In Praise of Libraries

I just wanted to point out that, in these times of economic trouble, when your last penny is going to gas money (or maybe not), you can still get your comic book fix. For FREE. Just head to your local library -- maybe some communities don't have gasoline, but everyone has a local library.

Although you don't get to keep those wonderful, FREE, comic books, you'll probably be surprised at the variety and depth of the selection at the library. You'll find the superhero books from Marvel and DC, but also the more mature works that typically end up on "best of the year" lists. And they have comics for younger readers too, which is great if you've got kids and want them to LEARN TO READ even though the stock market is plummeting.

Libraries have new stuff too -- they buy new comics all the time. You'll even be able to easily find that new stuff if you go to the "New" section and scan the shelves for those oversized hardcover collections. And the more comic books that you check out, the more comic books the library will order; librarians pay attention to what people are reading.

Significantly, you can rest easy checking out books that you might not otherwise buy but are interested in (maybe you've read a positive review, for instance). And many, if not most, libraries have snazzy web sites where you can search and browse their catalog, and reserve in advance copies of the comics you want. It's just like shopping. Only, you know, FREE.

I'm saying all of this because I know that although many comic book readers already know that libraries have bought into graphic novels in a big way, many readers probably don't use those libraries to expand their comic book reading. So here is my list of the comic books that I have taken out from my local library, just to show you how you really can read everything and anything you want just by heading to your library (yeah, I've cut-and-pasted my excel spreadsheet, I'm kinda ridiculous):

24 Seven

Age of Bronze Vol. 1: A Thousand Ships

American Born Chinese

Amulet Vol. 1: Stonekeeper

Animal Man Vol. 1

Animal Man Vol. 2

Arrival, The

Black Hole

Cairo

Civil War

DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore

Doom Patrol Vol. 1: Crawling from the Wreckage

Doom Patrol Vol. 2: The Painting That Ate Paris

Essex County Vol. 1: Tales from the Farm

Exit Wounds

Flight Vol. 1

Fun Home

Green Lantern / Green Arrow: Vol. 1, 2

Hellboy Vol. 1: Seed of Destruction

Hellboy Vol. 2: Wake the Devil

Homeless Channel, The

House of M

La Perdida

New Avengers Vol. 1

Palestine

Persepolis: Vol. 1, 2

Professor's Daughter, The

Promethea: Vol. 1

Runaways: Vol. 1, 2

Salon, The

Sandman Vol. 7: Brief Lives

Swamp Thing Vol. 1: Saga of the Swamp Thing

Tom Strong: Vol. 1

Ultimate Spider-man: Vol. 1

Ultimate X-Men: Vol. 1, 2

Vimanarama

So head out there and get some FREE COMIC BOOKS.