GoldbergBlog

I used to love comic characters. In third and fourth grade, I was obsessed with the X-Men because I loved the cartoon. Oddly, I never cared much for the comics. I liked the characters but I was more interested in collecting the character cards than the stories about those characters.

Eventually, I outgrew collecting X-Men cards and went on to more sophisticated hobbies. Like Magic: The Gathering.

But in my freshman year of college, one of my roommates (and eventually one of my best friends), re-introduced me to comics by throwing me a couple of copies of issues where he had doubles. One of those books was Y: The Last Man and it’s been a love-hate relationship with the medium ever since.

It was a fortuitous relationship. The small college town of Oberlin doesn’t have much in the way of shops. There’s a small market, a pub, a pizza place, a video store, a second-run movie house, a gas station, a couple banks, sandwich shops and cafes, and the requisite college book store (and in liberal Oberlin, the small, independent bookstore that survives because it’s in a town like Oberlin). So it’s odd and amusing that nestled in between what you’d find in most towns surrounding a small liberal arts college, is a tiny comic shop.

I didn’t much care for my time at Oberlin but I valued every moment hanging out at the counter of Matrix: Comics & Games. With a newfound addiction to comics (thanks, Eric!), I now had a place within walking distance where I could get my fix. And while the two long boxes which house my collection of comics were mostly purchased at Matrix, the most valuable thing I ever got from the store was the relationship I developed with its two owners: Erin Shiba and Josh “Schwa” Perry. While it was clear that the shop’s success was due more to the “Games” of its name rather than the “Comics”, mostly due to a rabid following of Magic: The Gathering users (an addiction on which I did not relapse as I had moved on to more sophisticated hobbies like collecting DVDs and never-getting-laid), I came originally for the comics but then just for the conversation.

Erin became like the big sister I never had. Josh became the cool boyfriend of the big sister I never had. They were engaged throughout my time at Oberlin and in fact got married soon after I graduated. I still regret that I wasn’t able to attend their wedding. I also regret that almost two years later, I still haven’t given them a wedding gift (I know exactly what I want to get them and I’ve just been that freaking broke for that freaking long). We spent hours talking about various movies and TV shows. I let them borrow stacks of my DVDs and was always happy to do so because I knew they would actually care about talking about the shows or movies when they handed the discs back to me. There’s not much I miss about Oberlin, but I miss Erin and Josh terribly.

Back in Atlanta, we have the robust Oxford Comics and Games. It became less easy for me to continue my comic collection as driving to a store for a few books seems silly. It’s about a thirty minute trip for reading material that will probably be finished in half that time. The store houses some awesome merchandise but it’s all too expensive, especially for someone like me. I just can’t justify to myself spending twenty-five bucks on a Hellboy action figure. Lord knows I want to, but I just can’t. And while Erin and Josh were warm and friendly, the tenured staff of Oxford have always kind of been overwhelming indifferent to me despite my attempts at friendliness (and for someone shy like me, those are herculean attempts). But I made a point of going in today.

Today marks the release of the 60th and final issue of Y: The Last Man. I started collecting at issue #2 back in 2002 and since I was able to find a copy of Issue #1 back at comic shop in New York City in 2005, I now have the series’ entire run. After five years of collecting single issues, I can now say that I’m done with “floppies”. It has nothing to do with Y’s last issue (it’s great), and almost everything to do with economy.

Single issues are over-priced. I paid $3 for the new issue of Astonishing X-Men and I was done with it in about ten minutes. It’s filled with ads and I have no intention of re-selling it because I’ve never been that guy. It’s a good story and well told, but it’s wiser to just wait until the trade-paperback comes out. It has zero ads and instead of stuffing it in a cardboard box, I can display it on a bookshelf.

I’ve moved on from floppies. Y: The Last Man author has now moved on to other titles as well as writing for Lost. Eric has moved on to a small publishing house in New York City. Matrix has now moved on to become Infinite Monkey Comics & Games (although it’s still in Oberlin and still owned and operated by Erin and Josh). I’ve moved on to more sophisticated interests like blogging and bitching about politics (although I’m still known to indulge my hobby of never-getting-laid from time to time). Everything ends and when it does, we look back for a fond retrospective (there really isn’t any other kind because then why bother looking back?) and we move on, thankful for the memories.

Tags: brilliant, comics //