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Reporting Live from Sector 2814

I've loved super heroes since I was 4, when I faithfully watched David Banner get angry every Friday night. I've loved comic books since I was 12 and bought my first issue of What If.... That set off an obsession that burned brightly for 10 good years. At many points during this time I'm pretty sure I thought about nothing but comics. I followed almost everything (Marvel, DC, Image, independents) and became a student of the medium.

In college I lost some interest, but my mom faithfully sent me my subscriptions each week and I always looked forward to them.

I drifted away from comics somewhere in 1999. Part of it was what I perceived as growing up. I had just graduated college and moved away, and I left most of my comic book collection in my parents' basement. But I don't remember deciding to quit comics. I just had other things on my mind.

I found myself in a comic shop once and again, and I'd pick a book or two up. And I always enjoyed going through my collection on visits home, bringing a little more back with me every time. Eventually, around 2005, something snapped and I realized I could no longer deny my love of graphic storytelling. I tentatively restarted mania by seeking to fill in my runs of Jeff Smith's Bone, John Byrne's Fantastic Four, and Dave Sim's Cerebus. After accomplishing that, I realized I wanted more. So I set about catching up on what I'd missed in the previous 5 years.

Now, I'm back where I started: visiting the shop every Wednesday, patrolling the comics websites, and rifling through my back issues. With my music obsessions, I've found it helpful to have an outlet. That's what 24 Pages will be, a warehouse of the comics ideas and opinions rattling around in my addled brain. You can expect reviews of new comics and old runs that I'm re-reading, commentary on comics news, movies, and developments, as well as whatever else occurs to me. On the sidebar over there you'll find the ever-changing list of comics I currently read, and under the links section, a list of things I love about comics, appropriately titled, Things I Love About Comics.

Thanks for reading!

Comments

  1. God, it's amazing how many of us music geeks have an equal love of vintage comic books! I'm glad to see you've started with Marvel, and in particular The XMEN. I was lucky enough to buy a stack of old 60's and 70's Marvels at a garage sale for about $50. Included were The Amazing Spiderman #2-9, XMEN #94, Giant Size X-Men #1, Hulk #181 (1st appearance of Wolverine) and a host of others. Included were a bunch of old EC's from the 50's, which are my favorite, especially the .10 MADs and the Weird Science and Tales From The Crypt.
    Excellent 2nd blog, I hope you keep it up!

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