I'm a Writer, a Writer WRITES!!!

This is probably the umpteen-thousandth blog I've created, none of which has benefited (at least for very long) from regular maintenance and posting. I've decided to take a different approach with this one, and be a lot more topical than I've tended to be in the past. Instead of slice-of-life, get-to-know me blogs, which I can't seem to sustain to save my life, I'm going to focus on a topic in my life that has been present, in one form or another, basically since my teen years.

Comics.

Ask anyone in my life who's known me for more than an hour, and they'll probably smile and nod knowingly if questioned about my love of comic books. I apparently bleed the comic geek vibe; even people who haven't known me very long aren't surprised when they discover I like graphic novels, superheroes, comic books, or anything like that. "Oh, I can totally see that!" I've heard people say, before they've even met me, when told I like comics.

I first remember getting into comic books around age 12, during a visit to Houston from the Midwest. Marvel comics trading cards featuring their superheroes and villains made their way into my field of vision, and I was hooked, first from a collector's perspective--the art on these was COOL! How could I get the set?!--followed quickly by the fanboy's perspective, when I started asking questions about the characters (like Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Invisible Woman, to name a few) that weren't answered on their cards. A knowledgeable family member filled me in on some of the stories that I've come to realize as classics, and started me on a path to find out more about them that has persisted to this day. I started buying and collecting Amazing Spider-Man, X-Men, and other related titles as often as time, budget, and energy would allow.

Nowadays, I don't read just superhero comics, though they do remain my favorite genre of the medium--more on that in another post. I've read biographies, novels, instructional guides, even mythology, in what is popularly known as the graphic novel--or graphic book, in some circles. I've never lost my fascination with the ability of sequential art and text to convey meaning efficiently and effectively in a way that stays with the reader long after the experience is done.

I like to read graphic books. I like to think about the writing, the artwork, the overall journey through the story. I like to write comic scripts. I like to draw, though I'll never admit to having any ability at it. I appreciate the collaborative spirit that must often go into a good story. I admire the people who work in the comics field, who tell such wonderful stories in such a vibrant, hybrid medium.

And I appreciate that it's nowhere near as expensive to make as a film.

The final purpose of this blog, I think, is to keep me writing. A writer must write. By my past efforts at blogging, this suggests I'm not meant to be a writer. Perhaps that's true. But I've never tried this tack, and I think it's a promising one. Because comics have always been there. I've always loved them. And I think I can do this. In the meantime, I'll hopefully write some amusing, insightful, or otherwise helpful pieces for others as I figure out whether or not I can sustain this.

Feel free to come along.