I like to share. Over the course of this blog, I’ve shared my writings, some of my taste in music, and yes my love-life. However, one aspect that I consider very important to my identity has been rather neglected. I speak of my biggest hobby of all, my first love. Comics. There are many facets to the complexity that is me Ray, but if anyone is interested in truly knowing the core of my being then you must know that I am ultimately.. a bigass comic geek. I used to go to the comic shop every Wednesday. I used to scour for good deals at used bookstores and comic conventions. I collected thousands of periodicals across all genres, and filled my various bedrooms with dozens of boxes. At last count, I had about 40 boxes. They contain over a hundred issues each, do the math. I have less now, that’s another story, but still a ton of these back in my dad’s closet in Indiana of all places.
Now imagine 40 of these.
To introduce this series detailing my great interest in the sequential art form, let me begin with profile links from my extensive Goodreads:
According to my Goodreads shelves, I have read over 1000 graphic novels (I think it’s more, that’s just what I recalled to list)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/765636?shelf=comics
There are all kinds, all genres. But I must admit mostly superhero- https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/765636?shelf=superhero
Split into DC and Marvel (I’m more into DC, least I used to be) https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/765636?shelf=dc https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/765636?shelf=marvel
Re: Superman
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/765636?shelf=superman
Also, quite a lot of Japanese manga
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/765636?shelf=manga
Such as the fun volumes of Shonen Jump https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/765636?shelf=shonen-janpu
The “God of Manga” Osamu Tezuka
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/765636?shelf=tezuka
I do, of course, contend that comics are as literature as prose books Noting DC’s adult imprint Vertigo
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/765636?shelf=vertigo
Indie as well, all that which defies classification https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/765636?shelf=indie
My favorite authors:
Grant Morrison
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/765636?shelf=grant-morrison
Alan Moore
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/765636?shelf=alan-moore
Warren Ellis
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/765636?shelf=warren-ellis
Neil Gaiman
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/765636?shelf=gaiman
Geoff Johns
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/765636?shelf=geoff-johns
Ray-Comics 
My entire collection (thousands of items) is still stored into several boxes at my parents’ house. Every time I go back my mom brings up the topic and begs me to get rid of it…
LikeLiked by 1 person
We are kindred souls, mate.
LikeLike
I also love comics but I do not have this kind of huge collection!
At home I still have about 200manga volumes and few “normal” things like Asterix and Obelix. Most comics I read were borrowed from friends so if I would have bought everything I read I would be a very poor man now as it is definetely several thousand volumes I have burned through
LikeLiked by 1 person
Borrowing from friends is a great way to afford reading as much as you can!
I’ll do a post about Asterix eventually. But not for a while, I got into it relatively recently. Note: The Shenzhen Children’s Library has English edition Asterix volumes for free rental… 🙂
What manga do you like?
LikeLike
I read Asterix as a child and watched the cartoon movies (still got them recorded on VHS!)
I read all kind of manga, actually so many different that I have no clue anymore what it all was by no.nonly thing I can tell you is that I read for eight years at least 10 to 15 volumes a week, on a few weekends even that amount alone on a single day…
At home I do still got all dragonball manga and several others however the majority (99%) I borrowed or even read online…perhaps I still find the website where I have made a list of few manga read and anime watch
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh my god, I did not find the manga list anymore however I found an anime list…glancing on those titles I dont even remember most of them, I guess the list is from around 2009! http://myanimelist.net/animelist/EvilSaku
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow that’s a lot of stuff. I love superhero comics, but I don’t read many as they are pricey when you consider how quickly you can read through an issue. I see you have read Gantz. I enjoyed both the anime and manga.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah I wish I read more of Gantz. Admission: I read most of those at Barnes & Noble or the library. Lots of ways to affordable read as much as you can. It’s true that American comics are often way too expensive.
Did Gantz ever reveal the mystery of what the hell was going on? Feel free to share spoilers. I wasn’t sure the mangaka knew what he was doing, like he was just making it us as he went along as an excuse to draw awesome violent scenes, if so it’s still good.
LikeLike
Yeah they did touch upon what the Gantz balls were. Later on the story shifts to the Earth battling an alien invasion
LikeLike
I used to read comic books before! Now… I don’t have time… hahaha. And not many options in China either.
My favourite comic of all times is Calvin and Hobbes 🙂 Close seconds are Watchmen, Top Ten, Transmetropolitan and Persepolis.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very good taste. Big fan of all of those. I recently watched a documentary about the elusive Calvin & Hobbes scribe. Alan Moore and Warren Ellis YES. Persepolis is totally brilliant as well, a very powerful autobiography.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like you better now. Hahahahha. But seriously, no seriously, my brother and I loved going to the comic book store when we were kids. I was into DC more than Marvel as well. I collected Wonder Woman and then I was gifted the whole Sailor Moon collection. Crazy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: My History of Comics | Ray H to the C
Pingback: COMICS FAN | Ray Hecht