I spent a good part of my weekend organizing and cataloging my comic collection. This involved alphabetizing and sorting them into labeled magazine files. Overall, this was my process already, but it needed a little refining. By the end of the project, I went from this:
To this:
Neater, easier to see from the spine of the magazine organizer what comics were in what file. Not the ideal way to keep track of my inventory but it’s what works for now.
As I organized, I recalled my goal/desire to feature more comics on this blog. What best way to do that than alphabetically, pulling out and featuring my favorite series?
It’s quite appropriate that I start with one of my favorite series ever, Alex + Ada by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn:
I’m a big fan of Image Comics. Looking at my comic inventory, it’s easy to see that titles from this publisher take up a large percentage of my collection. I would say that Alex + Ada was one of the first comics from Image I discovered. I adore this series so much that I did a binge reread of all of the issues (two are in trade volumes currently).
A brief summary:
Set in the not-to-distant future, Alex is a young man still recovering from a recent breakup. While he has many friends, he’s a lone, single individual in a crowd of couples. Owning an X5, the latest in realistic androids, was the furthest thing from his mind. Recently, incidents of these androids becoming sentient and attacking humans was making the news. Yet his grandmother, an owner of an X5 herself, wanted her grandson to be happy. Therefore, on his birthday he comes home to find an X5 waiting for him in his living room.
To say their introduction was awkward was an understatement. As he gets used to owning it, he eventually names her Ada. Days pass, and Alex soon realizes that he’s looking for more in a companion. He wants a woman with an opinion, who doesn’t base her answers on his responses. Alex stumbles upon a way to unlock the sentient part of Ada’s design. Doing so, however, has consequences. With the fear of sentient androids looming over the public’s minds, this decision could put both Alex and Ada in grave damage.
I’ll keep at at this, allowing you to discover the brilliance and talent contained within this series.
If you are new to this series, you are in luck. Two trade editions of the collected issues already exist in Alex + ADA Volume 1 and Alex + ADA Volume 2. Alex + ADA Volume 3 is scheduled to release in August.
This series will end with the final issue, issue 15, due out this week. I’m saddened, but happy to see where the story arc has gone, thrilled with what I have read so far. It’s most definitely a series you should add to your collection. I guarantee you won’t regret it.
Stay tuned! Next week I’ll feature another favorite comic from my collection, beginning with, yes, the letter “B!”
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