yr an adult

Recent discovery: the ability to buy comic books on my iPhone brings out the absolute worst in me»

One of the very first posts I wrote for yr an adult, before I even knew that, literally, hundreds of people (I know! Hundreds!) might be interested in reading what I had to say about how weird I think adulthood is, was about my recently returned love of buying comic books. If you weren’t with me since the beginning (don’t worry, that doesn’t make you a poser), I’ll summarize: I’m dork, I like spending money impulsively, and there’s a comic book store around the corner from my apartment, so I’ve been spending $20-40 bucks a month there of late, all in a claim to not being a complete grown up yet. Anyways, late last night, my mind wandered to, of all things, Miles Morales, the new alternate-Marvel Universe black Spiderman, who created an obnoxious race-is-a-thing-we’re-still-not-good-at-talking-about media stir late last year (it’s summed up pretty perfectly by Jon Stewart, here). “Was that still a thing?” I wondered to myself. A couple iPhone strokes and I was wikipedia-ing whether the comic had lasted since the summer and whether the “critics” thought it was any good. After a little perusing, I was filled with a sudden impulse to read the comic book, but, it being 10:00 pm on a Sunday night, that didn’t seem possible. Then it occurred to me:

“Can’t you buy electronic comic books on your iPhone?” If less-practical lightening has ever struck, I’m not sure where.

Q&A with Jeffrey Brown, Comic Book Artist/Adult

by Henry Goldman

Jeffrey Brown is a full-time comic book artist and all-around sweet guy. Beginning with his MFA thesis, Clumsy, which Brown initially self-published, Brown has a released a string of successful graphic novels and short comics collections, including Unlikely, Every Girl is the End of the World For Me, An Easy Intimacy, Cat Getting Out of A Bag, and Undeleted Scenes. His next book, Darth Vader and Son, comes out on Chronicle Books in May. He also co-wrote the film Save the Date, which was well-received at Sundance this year.

I recently read Brown’s novel-length book from 2009, Funny Misshapen Body, about his journey to become a full-time artist, and wanted to ask him a few questions about it. So I did.

When did you quit your day-job to draw comics full-time?

It was 2007 - so five years ago. It was a two year long process though, I went from full time to part time and by the end I was working a single four hour shift each week, which I realized was ridiculous.

How did it feel and did you think it was permanent? Do you still think so?

It did feel pretty permanent, and it felt great. Of course, it was shortly after I quit that the economy tanked, so now I feel like I’m just one step away from having to go back to it.

The Sweet, Sweet Joy of Wasting Money, Installment #1: Comic Books

by Henry Goldman

The comic book store in Eugene was walking distance from my childhood home. This meant, from ages 10 to 13, whenever I got my allowance (between three and five dollars), I immediately walked over to Emerald City to promptly spend all of it. I usually one new comic for $1.95 and spending the rest on the bargain bin; worn, colored-on-with-crayon issues of Spiderman from the 80s and weird, discontinued comics, all for 5¢ to 25¢ a piece. I was a fiend, not just for the stories of outsider violence and the unrealistically drawn pictures of female superheroes. I was addicted to the instant gratification of wasting money. Once, for my birthday, I got a 50$ dollar gift certificate to the store. Now, a rational comic book enthusiast would spend it over time, carefully considering how to make the most of the gift. Me? I marched into Emerald City Comics, took one look at the display case and bought the 1st $50 comic I saw, a copy of Batman #500 signed by the writer. I was in and out in less than five minutes. And I had no regrets. Sure, I liked the comic books, but I loved wasting the money on them.