‘Something old, something new,
Something borrowed, something blue.’
At first glance it may seem rather strange to open this post (all about the joy of sharing comics) with a Victorian matrimonial good luck saying but please bare with me a moment. Introducing the world of sequential storytelling to a classroom of sugar-addled children, a well-meaning friend, a tolerant family member, or a bemused stranger on the street, has always been a pleasure. But now, thanks to a myriad of recent movie adaptations, there’s a growing interest in this material among the general public. As such I’ve had many more conversations recently that feature the question ‘well, okay, so, like ... what would you recommend I read?’
And thus my original and FUN reading list technique (the first to incorporate a popular bridal idiom) was born!
Something old – is a recommendation of a comic book/series that you read a long while ago. Perhaps something from your childhood but only if it’s been handily collected into a single volume. Nothing says ‘this person should be avoided’ like a huge pile of dog-eared single issues from the 80’s.
Something new – seems pretty self-explanatory but I choose to interpret this as a new find, rather than a recent publication. I’m always more enthusiastic when I’m lending a good book that I’ve only just discovered myself, regardless of when it was released. Seriously, you should hear my praise for Garfield.
Something borrowed – ah, yes, bit of a guilty one. Over the years I’ve borrowed a number of great comics from friends which I’ve, er, forgotten to return. But this just proves how good they are, right? Yeah, well, spread the love and lend them to a new reader.
Something blue – I’m certainly not inferring that you recommend an overtly adult comic book, or even a particularly depressing tale. I just like the colour blue. Any titles with blue logos, covers or character costumes work here. And before you scoff, Watchman fits this bill rather nicely. So do the smurfs.
Oh, and for the purists out there, I know there’s a third line to the original phrase, but I couldn’t make it work! If anyone can apply ‘And a silver sixpence in her shoe’ to my theory, I’m all ears.
