JBo Knows: Reading

Y'know, I've been enjoying my time here at Random Enlightenment, but I admit I'm having a bit of a problem. I have a habit of checking in here pretty regularly since I know Mark updates every day, but every time I do that lately I find no update then remember the only way I'll get one is if I do it!

So here we are, ready for a new day. I thought that today I might discuss something that I just finished reading.

The book I read was kind of a darker book; I'm going to with "grim 'n gritty" as my adjective. The lead character, Matthew, is a lawyer, who has something of a mystery on his hands. The man he is defending is charged with murdering two of his fellow inmates while in prison. The defendent, Melvin, is found in the same room as the victims, who have buzz saw blades sticking out of their backs; Melvin's MO.

The thing is, Melvin denies he did it. He has a condition, one where another personality sometimes takes over and he gets homicidal tendencies. Nobody believe him at first, except for Matthew. In the past, Melvin has always taken responsibility for what his other side does. This time, he swears he didn't do it.

Later in the book, we the reader clearly see Melvin break free from his restraints and murder the two prison guards escorting him. Melvin again denies he did it. In his fear and panic he manages to escape custody and is on the run.

To make matters worse for Matthew, his wife Milla is growing increasingly frustrated with their marriage. Like he has countless times before, Matthew has let the case consume him. He is up all hours of the night working on it as well as during the day. Unfortunately, things get even worse for Milla as she becomes a target.

Melvin, or rather Melvin though a man named Cranston who we discover is manipulating him, goes after Milla as a way to get to Matthew. Matthew shows up to find his wife and gets kidnapped himself. The book ends there on the cliffhanger.

Pretty riveting stuff, eh? Would you be disappointed if I told you this was actually a comic book?

That's right, this is a story about Daredevil, a blind lawyer who doubles as a superhero. Now, you might be asking, why would I mislead you, gentle reader, in such a fasion? It was to make a point.

Comic books are often labelled as "kid's stuff", or written off as mere picture books. Impossibly muscled heroes and unbelievably curvy heroines running around in capes and tights catching people falling out of planes and pulling victims free from raging fires, right?

Yes and no. Sure, there are some comic books that are like that. But just like any other medium, there is so much more to comic books. Writing comic books off as immature kids' stuff as a whole is like saying that all television rots your brain, or that you don't like music, period. Comic books are the medium, not an all encompassing genre.

There are superhero comics, and they are the most widespread, true. But there are romance comics, science fiction comics, horror comics, dramatic comics; pick a television genre, there's probably a comic book equivalent. But still, genre's overlap; before I revealed that I was writing about Daredevil, did you know I was talking about a superhero comic? I think the exact same plot I summarized could be seen on an episode of Law & Order or CSI.

Like everything else I've written this week, I could keep going for a long time, but I'll cut things short here. I'm not expecting you to run out and grab this month's Captain America as a result of this article (though Captain America is an excellent espionage read these days, if I do say so myself), but I'm again just trying to challenge your thinking and perception on something you may have had a preconception about.

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle!

--JBo