1. The first comic I remember reading was The New Mutants #19. It pitted Danielle Moonstar, a young Native American mutant, in a fight for her life against an adversary named the Demon Bear. It’s got some totally choice Bill Sienkiewicz art. It’s got atmosphere by the boat loads and didn't feel like a typical comic book. It was about teens with powers who were less super-hero and more friends/family. I was maybe 10 ish? and I know I had previously read some X-Men and Groo comics that a neighbor had let me flip through before this comic treasure but comics as a whole didn’t stick for me until then. From NM #19 on, I was an addict.
2. My favorite characters are generally “Throw Away” characters. They are little gems of underdogs that last for about one or two arcs and then fade away. I like to think that I am just able to see treasure in others fodder. But it’s likely a personality tic. I choose, on purpose, albeit unconsciously, to love the character that I’ll never see again. Vincente, Flex, Mondo, Tattoo, Scaleface, Berzerker, Kid Omega, etc.
3. My favorite "A-List" characters are Colossus, Magik, Hawkeye, Depowered Storm and Starman.
4. I cried like a total baby when Colossus killed himself to stop the Legacy Virus. I’d recently had a friend commit suicide and I was so angry about the loss. Still am a bit. It was just raw. Freddy, my FP (Finger Puppet), came home and found me sobbing on the bed. Like full on ugly sobbing. He freaked out thinking that a family member had died. It felt like that to me in the moment but in hindsight I realize that my reaction may have been a bit much.
5. And to make matters worse, that same day, I had been actually spoiled about his death in line at the local comics shop I’d been using at the time, Dragon’s Lair. The clerk was talking to a customer about how great it was that they’d finally “offed” such a boring character like Colossus. I had actual tears of rage as I bought the book. I was literally shaking as I made my way through the line to the counter. I don’t actually remember if it was the clerk who said it or the customer, but I cancelled my pull list after buying the books. I actually swore an oath never to haunt their door again, but I’ve not kept that promise. But I rarely go there anymore. Austin Books is ten times the store that Dragon’s Lair ever was. Thinking back to that moment, I still get a pit of rage in my stomach over it.
6. On the website, Comicbookresources.com, I’ve been voted in the Corries (sort of like the Oscars but without the gift bag) CBR’s Favorite Poster twice. LOL. HAY! and SNAP! Obviously they just don’t know me well. That said it’s totally the most flattering thing in the whole history of the internet. And I totally love CBR and the community of the X-Boards in particular.
7. My favorite moment of a comicbook may be in Contest of Champions, when all of the hero’s are beaten and Hawkeye challenges the Gamesmaster to one game of chance to get them out of it and he totally cheats. I’ve loved Hawkeye from that moment forward.
8. I am often shocked at the amount of Gay/Bi Comicbook fans. I mean really. Shocked. So much for me thinking, pre-internet, that I was the only one.
9. I sold a bunch of my collection to a pawn shop when fleeing Dallas in 1997. I am still fairly sad about it. I sold boxes of books for about 30 bucks. LONG BOXES. It’s kind of tragic actually.
10. I try not to hate characters, cuz really every character is someone’s favorite. But I really hate Tigra. She’s everything that is wrong with comics. Cheesecake in every appearance – Check. Furry Feline in a bikini – Check. Traitor and victim all in one – check. She’s a misogynist straight fanboy wet dream. I do not approve. Sorry Tigra Fans.
11. Starman is a book that grabbed me by the throat and showed me that comics about super-heros could be about more than just spandex. I already knew that comics could successfully be about things other than super-heros, but at the time had almost given up on standard comics about super-heros. Starman showed me that I shouldn’t give up or give in. That super-hero books could be about all sorts of things like for example, spectacular cities, families, and that they could be character driven masterpieces.
12. Adam Pollina is probably my favorite comic book artist of all time. His work is amazing and unique and mind blowing all in one. Warren Pleece, Phillip Bond, Steve Rolston, Scott Bachalo, and Peter Snejberg are also favorites.
13. My favorite writers are a little bit more subject to change, so therefore I’ll post something a bit different a list of writers and what I think are their best works:
Warren Ellis – Stormwatch or Fell
Joss Whedon – Astonishing X-Men or Fray
James Robinson – Starman
Neil Gaiman – Sandman
Grant Morrison – The Invisibles or New X-Men
Peter Milligan – X-Force
Brian Bendis – Jinx
Mike Carey – Lucifer or X-Men
Ed Brubaker – Deadenders or Sleeper
14. My favorite DC Villian is The Shade or Pied Piper. My Favorite Marvel villain is Man Killer or The Marauders.
15. My current pull-list for new comics is: New Avengers, Dark Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Ultimate Spider-Man, Uncanny X-Men, X-Force, Astonishing X-Men, X-Factor, Captain Britain and MI13, Blue Beetle, JSA, Powers, Daredevil, Fell, and Runaways.
16. I was raised a marvel zombie, but for a while there I was about 50/50 among the two big publishing houses. Then DC went crisis crazy and killed/raped Elongated Man’s wife Sue Dibny and I pretty much quit DC completely.
17. I’ve made some true friends online talking about comics or talking about crap with people who like comics. I’ve found that comics people are generally good people. There is a thread on the X-boards of Comicbookresources.com entitled X-Crescence which has some of the most fantastic people you’ll ever meet on there. It’s about 70% gay and 100% inappropriate at times.
18. My favorite “Cross Over” event was Mutant Massacre. It shocked the hell out of me when the Marauders started decimating the Morlocks on such a wide scale. It felt scary as hell and the amount of death was something I’d never seen before. Characters got hurt that NEVER got hurt. No one felt safe. It was complete and total awesome sauce. Chris Claremont may not be my favorite writer, but at the time he was a King among mere men.
19. I also really totally loved the 90s reinvention that was “Age of Apocalypse”. It basically took all the current titles in the X-World and posited that if history had been changed (In this case Professor Xavier killed) what would the world look like. It was so brutal and fantastic and fun. I know folks groan and moan about Alt. Reality stories, but this one was fantastic.
20. I wish DC would do a Magic book. Focus on Zatanna, Doctor Occult, Phantom Stranger, Faust and Blue Devil. I totally love this little corner of the DC world. I know that they did a series about it a while back, that I didn’t buy, but I want it more in the vein of The Dresden Files and less in the vein of Super-Heroics.
21. I loved the X-Men movies, well the first two at least, but other than that I feel like most Super-Hero movies miss the mark. They get the action right, but totally lose the soul. You can’t capture on screen the magic on those pages. At least not for me.
22. My four year old, Adrian, loves comics, but doesn’t love the same characters that I do. He loves Cyclops, Bat-Man, Hulk, Martian Manhunter, Wolverine, TimberWolf, and Hawk Girl. I’ve really tried to let him pick his own favorites. After all I got to pick mine.
23. I think that the amount of fantastic non-super hero comics out there would totally surprise folks. I wish there was a way of creating more public knowledge that comics aren’t solely “Bang” and “Pow” these days. For example, everyone go out and buy as many copies of Scott Pilgrim Vol 1-5 as you can find.
24. Back in the 80’s there were advertisements that questioned “Is your child a mutant? 1 in 4 children are mutants!” It was awesome. Those ads had a profound impact on my psyche and I used to spend hours day-dreaming about what powers I would develop and what would happen when they found out that I was a filthy mutie!
25. I am certain that eventually I’ll drop the “pamphlet” form of comics and switch solely to trades. They just make more sense for me and they are less of a hassle to store. I keep saying I am going to make the jump, but something keeps stopping me. Try as I might, the allure of reading my favorite soap opera in spandex on a monthly basis gets the better of rationality.
One to grow on, at one point in time I was a closeted Comic Book fan, I'd store them out of sight from the casual observer, but somewhere along the way, I shed the shame and embraced my Geekdom. Comics are cool, Yo.
Yeah, this is all Chinese to me. I hate that you've turned Adrian against me. Nathan and I will get you back.
ReplyDeleteSurprise surprise...i LOVED this post. i will be doing a comprehensive comic ook post, too. I worry that many of my followers aren't comic buffs, but when i asked for questions to answer a while back, several people asked about the comic book thing...go figure. Keep posting and please don't shy away from the comic related ones...some of us love to read about your likes and dislikes. I'm even considering going over to CBR boards based on your comments about it.
ReplyDeleteI remember that Mutie advert now. Awesome.
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