Words in Balloons

My time in Bloomington has been all over the place, having bounced between emotional highs and lows during the course of three years.

I found my comic preferences changing just as often, alternating between seeking comfort and seeking pure enjoyment. Looking back at my reading habits during my time here, I can see a history of myself.

Before I get into this, I have to say the comic shop here, Vintage Phoenix, has been wonderful. People often tell me that when I talk about comic shops, it sounds like I’m talking about a close friend or loved one, and the comparison is apt. Comics are a niche hobby, and finding people who enjoy them to talk with can be difficult, especially when compared to more common things like TV, movies, music and video games.

Thus, the comic shop serves as a sort of bastion of conversation for my favorite hobby. I go to a comic shop not just to buy but also to talk about all sorts of things going on in the world of comics.

So, when I was leaving West Lafayette and Von’s Comics to come to IU, I was leaving the shop I had been going to and engaging in conversation in for my entire life. I was apprehensive about finding a new shop, but after a while, I realized the guys at Phoenix are just as awesome as the guys back home.

When I first came to IU, I started off feeling pretty hopeful for the new experiences I was about to have. I started by reading the great stuff that came out that year, like “Asterios Polyp” and “The Hunter.”

But as my hopefulness shifted to despair, I found myself seeking comfort in the works of autobiographical authors, such as John Porcellino and Jeffery Brown.

The fall semester of 2010 was when I really hit a wall in terms of emotions. I rarely left my dorm, and comics didn’t help that much either, as DC’s big and needlessly drawn-out “Green Lantern: Blackest Night” kept going. Nothing really eye-catching came out that fall semester until a big trailer for a movie that I couldn’t believe was happening emerged: “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.”

I was instantly rejuvenated. I started going out and socializing again. “Scott Pilgrim” is one of those comics that feels so close to home every time I read it, so watching this undeniably faithful trailer kept me pumped until the movie’s eventual release, and the excitement didn’t subside.

2011 brought another boring and dreary winter until I discovered how great the current “Fantastic Four” series by Jonathan Hickman was. It was filled with a huge cast of lovable characters and great long-form storytelling that never felt like it was dragging.

This excitement bled into DC’s “New 52” re-launch, and while I still felt a bit depressed this past fall, having so many new comics coming out lightened the load.

And that brings us to now: my final few weeks of college and my final column. Right now, I am an emotional rollercoaster, looking forward to the end but also kind of wishing I knew for sure what I’ll be doing with my life. This actually parallels my feelings about the start of Marvel’s latest event comic, “Avengers vs. X-Men.”

Yeah, it’s exciting to see Cyclops fight Captain America (like graduation) but I can already see myself wishing they would get to the damn point already (like my post-grad plans.)