Every once in a while, while at cons or expos, I run across some older comic books or trades that I have missed when they were first out and, because of the great deals you will find at these events, I can pick them up for way less than the suggest retail price. At the recent Comikze Expo in Los Angeles, I happened across one of these books while visiting my friends Bryan, Rick and Christine at the Top Cow table. Common Grounds was a series that I heard a lot about back in 2004/2005 but never quite was able to track down. (At the time, I was busy dating the woman who would soon become my wife.)  Common Grounds by Troy Hickman was a reprinting of Hickman’s earlier work, Holey Crullers, but with all new artwork by some of the best artist from that time. Taking on several subjects not commonly addressed in traditional comic books, Common Grounds was just as original and fresh in reprinted form as it was in its original form.

When I saw the trade on sale at the Top Cow sale for an incredible low price of just $3 (the original price was $14.99), I just had to pick it up. Now that I was finally able to read this series in collected form, I could see why it got the attention that it did. In Common Grounds, a number or heroes and villains come together in a neutral setting of a chain of coffee shops appropriately named - you guessed it - Common Grounds, where they can all just go in and leave their heroics and villainy at the door and just be themselves. Several stories discuss such topics as super heroes aging, the religious aspects of the careers, patriotism, their origins and numerous personal aspects of life that you never see in other superhero books. Whether it be a young black superhero justifying her patriotism or why a man started the Common Grounds chain to honor his son, Common Grounds touches the reader unlike most books ever will.

Troy Hickman personalizes what it means to be either a superhero or villain and sometimes surprises you with how similar both aspects of this they really are. Some stories you believe you are reading one thing only to have the carpet pulled out from under you with a twist that makes you question just what really happened and who these people really are. The way Hickman makes these characters feel so real is amazing - and it is all due to his amazingly human writing style. Assisting Hickman in this reprint are a number of great artist from every spectrum of the comic world. Dan Jurgens, Michael Avon Oeming, Chris Bachalo, Carlos Pacheco, George Perez, Angel Medina, Sam Keith and J. Scott Campbell all lend their incredible talents to this series. Also, the beautiful covers to the Common Grounds series were done by Rodolfo Migliari, whose painted style is very reminiscent of Alex Ross’ style of art.

Considering how much I enjoyed the Common Grounds trade I am glad I was able to find the book and pick it up for the low price that I did. In retrospect though, I would have gladly paid full price for the series because it was that entertaining. Troy Hickman crafted a world of superheroes and villains who are surprisingly normal once you strip everything away from them. And I don't mean normal for comic book characters - I mean normal for every day, real life people. But I guess that is what makes the book special, right? When you can get your readers to relate that personally with the characters it is easy to sell them on your story. Whatever the case may be, if you have a chance to pick up the Common Grounds trade (at any price), I suggest you pick it up and give it a read. Common Grounds is worth it.