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Post by Nowhere Man on May 26, 2014 9:25:29 GMT -5
Perhaps an odd concept for a thread, but I was wondering if any of you go to certain comics when you're feeling down and suffering a case of the blues? I tend to find anything that involves epic adventure to do the trick...at least for awhile. Something about how it diminishes your problems. I find classic comics featuring the Hulk and the Thing, not surprisingly, to be particularly helpful.
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2014 10:03:38 GMT -5
Perhaps an odd concept for a thread, but I was wondering if any of you go to certain comics when you're feeling down and suffering a case of the blues? I tend to find anything that involves epic adventure to do the trick...at least for awhile. Something about how it diminishes your problems. I find classic comics featuring the Hulk and the Thing, not surprisingly, to be particularly helpful. I started to read Punisher when I broke up with my first ex...this would have been Welcome Back Frank when I was still in my teens. An angry comic gave me some release. I was in no state of mind to read something thought-heavy like...Watchmen. And...Archie can cure almost anything. |
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Post by Hoosier X on May 26, 2014 13:58:56 GMT -5
Almost any Silver Age silliness will do. Ditko Spider-Man, early FF, pre-New Look Batman, pretty much any Superman story from 1957 to 1965.
Right now, I'm making my way through Showcase presents: Aquaman, Volume 1, with stories from 1959 to 1962 from Adventure, Showcase, Detective, World's Finest and the first few issues of Aquaman. I'm still on the Adventure issues with the lovely Ramona Fradon art, and these stories are so much fun! Only six to seven pages, pure plot-driven stories, and they pack a lot of plot into seven pages! So far I've read the first Aqualad, the secret origin of Aquaman (when he was Aquaboy!), there's also Aqua-Queen, and a story from Lois Lane and all sorts of smugglers and bandits and spoilers.
You can't be blue with stories like this!
Also good for chasing away the blues: Kamandi and The Metal Men!
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Post by Ish Kabbible on May 26, 2014 14:04:22 GMT -5
Yep,nothing beats silly Silver Age.And how about Silver Age actually trying to be funny.An Inferior Five or Not Brand Echh will always chase the blues away.C'mon-The Silver Burper.The Inedible Bulk.
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Post by Hoosier X on May 26, 2014 14:19:04 GMT -5
Yep,nothing beats silly Silver Age.And how about Silver Age actually trying to be funny.An Inferior Five or Not Brand Echh will always chase the blues away.C'mon-The Silver Burper.The Inedible Bulk. I had a few issues of Not Brand Echh! when I was a kid and they are absolutely hysterical! I saw the BLUNDER agents parody before I ever heard of the THUNDER agents, so I can never read the Thunder agents without laughing. |
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Post by DubipR on May 26, 2014 16:07:25 GMT -5
If I'm down in the dumps or just feeling all blech, any comic can uplift me. Like Jez, Archie can cure anything. Either that or any of the Batman Animated comics (or trades, digests, etc) can cure me. Superman Animated or the lamented yet fun, Animated Adventures of the DC Universe worked quite a bit. Actually, it depends on the severity of the blues. If I had a bad day where everything just feels it was placed on my shoulders and I didn't want to take it anymore, sometimes a simple super hero comic book works; I just need to see 2 opponents hitting each other and causing collateral damage. In a weird psychological way, the comics have been a friend. Whether I knew my day sucked and I didn't want to hang with the rest of the world, I know I can see my buddies on the pages and they were there for me....
...... cripes. Perhaps I need therapy.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,874
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Post by shaxper on May 26, 2014 16:27:58 GMT -5
J.M. DeMatteis' Doctor Fate run from 1988 thru 1990 knocked me out of a funk this week. The darn thing can't help but make one optimistic about the nature of the universe and one's place within it.
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Post by Nowhere Man on May 26, 2014 20:54:40 GMT -5
Perhaps an odd concept for a thread, but I was wondering if any of you go to certain comics when you're feeling down and suffering a case of the blues? I tend to find anything that involves epic adventure to do the trick...at least for awhile. Something about how it diminishes your problems. I find classic comics featuring the Hulk and the Thing, not surprisingly, to be particularly helpful. I started to read Punisher when I broke up with my first ex...this would have been Welcome Back Frank when I was still in my teens. An angry comic gave me some release. I was in no state of mind to read something thought-heavy like...Watchmen. And...Archie can cure almost anything. The perfect anti-depression comic?  |
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2014 9:21:39 GMT -5
The perfect anti-depression comic? Oh I can definitely see Betty & Veronica in The Slavers... |
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Post by Cei-U! on May 27, 2014 9:29:53 GMT -5
For me, it's something along the lines of Steve Purcell's Sam and Max, Gilbert Shelton's Freak Brothers, Segar or Sagendorf's Popeye, or when all else fails, anything Pogo. Truthfully, though, if I'm bummed out, I'm more likely to pop Singin' in the Rain into the ol' DVD player than to reach for a comic.
Cei-U!
I summon Gene, Debbie and Donald!
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Post by Hoosier X on May 27, 2014 11:27:04 GMT -5
For me, it's something along the lines of Steve Purcell's Sam and Max, Gilbert Shelton's Freak Brothers, Segar or Sagendorf's Popeye, or when all else fails, anything Pogo. Truthfully, though, if I'm bummed out, I'm more likely to pop Singin' in the Rain into the ol' DVD player than to reach for a comic. Cei-U! I summon Gene, Debbie and Donald! I haven't seen the whole thing for a long time, but if I notice that Singin' in the Rain is on the telly, I'll watch large sections of it. I'll specifically try to catch "Gotta Dance!" just to see Cyd Charisse do her thing. I also love all of Jean Hagen's scenes.
And then there's Easter Parade, The Band Wagon and Meet Me in St. Louis.
And 42nd Street and Footlight Parade.
And my #1 favorite 1930s musical: Shall We Dance.
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Post by tolworthy on May 27, 2014 13:21:30 GMT -5
My secret pleasure is to find a "bad" issue of the FF, curl up in bed, and let the rest of the world melt away. The only problem is, six or twelve happy hours can pass on a single issue.
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2014 14:33:04 GMT -5
The Kraven's Last Hunt TPB helped me get out of a pretty bad angst-driven funk as a teen. During a depressive phase, I had begrudgingly gotten my wisdom teeth out and was pretty drugged up from that, and my Dad drove me over to the comic store where I dozily picked this book out. When we got home I read the book in one sitting. I don't know if it was the after effects of the tooth extraction or what, but the story left a huge impression on me. It's not uplifting at all, and is pretty dark and depressing, but I guess in witnessing Kraven's descent into madness, my own problems in turn felt pretty miniscule and I stopped feeling so down and out after that.  |
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Post by Hoosier X on May 27, 2014 14:53:44 GMT -5
The Kraven's Last Hunt TPB helped me get out of a pretty bad angst-driven funk as a teen. During a depressive phase, I had begrudgingly gotten my wisdom teeth out and was pretty drugged up from that, and my Dad drove me over to the comic store where I dozily picked this book out. When we got home I read the book in one sitting. I don't know if it was the after effects of the tooth extraction or what, but the story left a huge impression on me. It's not uplifting at all, and is pretty dark and depressing, but I guess in witnessing Kraven's descent into madness, my own problems in turn felt pretty miniscule and I stopped feeling so down and out after that. Thanks for bringing this up, BBB. I wasn't reading comics when this came out, so I missed it entirely. It's often mentioned as one of the best Spider-Man stories, so I keep meaning to check it out, but I always get distracted by other things. I'm going to go right over to the local library's Website and see if Kraven's Last Hunt is available.
For the record, my favorite Kraven story is The Amazing Spider-Man #34. Kraven's great. And I think he's a better character for not being used over and over again. Did they ever bring him back after Last Hunt?
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2014 15:08:59 GMT -5
The Kraven's Last Hunt TPB helped me get out of a pretty bad angst-driven funk as a teen. During a depressive phase, I had begrudgingly gotten my wisdom teeth out and was pretty drugged up from that, and my Dad drove me over to the comic store where I dozily picked this book out. When we got home I read the book in one sitting. I don't know if it was the after effects of the tooth extraction or what, but the story left a huge impression on me. It's not uplifting at all, and is pretty dark and depressing, but I guess in witnessing Kraven's descent into madness, my own problems in turn felt pretty miniscule and I stopped feeling so down and out after that. Thanks for bringing this up, BBB. I wasn't reading comics when this came out, so I missed it entirely. It's often mentioned as one of the best Spider-Man stories, so I keep meaning to check it out, but I always get distracted by other things. I'm going to go right over to the local library's Website and see if Kraven's Last Hunt is available.
For the record, my favorite Kraven story is The Amazing Spider-Man #34. Kraven's great. And I think he's a better character for not being used over and over again. Did they ever bring him back after Last Hunt?
They sort of brought him back in a 1992 one-shot called Amazing Spider-Man: Soul of the Hunter, but I would avoid it at all costs. It's pretty bad. I'll add that Kraven's Last Hunt was essentially the last great Spidey story I read before the McFarlane era took over. |
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