The Lingo

When I jumped into comics I didn't know much at all when it came to comic books. I didn't even know what day new comics came out or how often (Wednesday by the way). I didn't realize I needed to learn new vocabulary words either, but I guess like everything else, the comic book world has its own lingo. Some things were pretty easy to figure out but a few I had to look up and experience for myself to understand better. Here are only a  few comic book terms that might be good to understand and my experience with them:

Ages
There are different "ages" of comics, this refers to the years in which the comic was published or the time frame of their publication. Here are the different ages:
- Golden Age: 1938-1950
- Silver Age: 1956-1970
- Bronze Age: 1970-1985
- Modern Age: 1985-Present 

Golden Age Comic

Silver Age Comic

Bronze Age Comic

Modern Age Comic

Back Issue
Back issues refer to comic issue that proceed the current issue. Ex: If you are reading Batman #20, issues 1-19 would be considered back issues. Simple enough. 

When I started getting into comics, I wanted to get some back issues because i didn't know where to start and I felt like I needed something to start a collection with. So, I bought some old Avenger comics of eBay to satisfy me for a while. I found a good deal on some really old Avenger titles in the process. My oldest ones, which are Silver Age comics, are Avengers #26 & #27. They are complete books but not in good shape though. I'm proud of them none the less.

Crossover

In its simplest form, a crossover refers to a character crossing over into another character's title (Ex. Superman crossing over into a Batman issue). Usually a crossover refers to a main story or event crossing over in to multiple titles. In some cases, you may have multiple characters crossing over into multiple titles as the story progresses.

When I started reading my back issues of The Avengers, I came across my first crossover. The story was called "Bloodties" and is a crossover between The Avengers and X-Men. It is a five part story and I only had the first and last ones which are Avengers #368 and  #369. It was rather confusing for a new comic book reader but, after doing some research, I figured out what I needed to complete the story. It included: Avengers #368, X-Men #26, West Coast Avengers #101, Uncanny X-Men #307 and Avengers #369. This was a fun read for me and I really learned a lot with this crossover. 

Continuity
Although this is probably used in other areas besides comic books, you hear the word "Continuity" a lot when it comes to comics. Continuity refers to things taking place within the same universe or story space. If something is "out of continuity", it means it conflicts with stories or things mentioned before. If you don't want to make comic book readers mad, STAY IN CONTINUITY!

Retcon
Retcon is short for "retroactive continuity". This is a creative way, if done correctly, for a writer to alter or change former facts or events. It can also be used to add things to past stories to help with the current one. They would be writing facts in retroactively as if it were there the whole time. A lot of times this is done to bring back dead characters but it can be done with anything, even a character's origin.

One of the best know Retcons, and very controversial, is the Jean Gray and Phoenix Force. Years after Jean Gray died from the events of the Phoenix Saga, Marvel wanted to bring her back but didn't want her responsible for all the killing and destruction from the Phoenix. So they wrote a Retcon as if she was trapped in a cocoon in the bottom of the ocean and the Phoenix only took on her image and personality.  

I think that the "Phoenix Saga", as it's referred to now a days, is one of the most interesting stories I haven't read. I'd like to one day read these for myself instead of reading about it. 

Event

An "event" is used to describe a large story line that usually involves crossovers with multiple titles and characters. For instance, a Batman "event" will involve the bat family and it's characters. The most recent Batman event was "Death of the Family" where the Joker comes back to terrorize the bat family. The titles that were involved in this event were:   Batman, Batgirl, Batman and Robin, Catwoman, Detective Comics, Nightwing, Red Hood and the Outlaws, Suicide Squad, and Teen Titans. (Yes, there are A LOT of Batman titles)

Some events are set up so you don't have to read all the issues in the crossover to understand the story. For me, I only read the Batman and Nightwing titles. I really enjoyed this event too. This was my first time I read a Joker story and thought that Scott Snyder did a great job. One thing I learned is that The Joker is one crazy messed up dude and that's why we love him as a villain. 

Crisis
In the comic book world, the word "crisis" is used to describe a giant, franchise-shaking comics event. This usually involves the whole comic "universe" and will reshape everything in it. These stories usually have great consequences and sometimes, if not usually, involves comic book character death. Some of the best known crises are: DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths, Infinite Crisis, Blackest Night, or Marvel's Secret Invasion, House of M, Civil War and Avengers vs. X-Men. I've only read a few of these and I'm currently reading House of M. When you read a crisis story line you need to keep in mind that things will change for the whole universe after that event.

There are many more comic terms or words that I could share but I thought these are some good ones to start with. There are still a lot of things I need to know and figure out in the comic book world but I don't think it would be near as fun if I knew everything. 

What are some of your experiences with these terms? Tell me what you think. Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

My Origins

Two years ago I got into comics and you may wonder, how does a 26 year-old married father get into comics? What is so appealing about comic books and super heroes?  Although we won't get into all the details this time, I want to look back to where it all started for me.... way back.

Growing up, no one I knew read comics. I don't recall ever thinking about comic books when I was young, but that didn't stop me from loving super heroes  Like most people, the start to my love for super heroes came from watching cartoons. Growing up some in the ‘80s, but mostly in the ‘90s, there were some great cartoons back then. You know, back when cartoons only came on Saturday morning and a few hours after school. You would try to hurry and finish your homework so you could watch them. It was because of those great cartoons then that would pave the way for me to want later on pick up comic books.

Lets look back for a little bit on some of the great cartoons I grew up with. Hands down, my all time favorite cartoon was, and still is, X-Men. What a great series huh? I know if it came on TV right now I'd turn it on. There are so many great X-Men characters and the cartoon helped me learn their names and powers and personalities. But the amazing part is that years later I found out it was all based on some awesome comic books (same story lines, costumes etc.).

(check out this link. It will bring back memories.)

 http://www.buzzfeed.com/hunterschwarz/the-25-best-things-about-the-90s-x-men-cartoon

Another great cartoon was Batman: The Animated Series  OH OH.... Spider-Man was amazing!(no pun intended) WOW... we had it good back then! 

Now, cartoons come on all the time on several different stations, and some show reruns of the ones I grew up watching. The Hub shows Batman: The Animated Series and I find myself turning it on while my wife is out of the room. I ask my 3 year-old daughter ‘Do you want to watch Batman or Micky Mouse?’ hoping she says Batman. And she sometimes she even does.

Batman: The Animated Series and Spider-Man I loved as well and like with X-Men, I learned all the characters really well through the show. With these two it was great because Batman and Spider-Man have so many villains that I looked forward to who was in each episode.

There are some other great cartoons that were not new when I was a kid that I enjoyed reruns of, like Super Friends. I still laugh about the Wonder Twins. They were very comical and I could never take them seriously. They did come out with a much better Justice League cartoon later on though. I still enjoyed it. It seems most of the cartoons I enjoyed growing up were super hero ones, but there were a lot of good ones back then.

I guess I grew out of the cartoon thing or maybe they just canceled all the good cartoons. Either way, I have always enjoyed super heroes  These great cartoons paved the way for this new nerd to pick-up comics and helped me learn all of the different characters, personalities, powers, origins, and even gave me some great memories of my childhood. (Maybe I've been a nerd the whole time and didn't know it.) Obviously these cartoons are not the same as the comic books but it was all I had then and I loved them. 

Free Comic Book Day

I've been wanting to do a blog about my comic book experiences for a little while now and when I decided to follow through with it I wanted my experience at Free Comic Book Day to be the first blog I made. There are a few reasons why but mostly it was because I wanted to take my daughter with me and write about our experience together and i figured it would be a good starting point. It did turn out better however because my whole family went to take in the experience with me.
I've only been collecting comics for about two years now and getting weekly comics for just over one year (I've read back issues mostly for a little while). I had never been to a Free Comic Book Day before and didn't know what it was all about. Over the past year or so I've realized the importance of supporting local comic shops and how the industry is being hurt by being able to buy comics online. Although i do understand the convince of being able to read comics on your iPad or tablet or computer and the space it saves for storage, but I think it is a fun experience holding the real thing and flipping through the pages and having something to collect.

Free Comic Book Day, or FCBD, has several purposes. One is to thank all the loyal customers for the past year for their continued support to the comic book store and the comic industry by giving them something free. Two is gain interest to potential readers by giving them a free comic and show them how great comics are. For me it was a combination I guess. I wanted to support my shop by being there but also (like a lot of people like do) introduce comic books to my children. (Reed's a little young so he gets a pass.) All stores are different in how much is free and what not but at my store (Augusta Book Exchange) you were able to get three items. Now it's just not any comics in the store, they have set ones they have gotten just for the day. I let Ella pick out two comics (Tinker Bell and Strawberry Shortcake/ Sesame Street) and I got a Superman one.

The store does other things too to spark interest. They had local artist their displaying and selling their art and also people dressed up in costumes like super heroes aka: Cosplay. (Other stores do different things like have big name artist and writers at the store doing signings but mostly in big cities where they live) Ella and Reed got their picture taken with some heroes. Ella wasn't sure about it at first. I think she was worried because we took her comics away from her for the picture.

Although it was a cold wet and rainy day, it seem to have a good turn out, at least when I was there. Today was, for me, all about supporting my comic book shop and letting Ella get her first comic book and doing it as a family. Although we weren't there very long, mainly because Reed had to eat very soon, we had a great time. Ella is so excited about her comic books and I get to read it to her. Thanks Augusta Book Exchange and everyone who puts on FCBD. And go support you local comic book shop.