Yeah, idk. Comic books are like a deeply personal point of connection and lessons learned. I mean, I’ve been reading these things for nearly 20 years. I’ve put a lot of time, attention, and effort into this hobby. I’ve pursued it as a point of obsession, almost. And maybe that’s fucked up. But I don’t know … it really gave me something to do at a time when I needed to be busy. Like, I would stay up all night just to finish a podcast I’d recorded, where I talked about what I read, to no one I could see, just the imaginary listener somewhere else. I’d spend hours working on an essay that would express my very specific opinion about a particular comic book I’d consumed. I don’t know, man. It’s weird to think back on all that and realize how absorbed I was in it. But there was a lot of care in what I did. Like, I really have always just cared about comic books, I appreciate the good they’ve given me. The entertainment. The experiences I’ve had reading and considering them, and the people they have introduced me to. Real people found on the Internet. I traveled and met them, made friends. I went for a career once, even. I worked part time for a small press publisher and believed in the company’s potential. And I’ve written about the subject … a lot. For my own personal pursuit and for more legitimate establishments. I’ve had bylines on comic book articles in fancy publications. I’ve also had several podcasts, but that is a whole other story. Anyway, you get the point … comic books have made a big impact on me. To the degree that even my job today is informed by my comics blogging experiences. And every once and a while, I step back and see this scope of influence, and it feels so strange to have all that behind you, yet here I am, still, reading the latest batch of superhero books. I mean, shit has not changed, but man, it really fucking has. All I can do is hold both of those realities in my hands and roll with it. Because I still really just fucking love comic books, all kinds of them. I want to read everything. I don’t know what it is, honestly. And I’m not the most informed person to say why. But something about comic book stories really just works on me like no other thing does. Even the shitty ones. They all kind of have this value because as a fan every comic book read is fodder for your experience of the whole. Reading all the bad attempts helps you appreciate the classics even more. Anyway … you get it, you get it. Just a big old softy over here, sentimental. Still writing down his thoughts on what he reads. This is where he ends up again.
alec reads comics 