Reading was not easy for me. It isn't that I couldn't do it. I simply wasn't interested in it. I preferred drawing and daydreaming. The first book I remember reading was a mystery involving a talking cat. That was in third or fourth grade. I don't remember any others until sixth grade, when I read The Chronicles of Narnia. Other than that, the only reading I remembered doing was required for school.
That changed in seventh grade when I noticed one of my brother's X-Men comics. The issue had a picture of a teenage girl named Kitty Pryde. She had a suitcase in hand and was about to enter Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Students. I read the comic with interest. That was the beginning.
I started noticing that the newsstand I passed on my way home from school sold comics. I started buying X-Men regularly, eager to see how Kitty was doing. When my brother saw my interest, he gave me a pile of back issues of the X-Men, and so I became well-read on the mythology of these mutant superheroes. I must have read thousands of pages of comics! I learned about the different countries they came from, and a few words in the various languages they spoke. The stories ranged from terrifying multi-issue save-the-world epics to light, funny, day-in-the-life single issues. I couldn't get enough. In hindsight, this doesn't surprise me. Our family has an artistic background. Reading seemed more accessible when there were pictures to help move the story along.
I've seen my share of people who turn their noses up at my love of comics, but the stories in the X-Men taught me so much about different cultures, issues of the day like drug abuse and homelessness, responsibility to your community, and civil disobedience, and philosophical and moral issues of right and wrong,and what makes a person good or evil. It also offered some very strong female characters: Ororo, who controlled the elements; Phoenix, whose super-strong telepathic abilities would take her on a hero's journey into darkness and back out into redemption; Moira MacTaggert, who had no super-abilities but was a doctor and scientist; and of course Kitty, who was a teenage girl like me that had very teenage girl problems but could also phase through objects and eventually had her own pet dragon. How cool is that?
I don't get to read comics as much as I used to, but my love of comics opened up a world of literature to me by showing me that a good story can come in many forms. I was also not afraid to use comics when teaching my own kids because I knew how useful they can be. Reading what interests you is one of the best ways I know to build a confident reader.
That changed in seventh grade when I noticed one of my brother's X-Men comics. The issue had a picture of a teenage girl named Kitty Pryde. She had a suitcase in hand and was about to enter Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Students. I read the comic with interest. That was the beginning.
I started noticing that the newsstand I passed on my way home from school sold comics. I started buying X-Men regularly, eager to see how Kitty was doing. When my brother saw my interest, he gave me a pile of back issues of the X-Men, and so I became well-read on the mythology of these mutant superheroes. I must have read thousands of pages of comics! I learned about the different countries they came from, and a few words in the various languages they spoke. The stories ranged from terrifying multi-issue save-the-world epics to light, funny, day-in-the-life single issues. I couldn't get enough. In hindsight, this doesn't surprise me. Our family has an artistic background. Reading seemed more accessible when there were pictures to help move the story along.
I've seen my share of people who turn their noses up at my love of comics, but the stories in the X-Men taught me so much about different cultures, issues of the day like drug abuse and homelessness, responsibility to your community, and civil disobedience, and philosophical and moral issues of right and wrong,and what makes a person good or evil. It also offered some very strong female characters: Ororo, who controlled the elements; Phoenix, whose super-strong telepathic abilities would take her on a hero's journey into darkness and back out into redemption; Moira MacTaggert, who had no super-abilities but was a doctor and scientist; and of course Kitty, who was a teenage girl like me that had very teenage girl problems but could also phase through objects and eventually had her own pet dragon. How cool is that?
I don't get to read comics as much as I used to, but my love of comics opened up a world of literature to me by showing me that a good story can come in many forms. I was also not afraid to use comics when teaching my own kids because I knew how useful they can be. Reading what interests you is one of the best ways I know to build a confident reader.
5 comments:
Comics are awesome! I am guessing this also increased your passion to create comics, too! Love your work!
Thank you! And yes, I create comics because of my passion for the art form. :o)
Yes, comics are great. And there is a wealth of graphic novels with all sorts of themes to choose from these days. My daughter actually really enjoys them.
I'm glad she enjoys them, Paula! I've found the average parent lumps comics and graphic novels together, so I include graphic novels in everything I say here. I know, they can be very different animals, but try telling that to a mom who only sees pictures with word balloons!
I really relate to this post. I remember fondly the comics of my childhood. As you know, you were named after one of my favorite comic book characters, Teena! And if it weren't for Classics Comics, I would not have completed any book reports thru HS. Good for you! Whatever it takes to encourage reading. Love, Mom
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