It's New. It's Awesome. It's All About Comics.
The purpose of this first entry is to try and help you understand how I got into comics and really what the whole purpose of this blog is actually about. This blog is going to going to exist for me to put up reviews on comics and maybe other things if I feel they need to be. Why is the first question I'm sure you're asking yourself. Simply because like any comic nerd I read alot of comics. I come across alot of them and I talk comics constantly with a number of people on a day to day basis. I also like to think I have a pretty good knowledge on alot of things concerning comics.
Sure there are probably a jillion other unofficial reviews sites like this and a hundred actual official ones like Silverbullet and IGN but heck why not add one more. I don't plan on telling everyone I'm the best writer there is or that I'm the smartest or try and be all pretentious I just want to talk about comics and let people know about them. I want people to know about something in my life that I actually give a damn about. Anyway if you all ready think I'm a jerk or a lonely faggot you might just wanna stop reading here and redirect yourself to a more entertaining activity. Anyway here goes...
I grew up watching the Spider-Man, X-Men and Batman animated series. I mean I literally lived for these series. They're three of my favorite shows even to this day. They introduced me to all of these fascinating characters that I wanted to be. Sure the X-Men were mutants and hated by normal humans but honestly who wouldn't want to be able to shoot laser beams out of their eyes? I religiously watched these shows and learned as much as I could about them. Every time these shows aired I was glued in whether it was an episode I had seen twenty times all ready or not. I loved all of these shows but Spider-Man was always my favorite.
These three shows really introduced me to the comic book culture. Being a little kid who could hardly read when I found out there were books with pictures in them containing the characters I drooled over almost everyday I pretty much shit myself. I mean here are characters who had awesome powers and who could do pretty much anything they wanted and now I could see them just about anytime I wanted to. See the beauty of comic books is that even if you can't read or really understand what's going on in the words you can look at the pictures and still pick up on what's going on.
To me comic books are better then an actual books. Well actually comics are better then almost anything on this planet but what's so great about them is that they have this ability to put you right there in the action in between panels and word balloons. One second you're swinging through New York City with Spider-Man and the next you're in a cave with a giant penny. With books you really have to pay attention to how words are being used. You have to pick up on context clues and most of all you have to visual everything in the story in your head. If you don't understand what you're reading you get entirely lost. That's not the case with comics because if you can see the pictures you can pick up what's going on in the story. I understand that's a pretty broad generalization to be making but that's how I feel.
But a viable counterpoint the above statement just being able to see colors and lines doesn't work for every comic. Look at something like Alan Moore's Watchmen. Considered one of the best superhero comics every written by myself and many others of the comic book community it's complex and deep on so many levels that just looking at all the panels really wouldn't cut it. You'd miss out on what's really going on. Well except for those panels that don't actually have word balloons like in the first issue when Rorschach is investigating The Comedian's apartment.
I understand I wrote alot but I'm trying to help explain to the readers of this blog all three of you I'm sure what comics mean to mean and honestly I don't think I can in just a couple of paragraphs. Hopefully though I can give you some insight into what makes comics so amazing for me.
Comics are in reality my first love, passion and reason for living. The first childhood comic book memory I have is when I was about six years old. I was at a Flea market (another one of my great loves by the way) with my family including my grandparents and uncle. My uncle at the time was thirteen so I pretty much idolized him. Everything he did and said I tried to do too. I always tried to hang out with him just because I felt cool around him. Just the way he acted and carried himself I always felt like I needed to somehow mirror that for acceptance. I see now that he was really the one to introduce to comics. We had walked around for about an hour and half and everyone was pretty much ready to go. Before we left we went past one last stall with comics plastered all over it. It was an odd L-shaped stall with racks of comics, sci-fi figurines and trading card games. Now being six years old I didn't realize what I was looking at. It wasn't Mecca or Paradise or anything in reality it was pretty much the exact opposite. The floor was dirty and the guy running the stall reeked of nerd. My uncle had just picked up a comic and bought it. Feeling like I had been cheated because I hadn't got anything I remember clamoring for my dad's hand pointing at a random book and him getting it for me. I was happy with my purchase. Now I felt cool just like my uncle because I had the same thing he had.
My uncle and I piled into the back of my grandparents car and we drove back to their house. During the drive I watched my uncle read and turn the pages. I just sat there trying to imitate him not really understanding what he was doing. I just wanted to look cool.
In reality what the book I held in my hand was actually my first comic. It was a Batman comic. It was during the "Knightfall" story line after Bane broke Batman's back. At the time I thought Bruce Wayne had gotten awesome armor and it looked cool. It never occurred to me that Azrael and Bruce look nothing alike. I still have that issue. It's beat up badly because I took it everywhere with me. I thought I was so cool because I was the only one of my little friends who had a comic book. Honestly though I don't even think that when I bought it that it had a cover.
I still don't know what the actual issue number is because it had no first page and it didn't have the last couple of pages to it. It follows Azrael in his bat armor going after Catwoman in the Batmobile. He finally meets up with them and they have a little struggle and they get real close. At that age I didn't even know what sexual tension was I just knew Batman looked kick ass in armor.
You may think that it's stupid for me to have told you that pointless story but to me that was really the lighting that had sparked the flame of my passion for comics. Comics honestly consume my life. I eat, sleep, and breathe them. I'm always worrying about money to buy the newest releases. I keep an eye out for the sleep hits and the hyped up books. I like what I like whether the majority of people do or don't.
In conclusion I guess all I can really say is that I love comics and I hope that through this blog I can try and share my love of them. Yeah I know I'm sure I sound like a fag.
COMING UP IN THE NEXT POST:
1.)Why I call myself the "The Comics Dealer"
2.)I review Civil War #4, Ghost Rider #3, and Moon Knight #5
Sure there are probably a jillion other unofficial reviews sites like this and a hundred actual official ones like Silverbullet and IGN but heck why not add one more. I don't plan on telling everyone I'm the best writer there is or that I'm the smartest or try and be all pretentious I just want to talk about comics and let people know about them. I want people to know about something in my life that I actually give a damn about. Anyway if you all ready think I'm a jerk or a lonely faggot you might just wanna stop reading here and redirect yourself to a more entertaining activity. Anyway here goes...
I grew up watching the Spider-Man, X-Men and Batman animated series. I mean I literally lived for these series. They're three of my favorite shows even to this day. They introduced me to all of these fascinating characters that I wanted to be. Sure the X-Men were mutants and hated by normal humans but honestly who wouldn't want to be able to shoot laser beams out of their eyes? I religiously watched these shows and learned as much as I could about them. Every time these shows aired I was glued in whether it was an episode I had seen twenty times all ready or not. I loved all of these shows but Spider-Man was always my favorite.
These three shows really introduced me to the comic book culture. Being a little kid who could hardly read when I found out there were books with pictures in them containing the characters I drooled over almost everyday I pretty much shit myself. I mean here are characters who had awesome powers and who could do pretty much anything they wanted and now I could see them just about anytime I wanted to. See the beauty of comic books is that even if you can't read or really understand what's going on in the words you can look at the pictures and still pick up on what's going on.
To me comic books are better then an actual books. Well actually comics are better then almost anything on this planet but what's so great about them is that they have this ability to put you right there in the action in between panels and word balloons. One second you're swinging through New York City with Spider-Man and the next you're in a cave with a giant penny. With books you really have to pay attention to how words are being used. You have to pick up on context clues and most of all you have to visual everything in the story in your head. If you don't understand what you're reading you get entirely lost. That's not the case with comics because if you can see the pictures you can pick up what's going on in the story. I understand that's a pretty broad generalization to be making but that's how I feel.
But a viable counterpoint the above statement just being able to see colors and lines doesn't work for every comic. Look at something like Alan Moore's Watchmen. Considered one of the best superhero comics every written by myself and many others of the comic book community it's complex and deep on so many levels that just looking at all the panels really wouldn't cut it. You'd miss out on what's really going on. Well except for those panels that don't actually have word balloons like in the first issue when Rorschach is investigating The Comedian's apartment.
I understand I wrote alot but I'm trying to help explain to the readers of this blog all three of you I'm sure what comics mean to mean and honestly I don't think I can in just a couple of paragraphs. Hopefully though I can give you some insight into what makes comics so amazing for me.
Comics are in reality my first love, passion and reason for living. The first childhood comic book memory I have is when I was about six years old. I was at a Flea market (another one of my great loves by the way) with my family including my grandparents and uncle. My uncle at the time was thirteen so I pretty much idolized him. Everything he did and said I tried to do too. I always tried to hang out with him just because I felt cool around him. Just the way he acted and carried himself I always felt like I needed to somehow mirror that for acceptance. I see now that he was really the one to introduce to comics. We had walked around for about an hour and half and everyone was pretty much ready to go. Before we left we went past one last stall with comics plastered all over it. It was an odd L-shaped stall with racks of comics, sci-fi figurines and trading card games. Now being six years old I didn't realize what I was looking at. It wasn't Mecca or Paradise or anything in reality it was pretty much the exact opposite. The floor was dirty and the guy running the stall reeked of nerd. My uncle had just picked up a comic and bought it. Feeling like I had been cheated because I hadn't got anything I remember clamoring for my dad's hand pointing at a random book and him getting it for me. I was happy with my purchase. Now I felt cool just like my uncle because I had the same thing he had.
My uncle and I piled into the back of my grandparents car and we drove back to their house. During the drive I watched my uncle read and turn the pages. I just sat there trying to imitate him not really understanding what he was doing. I just wanted to look cool.
In reality what the book I held in my hand was actually my first comic. It was a Batman comic. It was during the "Knightfall" story line after Bane broke Batman's back. At the time I thought Bruce Wayne had gotten awesome armor and it looked cool. It never occurred to me that Azrael and Bruce look nothing alike. I still have that issue. It's beat up badly because I took it everywhere with me. I thought I was so cool because I was the only one of my little friends who had a comic book. Honestly though I don't even think that when I bought it that it had a cover.
I still don't know what the actual issue number is because it had no first page and it didn't have the last couple of pages to it. It follows Azrael in his bat armor going after Catwoman in the Batmobile. He finally meets up with them and they have a little struggle and they get real close. At that age I didn't even know what sexual tension was I just knew Batman looked kick ass in armor.
You may think that it's stupid for me to have told you that pointless story but to me that was really the lighting that had sparked the flame of my passion for comics. Comics honestly consume my life. I eat, sleep, and breathe them. I'm always worrying about money to buy the newest releases. I keep an eye out for the sleep hits and the hyped up books. I like what I like whether the majority of people do or don't.
In conclusion I guess all I can really say is that I love comics and I hope that through this blog I can try and share my love of them. Yeah I know I'm sure I sound like a fag.
COMING UP IN THE NEXT POST:
1.)Why I call myself the "The Comics Dealer"
2.)I review Civil War #4, Ghost Rider #3, and Moon Knight #5
posted by The Comics Dealer at 9/21/2006 04:18:00 PM
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