One of the first comics I remember my mother buying me is a volume of The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Book of the Dead Deluxe Edition. Truly, this proved an auspicious beginning to a life of geekery. I was casual about my comics reading, having read things left over from my sister and my dad (lots of old DC and Marvel stuff plus absolute loads of old Dell and Gold Key, including Magnus, Robot Fighter), until the speculator craze of the early 90s. Yes, I was a stupid kid in some respects, and that was certainly one of them. However, that period did cause me to learn a lot about comics, so when I got back into them I only needed to play a bit of catch-up.

Now that BSS has helped me rediscover my inner nerd– specifically, the comics nerd, which had fallen under some other disused inner nerds and gotten a bit misplaced– I've developed much more refined tastes and learned that drawing people in comics consists of more expressions than shouting or scowling and that I was right whenever I thought a Liefeld-drawn character did indeed have too many teeth.

I've discovered the works of Alan Moore and Grant Morrison, especially the latter's Doom Patrol run. I read Neil Gaiman's Sandman and was blown away. Transmetropolitan was a great commentary on the apathetic state of the media today, plus the inconsistent third setting on the bowel disruptor gun always guaranteed hilarity. After reading Suicide Squad vol. 1 and The Spectre vol. 3, I added two more words to my list of favorite authors: John Ostrander. I don't think that man gets nearly the love he deserves. I need to read his Star Wars work, because I've determined that anything Ostrander writes can't suck. I also have a special place in my heart for Garth Ennis, because there are certain characters only he seems able to write properly. One is The Punisher, who needs to display a level of brutality that only Garth is able to consistently provide. Another is my fly avatar, Etrigan. If you haven't read The Demon vol. 3, do so. Particularly, read the Political Asylum arc– which my avatar is from– in which he runs for President of the United States (on the Republican ticket, of course). Third and finally: Hitman. Nobody else ever touched Tommy Monaghan, but something tells me nobody else could have, at least not competently.

I've got a couple ideas of my own for comics kicking around in my head, and maybe someday (like during the summer, as law school doesn't allow much time for writing) I'll be able to do something about them. Maybe I can find an artist here to collaborate with. I'd need to, because saying that I can't draw worth a damn vastly overstates my artistic talents. Photoshop can only go so far, folks.