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How To Find A Good Comic Book By Really Trying It began on an early Sunday morning as I was looking for a comfortable spot to write. My girlfriend had brought one of her grandsons over for a sleepover on Saturday, and she had opened the sofa bed for him to rest comfortably. In doing that, I didn't have my usual spot on the sofa in the morning to read comics, drink coffee, listen to classical music, and write on my laptop. So I went in search of a spot. I eventually found myself on the floor in the front hallway with my laptop on a full comic book box with a bookcase behind the computer screen. On the shelves I could see, among many books, several volumes of The Britannica Library, Volumes 1-3 of Clive Barker's Books of Blood, Gilligan, Maynard & Me by Bob Denver, and a couple of books by Douglas Adams (The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, what a great title). On the top shelf, coincidentally, were a run of books and comics by Top Shelf Productions, all generously mailed to me, off and on over the past few years, by co-publisher Brett Warnock. The comics had no thick spines to read the titles, of course, so I just pulled one off at random, more out of curiosity than anything. Keyhole #6. Interesting title. I thumbed through it, and found it to be a collection of slice of life stories by Dean Haspiel and Josh Neufeld. Becoming even more curious, I looked to see if Keyhole had an entry in The Slings & Arrows Comic Guide. Sure enough, it did, and the review was very positive, highly recommending issue 5. So I pulled the whole batch of Top Shelf comics from the shelf, about ten in all, and began sifting through them. First Hey, Mister, then Broken Fender, and finally, suddenly, Keyhole #5. Right then I knew I had it, a different comic for the day, something set apart from the runs of Fallen Angel, Human Target, Sleeper, Animal Man, Promethea and Orion I was currently indulging in. And a valuable new practice had been learned! I would encourage myself to prop the laptop in front of the various bookshelves in our apartment more often, because who knew -- and it's true, other than my girlfriend and myself, who would know? -- what pleasant surprises were just waiting to be rediscovered on the shelves?
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