Comic Book Guy

I've been given an opportunity recently to delve into comic books, so after asking around some more knowledgeable people than I, I drove to my nearest comic book shop to get some titles and some recommendations from my local Comic Book Guy.

He was trying to help, he really was, and perhaps I gave him too vague an idea of what I wanted, but I learned a thing or two about asking a Comic Book Guy for help.

They take that shit really really seriously.

I know very little about comics so I told him I'd like something that would give me an idea of the pacing and structure of a graphic novel, something like A History of Violence. I probably mentioned A History of Violence four times during our conversation, and he waved me away and said I shouldn't read it. He pointed at some things I could read, then told me I shouldn't read those either. He wanted me to go home and do some research before I came back.

He was a perfectly nice guy, and once we started talking about movies we had a very pleasant conversation. And I appreciate that he didn't just pluck some random titles off the shelf and hand them to me so he could make a little money, but instead of consulting Wikipedia I was consulting him, the expert, and I didn't need the PERFECT comic. I just wanted one that would give me an idea of how you structure a story. In order to write movies you have to watch them. In order to write comics you have to read them. I need to read them. Lots of them. I was prepared to spend some money. Perhaps I should have just said that: "Hey I don't need the perfect comic. Just give me one that I might like. Here are the things I like." But he is the expert and I wanted to take his advice.

In the end the one title he did allow me to buy after almost sending me away empty handed was "One that's very popular with girls."

See, this is a lot of why I never read comic books to begin with.