I can’t complain though, as I’m lucky enough to get free comic books all the time from kindhearted strangers. This is probably because I wear my geekery on my sleeve, and also probably because I have a song about comic books (actually two, if you include the version of “Modern Art” that I’ve now changed into another song about DC Comics when we play it live). Perhaps on the next album I should write a song about expensive scotch and used dollar bills and see if people bring them to shows for me.

 

That’s a poor joke and it makes me seem ungrateful. I’m not ungrateful. There is not much to do on tour, so comics from kindhearted strangers are always welcome. On this last tour, a kindhearted stranger that runs a comic book shop in Boston brought a big pile of free comic books to our show at the Great Scott. She runs a comic shop called New England Comics. My favourites from the pile were The Tick, which New England Comics publishes, and a book that was a compilation of interesting historical stories from Boston.

 

I’d forgotten about The Tick. I used to love the cartoon as a child. I see now that back then I was misunderstanding all the references and satire, and just enjoying it as a straight up comic book cartoon. The Free Comic Book Day issue of The Tick was a reprint of his first story from more than twenty years ago, and it was brilliant. I’m now going to buy all of the Tick books, so giving me that one for free was a pretty good trick. If you are a bit younger than me and haven’t read The Tick, you should definitely check it out.

 

The other book was Inbound 4: A Comic Book History of Boston. It is a collection of true historical stories about Boston. I love Boston (with the exception of their basketball team). Art Brut play there a lot and the book is a brilliant idea. It is divided into four sections: 1600-1779, 1800-1899, 1900-1949 and 1949 to the present. Each section is full of fascinating stories from those periods. I learnt so much about Boston, and the book made it seem like a mythical place. I learnt a lot about the rags to riches tale of Charles Ponzie, and about how James Brown kept the people of Boston calm just after the assassination of Martin Luther King. I learnt about how a man called Goddard from Boston who, although ridiculed for his ideas, pretty much invented the space rocket; and I also learnt that it is the Boston radio station WBCN who are to blame for the success of the band the Police in America. Of course Boston is not a mythical place, and I’m sure many other towns have interesting stories about them, so as well as recommending that you read this book I also recommend that you find out about where you live and write a comic about it, so I can read it. I also recommend that you go to New England Comics in Boston. | Eddie Argos

 

Click here for a 6-page preview of The Tick #1: Free Comic Book Day Edition, and click here for the official Tick website.

 

Click here for more information and previews of three entries from Inbound 4.

 

Learn more about New England Comics at www.newenglandcomics.com.