Why “Too old for comics”

After reading several blogs over the last few years some very good, some not so good and some quite compelling, I have decided to give it ago myself.

I am a big fan of Si-Fi in general and have read comics as far back as I can remember, and as I am fast approaching the half century mark and my mind is still fairly sharp I can remember a long way back, so I have decided to blog about comics.

Why comics you may ask, well if you are asking that question you may be in the wrong blog, but even if you are please read on because comics are infectious and you just may get the bug. The reason that I love comics is quite simple, comics tick all the right boxes, I love to read but I also enjoy the visual medium and comics has both, its that simple.
What comics do you read I hear you cry, well now that you’ve asked I have read a wide range of comics over the years, from the war stories of Commando as a young boy, to the erotic (well it seemed it at the time) Vampirella comics produced by Warren. I cannot remember where I bought Vampirella from but I do remember hiding them under my bed, as parents never find anything under kids beds do they? The X-Men, Doctor Strange, Spiderman and the Fantastic 4 all played a part in my early comic reading years, and I would read them in any order I could, because in those days you got what you could in whatever order you could get them in. Looking back I don’t think I ever read a full story arch from start to finish as a youngster, but it never stopped my enjoyment of the books, in fact it increased them as I used to make up the starts or ends to the stories myself. However though out those years there was one hero who stood out for me, his comic was the first one I would look for who was this masked hero I hear you cry, well it was Batman. I grew up watching Batman on TV and thought it was the best thing I had ever seen, I had only read Batman in comic book and here he was a real person, not only was he real he was running around in glorious black & white on a massive 12 inch screen in the front room of our house, how cool was that. On one particular comic trip to the shops with my mother, the poster for the Adam West Batman film was proudly displayed on our cinema wall.

Rushing home with all the excitement only a 6 year old could have after seeing a poster for the best film ever, I had no doubt in my mind dad would pick up his coat and we would head straight out to see Batman not only on a big screen but in colour.

looking back I can still feel the pain as I sat and cried my eyes out for hours when he said no, adding“I have better things to spend my money on than that rubbish”.

It was years before I saw the film on TV, and yes it was rubbish but to me it was as good as any of the CGI enhanced films we have today. 

To be fair to my dad he did buy me a Batman costume and converted my little black peddle car into a makeshift Batmobile, so there I was peddling round the streets of South Elmsall saving the world from the Joker, Penguin and Riddler.   

                                            

                     (Not me this is how I imagined I would have looked) 

As I reached adolescence I still read comics not as much as I used to but as much as I could, several years, 1 beautiful wife and 2 children later I began reading (collecting) comics on a regular basis again, with Batman once again the main focus of my attention. By this time we had a new Batman film staring Michael Keyton & Jack Nicolson, this time I ran home from work to ask my wife if we could go. No crying for me this time, although Helen (my wife) doesn’t share my love of comics she is always supportive in what can sometimes be an obsession.

That brings me to today and why blog has the name it has, again it simple, I don’t hide my love of comics I wear my comic badge loud and proud. However the one thing that is always said to me when I say I read comics is” Aren’t you too old for comics’’ to which I answer “your never too old for comics”so thats why I decided to call my blog the name I did. So please come back and read my blog from time to time as I will share my thoughts on comics, comic related news and anything else I think it would be good to share.

Leave comments if you wish too, both good and constructive as I would value your input.

Finally I would like to make a special mention to Martin Gray who’s blog is Too Dangerous for a Girl, Martin not only writes a fantastic blog (please go check it out) but was kind enough to give me advice on putting a blog together when I asked for it, I will be forever grateful.

The boys from Raging Bullets podcast Sean & Jim also deserve a mention, as they also played a part in inspiring me to do this blog. Although I have not spoken with them directly, their enthusiasm for comics put the first sparks of an idea in my head that I can do something, a big thank you guys. Again check out their podcast you wont be disappointed.