Let’s Talk Bookish: Comics!

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme that was originally created and hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books starting in August 2019, and was then cohosted with Dani @ Literary Lion from May 2020 to March 2022. Book Nook Bits has hosted since April 2022.

April 7th: Comics!

Prompts: This week’s topic is all about comics! Different from graphic novels, which are usually released as a whole and longer book, comics are released in multiple, shorter, parts. Do you read comics?  If you do, what are some of your favorites? If you don’t, why not? How do they compare to novels, graphic novels, or audiobooks?

I don’t actually read many comics, as such – I tend to prefer graphic novels, many of which are the different comic issues bundled together. It makes it easier for me, rather than trying to get each comic individually. That said, I have picked up the odd comic here and there, especially when I’ve been to conventions, and I really love a comic grab bag.

I don’t really particularly have favourite comics, partly because, again, I don’t read them that often, and also when I do pick them up they’re often in the middle of a story arc – I use the ones I do pick up as a kind of taste, and if I really like it I’ll check if there’s a graphic novel of the whole thing, and add it to my wishlist. So I’ll just quickly mention some of my favourite graphic novels, instead – The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 1: The Faust Act (review), The Sandman, Vol. 3: Dream Country, and Deadpool: Dracula’s Gauntlet (review). For series, I think Saga has to be one of my favourites, though I do quite like the Deadpool Kills trilogy and Fables.

Returning to comics, a large difference between them and other textual media like novels, graphic novels, and audiobooks is length – a comic is more like a short story, something that can be read on its own, but might be linked into others, too. With a graphic novel, you expect to get much more of the story itself (if not the whole story if it’s a standalone). Same with novels. And of course compared to novels and audiobooks, graphic novels and comics are much more visual.

So basically, when I do pick up comics I do enjoy them, but I don’t go out of my way to get them, preferring to largely stick to graphic novels. What about you? Do you read many comics?