Time to Read These Books

 So, here in the US, the days are getting shorter, the nights longer, and the evenings cold enough to make staying inside for the night seem like a very good idea — especially if one has a few trades to catch up on.

I don’t know about you, but I find myself thinking about trades as books that I will turn to long after my monthly comic book collecting days are gone. (Whether or not that actually happens — time will tell; I will make sure to tweet about it at the very least.)  Many of my books I buy are meant to last me for the rest of my days, or at the very least, future hand-me-downs for coming generations.  Which is to say, I tend to buy them and let them sit awhile before I actually take the time to read them.

I have a few laying about and thought I’d discuss them with you, and am very curious to see which trades you have saved for a rainy day (or weekend–you see the size of that Simonson Thor Omnibus?).

Like the rest of the iFanboy staff, I am a big Darwyn Cooke fan, and I just picked up what I think is probably the finest trade publication of the year: Parker: The Martini Edition, which includes the first two Parker books, The Hunter and The Outfit, alongside an all new story [note: it includes The Man With the Getaway Face and another story], as well as a ton of art, interviews and other stuff. This book is massive. Physically, it’s “taller” than your normal Absolute editions from DC, so, like Wednesday Comics, your going to have your work cut out for you to figure out where to store it (I put a CD next to the book to give you an idea of the size in the image below). I have only gone through a bit, but I can tell you without a doubt that it’s worth double-dipping — even if you have the other books, you will not believe how great the art looks on these huge pages. It’s jaw dropping and should be at the top of your gift wish list if you are into that kind of thing.  I can see this selling out, by the way so you may want to pre-order it.  I realize it won’t come out for another month, so I have included a few pictures to give you a taste…it’s awesome.

Martini Edition, Straight Up

Though I have started it, I have not given The Rocketeer: The Complete Deluxe Adventures by Dave Stevens its proper due. I was surprised that, for all the (very much warranted) praise that these stories have received, there really is not a whole lot of book to get through — indeed, this (beautiful) hardcover tome is “only” 248 pages. Of course, this is truly a case of quality over quantity; this is a great collection and as much as I enjoyed reading it, I actually paused for a bit because I didn’t want to read it too quickly, preferring to savor the experience for awhile. Still, flipping through pages…Dave Stevens…wow…his art is just insane. Truly beautiful work.

I bought One Soul by Ray Fawkes during Comic-Con. Josh told me that he while he appreciated the book, he couldn’t say he enjoyed it, but I saw the art and was really taken by it.  However, I just haven’t gotten into it yet–when I page through it, it’s definitely different–every page is a nine panel grid, which gives the feeling of an almost monotonous progression through the storyline. I am curious about it, though, but it seems like I really need to sit down and hang out with this book, especially after I realized that Fawkes had dedicated to his son Dorian, who died at childbirth.  I just want to give this story its due.

Okay, look: I want to think of myself as a Thor fan probably because he’s always been a character that everyone else seems to like and, being a fan of Norse and Greek mythology since I was a little kid, it’s a natural fit. And while I had heard the guys discuss this fabled Walt Simonson run, I had zero experience with it. So, my purchase of the Thor by Walt Simonson Omnibus was very much a kind of investment in my knowledge of comic books, not necessarily something I couldn’t wait to pick up — I really wanted to know what the buzz was all about and be able to speak about it with some authority, you know? (What we do for the iFanbase, I tell ya!) However…you know how some of these books are rainy day books? Well, this is “snowed in for a week” affair.  At almost 1,200 pages, this is a commitment.  It looks awesome, and I have a good feeling about it, but man, do I live in the wrong climate for this kind of thing.

The other two Marvel Omnibuses (Omnibae? Omniboo?) that have been waiting patiently are Captain America and Astonishing X-Men, which does count as quite the double dip, given that I had most of the Cap issues and all of the Astonishing issues. However, it is a lot easier to grab these books from the bookshelf than to brave that downstairs closet, and I am really looking forward to going back in time a bit to experience these runs again. And now that I am playing Batman: Arkham City, I am looking at my Absolute Batman: The Long Halloween with new found interest, though I guess I could just read the much-easier-to-read-in-bed paperback version two shelves above it.

And that’s the challenge with these massive tomes. As awesome as they look on your bookshelf, they are ridiculously hard to actually read unless you have a desktop book stand, a sturdy table, a great reading light, and a comfortable (but not too comfortable chair).  Which brings me to my last book, the one that has been waiting, patiently, for me to attempt to open for over a year now: 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking by Paul Levitz, which measures at 16x12x3 and weighs 16 pounds. Paul Montgomery has a great workout/review of the book in iFanboy Video Podcast #196 — if you haven’t seen it, you need to.

Finally, a book that I had to pick up that doesn’t have much to do with comics but has everything to do with appreciating fantastic art, is The Art of Pixar, 25th Anniversary by Amid Amidi. This is not your normal collection of concept illustrations and background paintings. This “widescreen” book contains all of the “colorscripts” from 25 years of Pixar animation, and it is a delight to behold, especially if are interested in visual storytellings.  A colorscript is…well, what it sounds like: the narrative of a story expressed in colors.  Presented in long strips (not unlike a film strip), the scenes of the movie are drawn, sometimes with recognizable characters, sometimes only with abstract shapes. It’s a side of animation production that I knew nothing about, and I found them fascinating, especially collected like this. It’s as if the movies have been reduced to color poems, and it’s really fun to watch the stories unfold in such a different way.  The last 1/3 of the book features concept art for the rest of the movies, which is equally inspiring. If you know someone who is into animation or would appreciate seeing a different side of Pixar’s creative process, this is a natural gift.

Having too many great books to read is a great problem to have, though you do end up having those internal arguments with your inner financial advisor more than a few times. I am really hoping that once things slow down a bit (they never do, but I never stop hoping) that I will be able to get in some comfortable position and read these books. These large format tomes provide the physical experience that monthly comics hint at and digital comics can never replicate — a way to see the art in a whole new way. When you see the brush strokes and the characters in this way, it’s just a different kind of experience. The Parker trade especially–given the book-size format of the original editions, this is like seeing Star Wars for the first time on IMAX after only seeing it on TV.  Same kind of thing.

How about you? As you look at your bookshelves, which books are you finally ready to crack open?  Maybe we should do a book club–that’ll force us to get through them, no?

Mike Romo is an actor in Los Angeles. You can reach him through email, visit his Facebook page, connect with him on Google +, and follow him on Twitter.