One day I stopped by his office for him to sign my timesheet. His “office” was really an old storage closet on the third floor of the Braithwaite Building. There were no windows, no phone hook up and I believe he had to share it with another professor. On one wall was a poster from the movie Fight Club with a picture of Brad Pitt as the infamous Tyler Durden and the eight rules of fight club. I should’ve taken that as a omen of things to come considering Fight Club was one of my favorite novels by my favorite writer who still happens to be alive, Chuck Palahniuk.
Also in his impossibly small office were stacks of comic books intermixed with great works of fiction, including Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Kerouac, more of my favorite writers. There were also action figures of various comic book heroes sitting on his desk next to his black MacBook, the exact same one I had.
After he signed my timesheet, we started talking. The conversation veered to comic books. I was skeptical of comic books. My favorite kind of books were what could be considered "classic literature." I was a huge fan of Russian literature, such as Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy. I couldn't see much value coming from comic books.
Joe, energetic at the chance of talking about his favorite subject, grabbed one graphic novel off the shelf and began to passionately discuss its merits. “Batman: The Long Halloween,” he rapidly explained, “is full of allusions and references to other works, from Othello to How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” He talked about the intriguing comparison between Detective Gordon’s blossoming marriage and Harvey Dent deteriorating one. He mentioned the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight, and how this book goes into so much more detail of Harvey’s transformation into the villainous Two-Face.
After an epic trip to St. George (as most trips to St. George are) I got myself a copy. I opened the first page and nearly dropped the book. The first page had Bruce Wayne in a tux, holding a hat in his hand. He was saying the words, "I believe in Gotham City." I couldn't believe it. This was exactly how the movie The Godfather started out, except it was the baker in a suit holding a hat and saying, "I believe in America." How could Joe not have mentioned this? The Godfather is only one of the greatest movies known to mankind and Joe knew his movies. There were allusions and tributes to The Godfather throughout the entire book. I got more and more excited each time I found a new one.
I ended up finishing the book in one sitting. I even read it a second time in that same sitting. It was fantastic. It was complex, rich, and intriguing. The fact there were "pictures" to go with the words only added an additional layer of characterization and insight into the story instead of being a distraction as I had first anticipated.
I had grown up watching (and loving) Batman: The Animated Series. In those children's cartoons, the Joker was a playful, not really super evil character. But in The Long Halloween, it showed me a side of Joker that had recently been played up in movie, The Dark Knight. I also loved Catwoman in the book since I had never really understood her motivation in any of the Batman stories I had known. In my young and innocent days, there were good guys and bad guys with very little in between. Catwoman was on no one's side, or rather, she was on whosever side benefitted her the most.
So there you have it. The reason I love comic books was because of Joe and Batman: The Long Halloween. I now currently own 39 comic books, most of which are either Batman, Hellboy, or Ex Machina.
Love you.
Mean it.
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