In Praise of Comic Books

According to a front-page article in my local newspaper, the Hartford Courant, a National Study has discovered that apparently Wednesday is by far the most popular day of the week to commit suicide. Researchers are baffled by the conclusions of this study, which refutes the long-held belief that Monday was the most popular day of the week for suicides.

Theodore Mucha, medical director at the Institute of Living at Hartford Hospital theorized that, "it may be just that it feels like there's no way out on a Wednesday, it's too long to wait for the weekend."

I suppose that for a lot of people that may indeed be true. But not for Comic Book People.

My favorite day of the week IS Wednesday. And I think that we all know the reason why. That's when the New Books Come Out! Wednesday is a day of joy,of celebration, dare I say it, of Hope and Jubilation! Wednesday is the day that a great many of us make that familiar trek down to our local dispenser of printed delights! Granted some of us may wait for a couple of weeks for all the books at once, or may receive them in the mail...but still, you KNOW that the books are now out and just waiting in your box to be picked up, or plucked from the shelf.

Then you get to go home and read them. And enjoy them. Or maybe be filled with nerdrage over them, but it is still a visceral response. I would think that very rarely does someone commit suicide after reading a Comic Book, no matter HOW much a certain writer or artist may disappoint them. In fact, then you have the fun of going on the computer and writing about how terrible or how fabulous it all was.

My conclusion therefore, is that surely, More People Should Read Comic Books. Make Wednesday the Happiest day of the week, not the most hopeless. Because on Wednesdays, you have the great delight in being able to view pictures like this.



And this,



And this,


And even this



Ah Comics. If you're wrong, then I don't want to be right.