The Indie 500

Help me people, really help me. In the shuffle and bustle of Civil War and Planet Hulk, I've lost my way. Wait that's not true. I never saw the path. Now I call myself a Comic fan, but am I really? I have secluded myself from different forms of the art. One of them the dreaded Indie section. The one with all of its little weird books, different sizes n' such. Their weird names, Goodbye Chunky Rice, La Perdida, Ninja. I mean I'm a meat and potatoes kind of guy. Just give me the basics. Some capes, bad guys getting hurt and so forth. Books about relationships with people... c'mon. The last thing I want to deal with is real life. Most of us are stuck in dead end jobs, hate our bosses and just need a release. What better way then to visit a world where we know who the bad guys are (Tony Stark) and can watch them get what they deserve. Where else can I escape to? These books show us ideals we all strive for and heroics we dream of performing. They give us the ability to fly, whether in shadows or in light.

About 5 or 6 years ago, I finally picked up Maus, a Graphic novel about a man writing of his father's struggle to survive after the Nazis take over. The man was called Art and his father Vladek. In the book the Nazis were portrayed as cats and Vladek a mouse. The concept is genius. The parts that hit home to me was the way Art interacted with his dad. I saw in Vladek the way that these events changed his life and shaped him to be who he was to his son. You see why their relationship was so difficult. How Vladek's life shaped his actions and in his case made him who he was. I saw how I interact with my father. I came to an understanding of who my father is. Superhero comics are fine cause we all need to escape. We can't hide forever though can we? We need to land sometimes and deal with all this shite that is shoveled on top of us. We need to question. We need to grow and that's what good art does. It challenges us. It shows us different ways of looking at things. Ways of looking at ourselves. I am sure if you have not read the Sandman, you have heard of it. This book is one of those books that does that. It shows us that one must change or die. It caused me to reexamine my life. To let old ideas go, to adapt. So here goes the question fellow FPers. In that mess of 500 indie books can you recommend some to me? Just send me some suggestions if you can. I would greatly appreciate it. Any recommendations, see me at http://myspace.com/javiersunspot. Danka laters.

- Javier Rodriguez