Introduction

When I was a child, I wanted to be Batman. Though I can safely say I was not the only child with this fantasy, I can say I took it further than most. I was Batman for Halloween when I was 4 years. Over the next year my mother struggled to get me to remove the cowl and cape long enough for her to clean it and I could often be seen walking around my rural town with my grandmother dressed as the Dark Knight. Unfortunately the suite couldn't grow with me and despite my protests the raggedy old costume was thrown away.

While I could no longer perch on top of my grandmother's air conditioning unit scouring the neighborhood for crime in full costume, my love of batman remained. I collected massive amounts of batman action figures, religiously watched the animated series, and made it to the theater for every movie release. Though Batman was my first love I became obsessed with many other superheros. I was huge into Spiderman, X-Men, and even into the short lived Silver Surfer cartoon. Yet despite capturing my attention (and my allowance) I never purchased one comic.

Batman Black & White #1
The First Comic Book I ever purchased

 

At this age the reason was mostly due to location. I grew up in a rural town in Southern Idaho that lacked the population to support a comic shop. My family did all of its shopping at a Wal-Mart the next 

town over which had Archie as a comic option and not much else.By the time I was old enough to drive myself I was still really into multiple superheros, but I was into boobs more. While nerdier pursuits can be rough on any youth, in towns such as mine it was complete social suicide. So I read about superheroes online and played the video games when I could, but I still never collected a single comic. 

College changed everything. I was finally in a community large enough to not only support a comic book shop, but have large swaths of people with the same interests as myself. I could finally be comfortable being the nerd that I am. Unfortunately, I was poorer than poor and didn't really have the scratch to spend on the latest batman adventure. I was able to get my hands on a few trades though and through Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Batman: The Long Halloween, and the like I truly fell in love with the medium.

I have been out of University for a year now and am finally in a position where collecting is viable. I'm drowning in student loans but I have a well paying job, my girlfriend is super sweet and supportive (not to mention tired of me staring longingly at the comics rack every time she drags me to Hastings), and with fantasy football over for another year I need something to occupy my time.

 I know very little about comic books and am a little overwhelmed by it all. I hope to use this platform as a method of processing the information I am being bombarded with and maybe help others along the way. Not to mention the occasional review/musing/nerdgasm. I hope you enjoy it!