Comics

Today as I was walking past the Starbucks in the library of the school where I teach when I noticed a new shelf. It was full of what are often referred to as graphic novels by people who want to pretend that they're not reading comic books. The main differences are that they are usually collections of a run of comic books with better quality of paper and you don't want your kids reading them. Right away I found three titles that I either have or have been meaning to read. That was without even looking at most of the titles. I picked up Alan Moore's Watchmen and Neil Gaiman's Stardust. I also noticed a teacher near me eying up the comics. He checked out Frank Miller's Batman: Year One based on my recommendation.

I realize that the comics are there for the students and I really wish I had students who were high enough of an English level to be able to read them. As I'm familiar with the stories of all three books, I know that the students would like the stories. With that in mind, I can recommend the movie versions of all three to them. I'd like to think that there are some students in the college that are sitting there reading them.

As for me, I was glad that I had a folder with me to smuggle the books back to my desk. Despite what some might think, I have enough self-respect to want to keep them hidden. It's bad enough that my co-workers think I'm about 13-years-old. I don't need to be supplying them with evidence.