Reading Time

(originally published in ADW #46)
We read a lot in Casa Vega. Not only comics and weekly magazines, but lots and lots of books. We make bi-weekly trips to the library where we check out multiple books as well as utilize the wonderful public library online system to request books that our tiny branch doesn’t carry.

One of the books I recently checked out was the Pulitzer Prize winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay written by Michael Chabon. This is, simply put, the best book I’ve ever read.

The story is a great tale of a Jewish family in Brooklyn that opens their doors to a cousin whose gone through quite the ordeal to flee Nazi-invaded Prague. Josef Kavalier (the recent immigrant) finds a kindred spirit in his cousin Sam Klayman (the Brooklyn native), and they quickly strike up a lucrative partnership in the burdgeoning comic book scene.

Love, family, friendship, loss and war all follow in this beautifully written yarn. This is a book for everyone, and hands down the greatest book I’ve ever read. Chabon has crafted an absolute masterpiece. I love the book so much that I’ve decided I have to buy a copy and keep it on Kal’s shelf so he can discover it himself when he gets older.

Another book, this one I actually own, is quite possibly the most important book in my collection. Year’s Best Comic Stories: 1981 was the very first comic book my oldest brother ever gave to me. It was Spring 1982, and this book changed the course of my life.

I read the very first story “To Kill A Legend,” an alternate Earth Batman tale where the Phantom Stranger comes to Batman and tells him that his parents will be killed the next evening on an alternate Earth. Batman decides against Robin’s urgings to go to this alternate Earth and stop the murder of his parents. Absolute brilliance ensues.

As a child I loved it. Every inch of this book. The great stories, the amazing art. It all sealed the deal. I had to be an artist. Without this book, Lord knows what my career path might have been. As mathematically gifted as I was, this book was the guiding light of my career. This book let me know that a perfect marriage between words and images was truly a work of art. It’s because of this book I am here today. I owe it and my brother so much. It really did help open my eyes to a whole new medium, and a whole new way of expressing myself.