Hello and Welcome

Hello and Welcome to the library of the Comic Book Historian. My goal is to enlighten comic book veterans, bring new perspectives to ongoing events, and to be a resource for new readers. I will take books and issues that I find important for readers, review them, and comment on where to find these stories, and how they play into the character.

I will begin by saying that I have loved comic book characters since I was little even though I didn't read comic books for many years. I became interested in comics when I was given Emerald Knights, a six part miniseries about the then current Green Lantern Kyle Rayner going back in time, meeting Hal Jordan and battling Sinestro in the past, and then in the present fighting an evil version of Hal Jordan.

(Image from the Trade)
Green Lantern Vol. 3 #99-106
Green Arrow Vol. 2 #136

I loved that story and became more interested in the universe picking up the essential guides for Spiderman, X-Men, Batman, and the Hulk. I loved seeing all the artwork, the story's that were told, and could see the development of charachters. I really didn't read much until I got re involved with Green Lantern due to my now Fiance reading them as well. I started just in time, with Blackest Night, a series that I collected every issue of. That is not to say that I wasn't confused at the time. Eventually with the help of increasing number of trade paper backs I was able to get the Sinestro Corps war, rise of the lanterns series, and was able to understand what was going on. Then I got really back into comics, adding titles such as Batman, The Avengers, Iron Fist (Yay!), X-Men, BPRD.

But the world of Comics is confusing. Almost everyone knows the origins of many popular super heroes. Batman became a vigilante after his parents were killed before his eyes, Superman came from a distant planet, the Fantastic Four were bombarded by cosmic rays, and Spider-Man was bitten by a Radioactive spider. Yet if I were to jump into comics before the reboots that just occurred, I would be confused without having prior knowledge. Even with the reboots, tons of past information is vital to understanding the characters such as why Barbara Gordon becoming Batgirl is a big deal.

My goal with this blog is then to help other readers like me make sense of all the craziness, as well as trying to educate myself. I plan to review an issue or two a week, with most being released on Friday's, and at some point to do video reviews and commentary. I will also have a timeline that I will add to as I learn more, read more, and show more about the wonderful world of comic books.