Upon reflection, I find that comics weren’t just about the adventures within them but the adventures of getting them. Growing up, I didn’t have a lot of access to Local Comic Shops, or if I did, I would find I rarely had the money to spend there. But that didn’t deter my desire to get my hands on them; it drove me harder. That desire just made the books I got to read that much sweeter. The journey became half the fun.
My uncle’s room was off-limits, but that didn’t stop my sister and me from sneaking in to find his collection of Elfquest books. We would wait till the rest of the family watched TV and creep upstairs. Doing our best to be as quiet as possible. Trying to turn on as few lights as possible not to raise suspicion, even though everyone else was downstairs and wouldn’t have noticed. Then slink back to her room, where we would sit on her bed and read them together. Being closer to 6 at the time (and not nearly as stealthy as I pretended to be), I would read what I could and spent most of my time letting my imagination get lost in the fantasy images of elves and trolls. It was a thrill! The stories and images playing in my mind. The exhilaration of having to break the rules to explore that world. Pretty sure my uncle knew what was going on, but that didn’t change our excitement.
After that, I did what I could to get my hands on almost anything that involved the medium. I loved the tiny comic books that came with some toys in the 80s, sometimes more than the toy itself. I read those little things till they fell apart. In just those few pages, I would be able to dive into the story of that world and wonder what Superman was going to do to catch Lex Luthor. And like most kids, I’d proceed to run around making swooshing noises and acting out the final act myself.
Later, being able to make friends with kids who had a lot more access to comics and an allowance to get them, I was able to get a better tapestry of story and adventure that comics really had to offer. Sure, I had my fill from watching Adam West as Batman in reruns and seeing Christopher Reeves being the most awesome Superman ever. Still, it didn’t fully compare to sitting on the floor of Matts bedroom and turning page after page of his issues of X-Men and Wolverine. Seeing how interwoven all the stories and heroics could be across so many titles blew my mind.
Eventually, I found myself with a job and money of my own and was able to dive into the deeper adventure of my own collection. Going back into my mind palace and trying to remember all the great things I read when I was younger and burying myself in back issue bin after back issue bin. Reliving all the greats and discovering so much more I missed out on.
Even now, as I work at Graham Crackers, it’s still an adventure within the adventure. Every week, I get to explore the new books coming out or even dive into the collections people bring in to sell or trade and see what stories they were into. I’m elated to play in the wonderful world of ‘what’s next?’ Don’t get me wrong, these adventures are never always just cherries, but that can also be half the fun.
