I have interests in very many areas of life, but I think my biggest and best passion to date has always been comics. Only one person reading this will really know of my love affair with Stan Lee, Todd McFarlane and Frank Miller and how decoted I was to this cause in my formative years.
Yes, while Tarik was out buying Alice Cooper and Metallica Picture discs I was in the Edge of Forever in Bexleyheath stockin up on the latest Daredevil, Spidey, Bone, Batman and all the other weird and wonderful heroes of Image, Dark Horse, DC and Marvel. At one time I had a subscription for more than 15 comics a week and a truly fine collection of the best of the best. And I knew the comic world inside out.
Comic Showcase closed down and relocated to Charing Cross Road, the Edge of Forever closed and after Batmans Knightfall Saga and Frank Millers Man Without Fear, my favourite comics were stagnating a little. Detective had lost it's edge and Robin, Azrael, Nightwing and the other Batman spinoffs were just not that good. how could you ever live up to the glory of Batman 500? DC saw this as a fine time to launch a load of spinoffs, but I just couldn't get the same high as Knightfall gave me.
So, in disillusionment I turned away to concentrate my energies on music which had always been simmering away in the background. Yeah those were good times too, but things have come back full circle, after a brief stint in a house of jehovah witnesses in Toronto. i had forgotten all about the wonder of comics, but there they were, plastered all over this kids wall and I was in love again.
I'd already spent a disproportionately long time in Borders in San Francisco reading comics when the sun went down, and was kickin myself for ever giving up, and I've taken the habit back up here, filling in the gaps in Forbidden Planet and spending hours on end reading the graphic novels at Borders where Matty works.
Sometimes I feel guilty because I see the sun coming up and rush out to Borders where I stay tucked in a corner until the sun goes down again.
And the main offender making me miss entire days is once more the stunning Frank miller, whose Man Without Fear 5 part Daredevil miniseries saved Daredevil from the brink of cancellation by Marvel all those years back. I'd heard of Sin City before now, normally in the same breath as Neil Gaimans Sandman when talkin to people in the know. I have read Sandman (published by DC Vertigo) but really can't get into it.
But Sin City is a different story.
Drawn in black and white, Miller has perfected the art of pure light and dark, almost a fluid chiaroscuro effect that some of you may recognise if you've ever seen my Frank Miller Elektra T-shirt that I've had for 5 years or more.
I've never before been so dragged in by a black and white, but this has the power of Knightfall, the brutality of The Godfather and the depth of character seen only in the best movies. Get one of those open and I guarabtee you won't put it down until you reach the end. Such is the power of the greatest storytellers and I rate Miller as one of the finest storytellers there is across all media. Many a day has gone by without even seeing the sun because of this man, but when you've got a Miller in your hands (try The Dark Knight Returns - another classic, but his early spiderman is overrated) who needs the sun anyway.
The other gem was Origin, the story of Wolverine by Joe Quesada. First editions of the first issue of this 6 part mini series are valued at 30 quid each and understandably so. This is one of the finest books ever written, and George Lucas would do well to read this before making any other prequels.
In my opinion Lucas has insulted the loyal fans by producing predictable and not particularly watchable prequeks, just going through the motions as we would imagine them, but the Quesada and co team let Wolverine unfold from so many perspectives and with such violent twists and turns we barely think that he'll actually make it. The least predictable route is taken and I was left absolutely educated. Lucas take note.
And for anyone else, take note. Pick up a comic today, preferably by Frank Miller. Sin City is missing from your life and that needs to be sorted out as soon as possible.
