So I knew I'd be crazy busy this week leading up to the con, so I called in a few friends. Actually, these guys are sort of like the comedy mafia, they just showed up at my door and told me that if I wanted my blog to remains safe, I'd start giving them 10% of it. So here's the first of a few guest bloggers, Ed Murray.......Check out Ed's blog here
I am very excited about ComiCon. Mainly because I haven't bought a comic book in over a decade.
I grew up loving comics, but my break-up with the genre was the self-inflicted, tired tragedy. I spent the better part of my young adolescence meticulously toiling over my comic book collection, drenching polymer bags in the sweat of tightly managed allowances, only to later sell my entire collection to fund food, gas, and illicit substances on a rock concert road trip. (Yeah, go ahead and smirk, but who got to see The Smashing Pumpkins perform one of their most uninspired sets ever in a suburban Detroit pasture? ME, that's who!) So this year, I am finally getting the chance to fulfill a childhood dream that I had bailed out on long ago … I'm going to a big, fat, whopping comic convention.
Growing up, I obsessively went through every comic book I could get my hands on. I even loved that stack of some of the worst comics from the 70s donated by my older sister's boyfriend (no doubt to keep me occupied during his visits.) These things were in terrible shape, inside and out: no covers, lousy plotlines, drab art … but I still read Power Man & Iron Fist #57 way too many times.
It's funny now to see how I passionately backed some questionable series with my comic book dollar. I was a fan of the Booster Gold series, The Transformers, the original Excalibur, (HEY, those first … 6 issues were really good!) and the first comic book I purchased was Ambush Bug #1 (the limited series, not to be confused with his long-running regular series ending in him slugging it out with an otherworldly villain composed of anti-matter and sporting a sentient, viral ballerina skirt.)
Since leaving the comic book universe, I have seen some great advances in the medium from a distance. Every now and then, a comic book friend of mine will hand me something and say, "You gotta read this." And I do. And, more than often, I love it.
Don't get me wrong, there has always been good work out there. Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns were an oasis in the desert of 80s DC comics. However, looking at the medium now, in terms of story presentation, the strides made in the last 20 years in the comic book culture are staggering. The artwork envelopes the reader, the storylines are obsessively engaging, and complicated themes are explored on a regular basis.
So I say to you comic fans today: Enjoy it. This is definitely a new golden age in comic books, and the great books are still relatively easy to find. In the music world today, it is nearly impossible to sort through all that is available, however, the comic book market today is just contained enough to be digested, while it still brims over with excitement … it has yet to reach an iComics level of saturation. There are more people out there doing quality work than ever before, and comic book fans should bask in the sunshine of their favorite pastime.
I'm going to ComiCon and I'm going to re-connect with something that I've been missing for years, and it will be at one of the greatest times in comic book history.
I will be seeing some of the best talent that has ever taken part in the business. And I think that's very exciting.
Maybe I'll even see if I can score a beat-up, cover-less copy of Excalibur #1 while I'm there.
Sure, you want the original or The New Excalibur, pal?
The … what?
