47 years old and I still read comic books (enjoy fart jokes too). But I would like to come to the defense of comic books. There are some pretty amazing writers and artists around these days and some of the old heroes like Captain America and Thor and Daredevil are getting a postmodern face lift at the hands of authors like Ed Brubaker, Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Millar.
A few favorite series.
This last year or so of Cap under the helm of Ed Brubaker has reintroduced the red, white and blue eyed hero as a stranger in a world he doesn't understand, where all of his old compatriots are either dead or have betrayed him. The first arc of Brubaker's Captain America run are available in trades. Winter Soldier, volumes 1 & 2.
Bendis is probably the biggest name in Comics today. He has even been immortalized in a Simpsons episode, in which Comic Book Guys says, "Big Ethel kills Moose to get Jughead's attention? Oh, Brian Michael Bendis, you've done it again!" His work on The Avengers and New Avengers has been superlative. In Avengers Disassembled he tore apart Jack Kirby's most famous team.
Perhaps the most interesting series around today is Mark Millar's The Ultimates, which take a twist on the Avengers team in which Cap is a bit of a self righteous prig, Thor is a new age hippie whose divinity is brought into question and Giant Man is an abusive husband.
Along with these journeyman, a perusal of the shelves at your local comic book store, if you can get over the stigma and enter your local comic book store, you'll find series by Buffy's Joss Whedon (Astonishing X-Men), scifi author Orson Scott Card (Ultimate Iron Man) and Neil Gaiman (Sandman, American Gods) has returned to monthly comics having resurrected Kirby's The Eternals with artist John Romita Jr.
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