Rant & Roll by Cory Blackwood

Do you read comics? Let me clarify that: Do you read comic books? I'm not talking about the Sunday funnies (those are comic strips) or comic books like Spider Man or GI Joe or anything you grew up with. The comic books I am talking about are gritty, violent, not for children, and just about everything your parents told you to avoid.

Let me guess. Comics are immature, right? They are for kids, OK. I have heard all of these comments before, and not once by a person that actually took the time to READ a real comic book. They were more inclined to partake in "mature" endeavors, like the swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated.

I have always read comics, from the time when I rode my bike seven miles to the local comic shop in St. Charles virtually every day until now. My visits are much less frequent, and I drive now (much farther than seven miles, I might add), but I still buy comics.

The comics I buy are odd ones- some believable, with very real to life stories, and some so off the wall that it is surprising to find such stories even in a comic book. "Preacher," one of my personal favorites, is a tale of a man who gets infused with power rivaling that of God, and his quest to find out why God disappeared. Did I mention that he is traveling with his ex-assassin girlfriend and an Irish vampire?

"Preacher" is a great comic for someone to pick up as a first step into understanding the maturity of comics. "Gone to Texas" is a collection of issues one-to-eight and is as funny as it is disturbing.

Another option would be to pick up anything by Alan Moore. That is a little broad, so I will only talk about "V For Vendetta." "V" is a story along the lines of George Orwell's "1984," but focuses on one vigilante determined to destroy all the things that are keeping people from being free. This includes, but it not limited to, crimes of arson, treason, murder and conspiracy.

David Lloyd, the artist of the book, sums up "V For Vendetta" best by saying, "There aren't many cheeky, cheery characters in "V For Vendetta"; it's for people who don't switch off the news."

Jhonen Vasquez is probably the most brainsick of all comic authors/artists, with creations like "Johnny the Homicidal Maniac," "(JTHM) Squee," and "I Feel Sick." Johnny is exactly what his title describes him as - homicidal. Johnny kills people, and without any regret. Before you doubt the intellectual rewards of this seven-part series, let me defend it. It is more a social commentary on how stupid our society can be, and a great opportunity for Vasquez to get back at the types of people that undoubtedly made fun of him in high school. "JTHM" has segues throughout the issues, one of the more prominent ones being Happy Noodle Boy. Happy Noodle Boy is a crudely-drawn stick figure who yells at police officers, passersby, animals, and pretty much anything that moves (or doesn't, if you include his bagel.) Happy Noodle Boy is not simply offensive potty humor, but points out many flaws in our society and the people that inhabit it.

Besides, what isn't mature about a stick figure that stands on a box and screams, "Bow Down!!! Or I will unleash my zoinky army of surly crack babies!!!"