The Comic Guy

With The Dark Knight pandemonium heating up, I find myself becoming more and more restless as the days tick away. When I close my eyes, I actually see a timer counting down the seconds till the release of what is going to be the best movie I see over the next few years. My friends will tell you all about my devotion to the character of Batman. Over the years, I have developed a kind of cult like dedication to the character, but is not only Batman I have grown to follow and idolize. Superman, Green Lantern, Spider-man, Green Arrow, the list goes on and on. It has grown to be such a focal point of who I am, I am pretty much considered “ The Comic Book Guy” amongst my friends. I doubt any of them could tell you of a time when I wasn’t obsessed with these characters, but I can tell you my love wasn’t always as fanatic as it is now.

Back when I was just a wee lad I feel in love with the typical things for children in the nineties. I watched shows such as the likes of Power Rangers, The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Doug and many more. I also remember witnessing The animated Batman Series for the first time. The style of the show was unlike that of any other cartoon you might remember as a child. It was dark, serious, and didn’t talk down to children who viewed it. In short, It wasn’t your typical Saturday morning cartoon. This was my introduction to Batman, so I viewed him as a character on TV and not a comic book character. I was then introduced to the Tim Burton films which I quickly fell in love with at an early age. This was the beginning of an obsession.

As a few years passed and I finally reach adolescence, my horizons grew. I was introduced to Spider-man, X-men, Superman, and miscellaneous other characters through various televisions shows. Soon I found comic racks at grocery stores and news stands, drawing me into another medium through which to enjoy these characters. It is here I began to see more of these characters than simply the tights and beating up bad guys. These characters were teaching me lessons without me even knowing it. As lame of a statement it is, I can credit anything I have resembling morals back to these characters. Through Batman I learned the importance of Law and Justice, Through Superman I learned the importance of honesty and integrity, through Spider-man I learned the art of responsibility.

It was safe to say, I was on a course leading in only one direction, working in a comic book store when I’m thirty five, living with my mom, and remaining a virgin till I’m dead. Luckily, I got treated to a modern marvel of film making around the same time I hit puberty. This marvel was known as “Batman and Robin.” This movie is god awful. If you haven’t seen it before, do yourself a favor and punch someone who has. Anyway, That movie, coupled with the growing troubles of the coming years would send me into a sort of comic book twilight. Don’t get me wrong, I still loved the characters, but I loved them like you hear a lot of people say they love characters like Batman and Superman. They love the memory of their childhood those characters bring up.
Luckily, all this would change in July of 2005.

I had remember seeing the commercials for Batman Begins and thinking, “ Oh Yeah, I’m going to see that movie and it is going to rock.” However, I did not count on the effect this movie would have on me. It simply rekindled the nostalgic love I had for the character and before long I started doing something I hadn’t done in a very long time. I began buying collected editions of comic books. You might know them by their other names, Trade paperbacks or Graphic Novels. The first I bought was a story written by Frank Miller titled The Dark Knight Returns. I had heard this was a fantastic interpretation of Batman and is considered one of the definitive Batman stories of all time. I can say with full confidence that this is the beginning of a “downward spiral” that is still continuing today.

My collected proceeded from there. I found The Long Halloween, Watchmen, Origin, Knightfall and so many more. This trend continued onward until I had an unwavering understanding of many, many useless facts regarding these iconic characters. Since then I have transitioned into buying single issues, also called floppies for those of you not in the loop, and buying countless numbers of Movies, Shows, and other random merchandise, and baring another “ Batman and Robin” I don’t see this changing.

I want to tell you this narrative I just wrote is to explain how these characters remind me of a time when I was younger and that is why I love them, but that’s not it. I love these characters for a cornucopia of reasons. I love character driven stories, which is what these are. I love how these characters grow and morph but stay recognizable to me, I love how these characters aren’t the simple minded beat em up stories they are depicted as. I love these characters.