Blogging my way back to comics

So...what am I doing here and why?

Well, I love comics. I really love comics, but I've gotten away from them recently. I actually haven't read one in months. There was a time when I used to hit the comic store every Wednesday and leave with a massive stack of the latest books from Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse and any others that looked interesting and exciting. I'd pour through them - devouring them - reading several a day, many per week - following the adventures of gaudily-clad heroes fighting the ultimate battles against their evil counterparts. There was an innocence; a sense of fun and hope in each issue that I savored. I knew the good guys would overcome, but HOW they did it and the odds they had to beat were what fascinated me. Their personal journeys and triumphs over tragedy were enthralling. And just the fact that Peter Parker kept it up after being the Rodney Dangerfield of the super-hero set was amazing.

Now its darker, bleaker, less hopeful and less fun.

There have been Civil Wars, Infinite Crises, massacres, multiple armageddons and even an Ultimatum in recent years. All events that have conspired to push me further from reading comics. Captain America is dead. Villains apparently run the Marvel universe. Even Batman is gone now, replaced by his trusty sidekick. Where have all the Cowboys gone? Or in this case, what's happened to my heroes? I'm sure the marketing machines will turn it all around eventually - after all DC has brought back Hal Jordan and Barry Allen, right? But then, what if I LIKED Kyle Rayner and Wally West?

One of my friends (waves to Brentos) has started reading comics chronologically from the Golden Age forward - reading everything produced by the each company, each month, working through the 30's and into the 40's. He's read the original Super-hero books (Batman, Superman, Justice Society, etc.) as well as the sci-fis, the hard-boiled detectives, the "girl books," the precursors to Archie Andrews - the whole nine yards. He's enjoying it and getting a lot of history and background. He tweets about it every so often and hits some highlights of what he's reading and what it means to him and to the text of the time and the genre. I contemplated joining him on the journey, but decided that I didn't have the patience or the focus to do that, but I certainly applaud his efforts.

I wanted a comic journey of my own. I just didn't know what I wanted to do, or if I really wanted to DO anything. Then, as things happen in this techno-century, I was bored and "surfing the web" and something piqued my interest: a digital copy of Uncanny X-Men #1.

I'd never read it. I thought that was odd, since I HAVE read the early issues of Spider-Man, the Avengers, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four and even some of the early appearances of Iron Man and Thor. How did I miss Uncanny X-Men #1? I picked through my brain (and some of my back issues) and realized I'd never read very much of the first 93 X-Men issues. Sure I had some of the reprint comics called X-Men Classics and later, Classic X-Men (yep, Marvel was really creative in their reprint titles, huh?), but I read them largely out of context and found that I hardly remembered any of the stories. Could they have sucked that badly, or was I simply mired in the "current" continuity of the Chris Claremont age? And how many of those dangling plot-threads of Claremont's ever got cleaned-up and finished? Are there still hundreds of unresolved plotlines out there? How many mutants are still wandering around after Mr. Claremont introduced them but they were never seen again?

Then something happened...I started wondering what happened to all the mutants after the virus was unleashed? What was some of this newer X-material really about? Was Captain Britain really back again in a new book? My mind was sort of reeling as I flipped the digital pages of Uncanny #1. What's happening to these characters today? Do I care about X-Men: First Class? Is Bryan Singer's movie version of it going to make me happy, or will it just be a different flavor of X-Men Origins: Wolverine?

But wait...this was Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Iceman looked like Frosty the Snowman; Magneto looked like the Devil; Professor Xavier looked kind of like a carnival mentalist; and Marvel Girl isn't even at the school yet when the issue begins. I soooooooooo had to read this!

In fact, I wanted to read it ALL. I wanted to read all of those issues that I hadn't before. I wanted to read those back-ups in Classic X-Men with the original issues where they'd make more sense to me. I even wanted to read the Chris Claremont stuff beginning at Giant-Sized X-Men #1 and see if I could keep track of those dangling plot threads. And honestly, I think I want to know what's happening NOW in the X-Men universe.

So, I'm gonna do it. And I'm going to take any of you who read this with me. I'm planning on reading an issue of X-Men (and eventaully X-Factor, or Cable, or Excalibur) every few days and blog about it. Just some quick observations, notes and opinions. Let's see how far I get and if I actually find some fun and excitement working my way through this.

I admit this sounds like a "boy version" of Julie & Julia. I didn't see the movie, but I can respect the sentiment. And yes, I admit that I would actually like to see the film. Maybe I'll toss a special blog in if/when I finally see it. If you're reading this and you don't know what Julie & Julia is I'll explain it quickly. It's the story of a woman who decides she needs some direction in life and decides to cook and blog her way through Julia Child's Cookbook - one day and one dish at a time. It parallels the story of Julia Child's own journey from housewife to the famous cook she eventually became. Gee, maybe I'll get a movie made about this project in a few years. Would have to be produced at Disney, right?

Up Next: Uncanny X-Men #1