MANILA, PHILIPPINES — So your partner doesn’t get why you’re still into a hobby seemingly for kids and you want them to get into it as well (or at least understand you better)? These titles will make them realize that there’s more to comic books than capes and cowls.
Astro City – Confession (Writer: Kurt Busiek and Artist: Brent Anderson)
These are humanistic stories about how heroes cope with superpowers and the regular people having to deal them. One highly recommended story (found in this collection), The Nearness of You, is about the man who keeps dreaming of a woman who was erased from reality. It’s a real tear-jerker that will show your loved one you have a romantic side after all.
Astonishing X-Men: Gifted (W: Joss Whedon, A: John Cassady)
This story shows the mutants at their best. The characters are charismatic and excel in a cleverly written story that begs the question: if you could change anything about yourself, would you? Powerless has the X-Men dealing with a cure that can remove their powers which creates divisive tension within the team.
The Sandman (W: Neil Gaiman, A: Various)
Chronicling the Dream King’s life and the dreamers he affects, Neil Gaiman’s narrative style and dialogue feel very poetic and surreal. Although it has its disturbing moments, the plot is written like this massive inter-connected tapestry whose ripples transcend time and space.
Fables (W: Bill Willingham, A: Mark Buckingham)
These stories about what happens after “Happily Ever After” go into adult territory. This series finds Snow White, Prince Charming, Big Bad Wolf, and all other fairy tale characters as exiles in New York expelled from their homeland by an evil figure known only as the Adversary. Your partner will get a kick out of how all these characters have evolved from their origins and how they play off each other.
Y – The Last Man (W: Brian Vaughan, A: Pia Guerra)
A story about the last man alive on the planet after a mysterious virus wipes out the entire male population may seem like a teenage boy’s dream but it’s more a post-apocalyptic nightmare with a feminist slant. Main character Yorick, along with his female companions, must survive this horrific landscape and find a cure. It’s a great social commentary on what happens when the fairer sex becomes the only sex.
