Comic Comfort

by Brendan Mahan | Monday, June 29, 2009

I’ve been thinking, lately, about the unique way that geeks are set up to comfort themselves as a result of our tendency to collect things.  It’s an idea, not surprisingly, born out of one of those difficult periods everyone goes through.  Let me set the scene.

My wife and I had trouble conceiving.  When we finally did, things got even more complicated.  First, we found out our baby had cloned itself in the womb and that we’d be feeding, diapering and paying for daycare for two rather than one.  Let’s just say our plans for the nursery had to change.

Then, with around three and a half months to go before their due date, Amy was put on bedrest.  The bedrest meant we wouldn’t be visiting her parents in New Jersey for Thanksgiving, and she wouldn’t be going to her mother’s baby shower.  No biggie, she Skyped in, but the extra-bonus stress of her pregnancy had begun.

Roughly one month after that, the bedrest became a month long stay in the hospital.  The boys wanted out in a big way, we wanted them to stay inside in a big way.  So, my beautiful wife, who hates being bored, was trapped in one room in a hospital over Christmas and New Year’s.  Being Jewish, Christmas was less of a deal for her, but she still missed spending time with my family and I had to give her her gifts solo instead of with everyone else.  The bedrest also meant she missed the baby shower my family was throwing. 

The whole time, I was back and forth from work to the hospital, trying to make things go as easily for my wife as I could.  My sister was nice enough to take the dog, so I was able to crash in the hospital room most nights.  My nights at home felt pretty lonely and isolating.  All in all, it was a pretty stressful time.

So what did I do?  I read comics.  I read them at home and I read them in the hospital when my wife was either sleeping or on the phone with a well-wisher.  The comics I picked were old and comfortable. 

I reread my old stand-by for stressful moments, the Claremont/Miller Wolverine limited series.  I reread several of my X-Men trades: The Dark Phoenix Saga, Fall of the Mutants and Inferno.  I picked up the Excalibur Classic Trades and worked my way through those stories again.  I made my way through the Ultimate Universe, rereading the first volumes of Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Spider-Man.

I hung around Gotham City and watched Batman suffer through the events of No Man’s Land.  I even tracked down a copy of Emerald Dawn so I could relive the origin of Green Lantern.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was clearly comforting myself.  The comics I reread were either books I had read in middle school and high school, great stories that would easily catch me up in the events to let me escape the stress of the moment, or both.

There was more to it than that, however.  I didn’t pick up Ender’s Game, my favorite book.  Nor did I pick up favorite novels from my childhood like The Hobbit or Treasure Island.  I read comics. 

Why?  What were the giving me?

A few things, as it turns out, but the most potent was determination.  That’s what superheroes are all about, right?  Things generally suck for them, but the do what must be done to help those around them.  It’s theme that comes out most notably in Wolverine, Teen Titans and No Man’s Land.  I was also getting a welcome relief in the form of pure unadulterated, fast-paced adventure.  This came out most clearly in Excalibur and Ultimate Spider-Man.  Comics were giving me the strength, comfort and sense of purpose I needed in order to support my wife through a time that was hard for me, but infinitely harder for her. 

I didn’t get it yet.  It took another event for me to finally see what was going on and begin finding the seeds of the article you’re reading.

Eventually, she came home.  Two weeks later, we were back in the hospital and she gave birth to our sons Nathan and Gavin.  Five days later she and the boys were home for good.

What did I do?  Same as last time.  But the comics were different.  I read Superman; Man for all Seasons and Birthright.  I went back to Claremont’s Japan, this time through the lens of Kitty Pryde and Wolverine.  I wound my way through the beginning of the second Teen Titans series and poked around in some Captain America trades.  I went out a bought Archer’s Quest, a Green Arrow story I already have in issues, but now own in graphic novel.

A new theme came out: fatherhood.  I wasn’t consciously looking for stories that dealt with it, I just wound up with them.  Superman and Captain America are clearly the perfect hero dads every little kid should see when they look at their fathers.  The other stories all focused on the relationships between either actual fathers and their children, or the similar relationship of a superhero and his sidekick.

Once I saw this second theme—and how could I miss it?—I decided to look back at what I had read previously and found the themes hiding in those comfort comics mentioned earlier as well.  It all seemed pretty obvious in hindsight.

So, here are my questions for the comment board:  Is this an advantage unique to the collector geek, we who tend to keep things from the past?  Is it unique to those of us willing to revisit stories?  Can a sports fan revisit an old ball game on DVD and get the same type of comfort? 

I’ll be interested to read your thoughts. How have your geek flavored interests help you out during stressful times?

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