excitement? Well, I have been a fan of the Wally West Flash since the late 1980s. I stopped reading the book during Mark Waid's run, but recently decided to try it again with the current "Rogue War" storyline. The story started off moderately interesting and then, at the end of issue #224, the Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen, shows up. Barry has been dead since the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline that revolutionized the DC universe in the mid-1980s. He died a heroic death. However, death in comic books means little. Marvel Comics has brought back everyone from Jean Grey (dead five years) to Norman Osborn (dead twenty-three years) to losers like Wong Chu (dead thirty-seven years). As a general rule, though, DC has been more respectful of the dead. However, in the past couple of years, DC has brought back Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) and Hal Jordan (Green Lantern). A couple of months ago, after Hal came back, I was in my local comic shop venting at the owner that no one was staying dead anymore except for Jason Todd (the second Robin, killed by a reader vote in 1989) and Barry Allen. The store owner asked if I had been reading Batman lately. I skimmed some recent issues... apparently even Jason Todd is back. Grrrrr. So, when Barry popped up at the end of Flash #224, I was concerned. If even Barry could not stay dead, I might have to drop out of reading super-hero comics. On the other hand, I know that you cannot believe anything that happens on the last page of a comic book. Got fooled that way when I was a kid, and eventually you learn. I wanted to read the next issue before passing judgment. And, indeed, I was correct to do so. Although the Barry Allen Flash does appear in issue #225, it is a younger Barry traveling through time at some point before he dies. He is gone by the end of the issue, and that's that. And I breathed a sigh of relief...

Yes, yes, I know. I am such a comic book geek... and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Day 7: Faster Than A Speeding Bullet

Yesterday, Flash #225 hit the comic book stores. Since resourceress and cheshcat were going to be right next to my comic book store, I asked them to pick up a copy for me so that I could have it waiting for when I got home. This is the first time in I-don't-know-how-long that I've been anxiously awaiting a specific comic book to come out, and sweeping it up immediately after it hits the stands.

Honestly, it brings back memories. In recent years, I have picked up several weeks worth of comic books at each trip to the comic store, and I rarely read a storyline until all the issues in hit have come out (single issue comic book stories are quite rare these days). However, back in high school and college (and even part of grad school), the weekly pilgrimage to the comic book store was very much apart of my pre-nomadic existence. In my Hampshire College days, new comic books came out on Thursdays; RRG and I would go pick up our books, then she and I would spend the rest of the evening in my dorm room reading them.

Even back then, though, having one particular issue that must be read now is an uncommon occurence. I remember, back in 1988, walking the mile trek to the comic book store to pick up Iron Man #240, because I had to know how the Iron Man / Justin Hammer / Ghost storyline played out. I remember, back in 1993, buying a copy of Batman #497 during an outing in Manhattan with some friends because I couldn't wait until the next day to see Bane break Batman's back. Moments like these are few and far between. Actually, I can't remember the last time there was a comic book that I had to read immediately. Must be at least a few years...

So, then, what spurred all the excitement? Well, I have been a fan of the Wally West Flash since the late 1980s. I stopped reading the book during Mark Waid's run, but recently decided to try it again with the current "Rogue War" storyline. The story started off moderately interesting and then, at the end of issue #224, the Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen, shows up. Barry has been dead since the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline that revolutionized the DC universe in the mid-1980s. He died a heroic death. However, death in comic books means little. Marvel Comics has brought back everyone from Jean Grey (dead five years) to Norman Osborn (dead twenty-three years) to losers like Wong Chu (dead thirty-seven years). As a general rule, though, DC has been more respectful of the dead. However, in the past couple of years, DC has brought back Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) and Hal Jordan (Green Lantern). A couple of months ago, after Hal came back, I was in my local comic shop venting at the owner that no one was staying dead anymore except for Jason Todd (the second Robin, killed by a reader vote in 1989) and Barry Allen. The store owner asked if I had been reading Batman lately. I skimmed some recent issues... apparently even Jason Todd is back. Grrrrr. So, when Barry popped up at the end of Flash #224, I was concerned. If even Barry could not stay dead, I might have to drop out of reading super-hero comics. On the other hand, I know that you cannot believe anything that happens on the last page of a comic book. Got fooled that way when I was a kid, and eventually you learn. I wanted to read the next issue before passing judgment. And, indeed, I was correct to do so. Although the Barry Allen Flash does appear in issue #225, it is a younger Barry traveling through time at some point before he dies. He is gone by the end of the issue, and that's that. And I breathed a sigh of relief...

Yes, yes, I know. I am such a comic book geek... and I wouldn't have it any other way.