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So, the subject matter for my first entry in what I hope to keep a fairly regular journal? Answer: Comic books.

I am officially addicted to comic books.

Originally, I only read manga, rather than it's American counterpart, but then something happened: my brother continuously insulted me. Yes, that's how it started. Someone ragging on me for reading Japanese comics rather than American.

I eventually decided I was reasonably interested in reading some American comics again, (the last one I think I read was when I was like 9 or something... so it's been a long time,) so my brother helped me download utorrent (pronounced "mew" torrent) and got me started with a few comics. Afterwards I basically became a rabid zombie for them and I think my manga phase is officially over (now I just need something to do with the 40 manga volumes up on my bookshelf...).

Alright, so there's the jist of how I got started. Now, to discuss some actual comic books. First off, Preacher.

Preacher is completely bad a**. I wouldn't recommend it for everyone considering it follows the Reverend Jesse Custer on a quest to find god and, subsequently, kick his a** for abandoning humanity by leaving his heavenly throne to mess around on Earth. Included in this story is Jesse's gun toting girlfriend Tulip, his friend Cassidy (who happens to be a century old vampire), the Saint of Killers who god conned into replacing the angel of death, and The Grail, an organization who has been keeping the bloodline of Christ alive by forcing his offspring to inbreed for centuries.

Hilarity ensues.

Then there's Transmetropolitan, a kind of sci-fi comedy set in the future. It's main character is Spider Jerusalem, a journalist who only wants to live in the mountains but is forced back into the corrupt city by the fact he signed a three book contract and has failed to deliver. This one was particularly funny and Spider has to be just about the most hard-core journalist ever.

And then of course: Batman. I love Batman. Not all the comics obviously, but there are a lot of worth-while reads. So far my favorites are The Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke (i own this one), The Long Halloween, Gotham By Gaslight, and Arkham Asylum: a Serious house on a Serious Earth. So here's a brief rundown on all of those:

The Dark Knight Returns= The title says it all. Bruce Wayne once again dons his Bat suit after years of retirement.
The Killing Joke= Batman finds The Joker has escaped from Arkham Asylum for the criminally insane (again...) on a trip there to try to settle things with the clown prince of crime. After The Joker commits several crimes against the Gordons, Batman must hunt him down.
The Long Halloween= A crime noir style graphic novel about Batman trying to find and stop the aptly named serial killer "Holiday". Spanning 13 books there are tons of appearances from classic Batman villains as well, such as The Joker, Scarecrow, The Mad Hatter, and plenty others.
Gotham By Gaslight= Set in an alternate time, Bruce Wayne is accused of being Jack the Ripper after he returns from England and the attacks that were occurring there continue in Gotham.
Arkham Asylum: a Serious house on a Serious Earth= Someone lets the inmates of Arkham Asylum loose, and they quickly proceed to take the staff hostage. Seeing as how it's filled to the brim with enemies of Batman, they use the hostages as leverage to demand he be sent into Arkham alone. You get to see more about the man who built Arkham and what secrets it's winding passageways hold as Batman fights to survive.

So those are my favorites...... Oh, Batman year one was good to. It basically just retells Batman's beginnings as the caped crusader. Currently I'm downloading the first 30 issues of Batman so that I can read some of the classics..... Eventually I'll download all 675 issues but I have to do it in chunks for now lest it take an eternity.

Also I read a giant book about the history of comic books that talked about all the publishers and genres there have been....... That took just about forever, lemme tell ya.

-Luna