At the risk of making this new column sound stupid, comics are not just for kids any more. We're not talking about Doonesbury or (shudder) Family Circus. It is strictly comic books here. That means Spider-Man, Batman, X-Men; even Eightball and Bone are up for grabs. I've read and love many comics, and I remain open to any suggestions. Enough with the introductions -- let's just dig right in.

DC Comics, maker of Superman and Batman, has been making the most noise lately. The No. 1 publisher of comics has recently acquired Jim Lee's Wildstorm.

This opens up all kinds of possibilities. We could see the great Jim Lee doing Batman or Danger Girl's J. Scott Campbell on JLA (a.k.a. Justice League of America).

Wildstorm is still around, but receives several new advantages. Wider distribution, more marketing, movies, toys, video games -- the list goes on and on. All because of one key element: DC is owned by Warner Bros.

DC also recently started one of the most interesting storylines in comics history. Gotham City, Batman's playground, is no more.

Struck by a rather large earthquake last year, Gotham was torn to shreds. Bruce Wayne took to the Supreme Court to request federal aid for his city. Not only was he denied, but Gotham has also been cut off from the United States.

Anyone who wanted refuge was allowed to re-enter the United States while the island city was fenced off and all bridges to Gotham were blown up.

Gotham City is now dubbed No Man's Land and has gone to the criminals and villains who have been let out of Arkham Asylum.

The story is looking more and more like the plot of Escape From New York, but only the DC higher-ups know how this is all going to turn out.

The level of buzz surrounding this is very high as many creators in Hollywood and beyond are jumping on the new Batman bandwagon.

They've even got Bob Gale, writer of Back to the Future, writing the main parts to the new storyline. A new Batgirl and Harley Quinn, the Joker's popular sidekick from the animated series, are also going to be introduced.

It'll be interesting to see how this turns out, and so far it is a great read. The new storyline just started this month and continues throughout the year. This is a great jumping-in point for any new Bat-fans.

Comics are perfect for college students (re: short read) and have as wide a spectrum as books do. If you have survived this far into the column but are looking for something a bit different, you have a near endless supply of choices.

Suggestions: Daredevil (written by Clerks and Chasing Amy writer Kevin Smith), Preacher (for the slightly twisted) and Strangers In Paradise (touching, soap-opera-y, but very excellent). Any local comic book store worth its mettle will carry them.


Zion Fellowes is a professional writing junior.
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