Doug: As November is the month when Thanksgiving is celebrated here in the States, I thought we'd pause today to reflect on what we are most thankful for in the realm of comics. Perhaps you have a particular creator for whom you're grateful; maybe it's the creation of a certain character or team. Maybe for some of you it's the first time you saw your favorite characters in three-dimensional plastic. What about the first time you feel Hollywood finally got your best guy or girl right on celluloid?Give some love today for whatever has made this hobby of ours enjoyable.
I tell you what I'm thankful for: as kids, my sister and I weren't allowed to read comics. I had a couple here and there, but they never stayed in the house more than a week or two. I loved super heroes, but since we were discouraged from reading comics it's something I never really thought about. Wellllll into my 30's when all the movies started coming out, I wanted to know what the big deal was. I picked the Essential Captain America...and I've never been the same. I've said it before, but it was like being touched by the hand of God. Today when life is plagued with family problems, financial problems, and all that goes with being an adult, it's wonderful for me that I can pick up comics or collections in books and it's the 70's for me all over again. There are no worries, it's always sunny, and the good guys always win. That's what I'm truly thankful for.
ReplyDeleteJohn --
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminiscence! I've heard many a Bronze Age baby tell stories like that.
Like you, I think I'm just thankful for comics in general. I can't put my finger on exactly what attracted me to them, but if I narrow my thoughts down to my first comic (a Marvel Triple Action reprinting Avengers #19), I'd say it was the colorful costumes, the bickering, the nobility of Captain America, and the cliffhanger ending. I was smitten. Hooked. Captivated.
Comics for me over the years have provided countless hours of escapism. I think what's drawn me back to the Bronze Age (and to the Silver Age as well) is the somewhat simpler storytelling style. The good guys acted like good guys, and they almost always won. And the bad guys were never quite so bad. Any thoughts of genocide, nuclear destruction, or wanton property damage were veiled enough that my young mind never had to contemplate those things -- although writers/artists in the 1990's and beyond certainly told us that there was a lot of behind-the-scenes goings-on that we should have known about!
Even now, when I curl up with a mag to do one of our reviews, I'm just taken back to a simpler time. When I'm reading from a dvd-rom or tpb, I can still smell the newsprint in my mind, and can see my Megos scattered around my room awaiting their next battle.
Yeah -- that's why I'm thankful for comics.
I'm thankful there are still a few comic books that I consider worth buying. Since I totally quit reading/collecting in the early 90's, there are still a few writers and artists producing comics that I like (few and far between, considering probably 99% of today's stuff is total crap).
ReplyDeleteSo thank you... Abnett/Lanning, Christos Gage, and I hope George Perez lives and draws comics forever.
starfoxxx
I’m thankful that there was so much output in the 60s, 70s & into the 80’s that I can spend the rest of my days reading & collecting it, without venturing beyond it ( unless I want to).
ReplyDeleteFor me, Jean Grey died on the moon, Alpha Flight is the new team on the block, I have no idea what the New Universe was and the word ‘Skrull’ has only popped up a few times, here and there. Elektra actually died. And I have no idea what the Civil War and Dark Reign were about.
Apparently, we are now back in the ‘Heroic Age’. I am thankful that some of us never left it !
Another word I am particularly glad to have no understanding of: Retcon.
Richard