Seven things about Comics Culture I am Thankful for...
Nov 23, 2016 22:46:31 GMT -5
The Captain, hondobrode, and 1 more like this
Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2016 22:46:31 GMT -5
Inspired by Christy Blanch's column....here
Here are things in comic culture I am thankful for...
1. good comic shops-places that still deal in comics themselves, old and new, that have great selection, great prices and a welcoming atmosphere with good customer service. There are comic shops, then there are good comic shops, I am thankful for the good ones, and the people who run them, they keep this hobby going.
2. comic conventions-from the thrill of seeing books I can never afford to own to finding lots of stuff I can take home with me, to meeting creators and fellow fans who share the love and passion for the medium, comic cons are little islands of paradise for me.
3. comic art-from great stuff I see in the pages of comics new and old, to stuff I can commission to own myself, to being able to see behind the curtain on artist's process via websites, social media, art books and what have you, comic art is the scenery of a good part of my life. The walls of the places in the world I call home are full of it, and it is part of what makes that space home for me.
4. Movies and television-never in my life would I have believed I would have access to so much quality comic material on the big and small screen. There were nibbles in the 70s and it was fun, but it was rarely good enough to match the grandeur of what existed on the page and it was struggling to find a place in the world, today, it in many ways defines the entertainment medium of pop culture in the modern world, and yes some of it is better than others, but the fact it is there and it is accepted still blows my mind when I think about how far it has come since I was a kid.
5. the accessibility of comics new and old-in some ways this is ironic and a bit of a cognitive dissonance, as when I was a kid, you could find comics in every corner store and market you went to and today you have to go to specialty shops that can be few and far between, but as a kid, you could only find what was on the stands and if you missed it, you were never likely to find it again. And if it came out before you were born, or in another country, you were never likely to see it ever. Today, thanks to reprints, trades, conventions, comic book stores, the internet, etc. I can probably find and read almost any comic book I ever wanted to. It's a dream come true for the 8 year old me who always wanted to read the stuff I could never get my hands on. Now I can get my hands on more than I could ever read and I'm not limited to what was recently released and available in all those corner markets.
6. Star Wars-it's hard to fathom how something that came out when I was 8 years old and had never existed in the minds of anyone but George Lucas has changed the world as much as it has. From the technology used to create movies, to the vernacular we use to express ourselves, Star Wars changed my life and my world and my world is a better place because of it. And the fact I am giddily awaiting the next Star Wars movie coming out in a few weeks much the way I was giddily awaiting Empire Strikes Back when I was 11 just fills my heart with joy.
7. The friends and acquaintances I have made because of comics...I have met a lot of people (good and bad) because of comics, and most of those people have brought a lot of joy, passion, friendship and wonder into my life over the 40 some odd years I have been reading comics. From cousins and neighbors I read and traded comics with as a kid and played super-heroes with in the back yard, to people who have shared convention adventures and comic hunting trip adventures with me over the years, to people who have surprised me with gifts of comics to those who have been turned on to comics when I have given them books to read, to people in internet communities who allow me to indulge in conversations about comics with them on a daily basis whether I agree with them or not I get to talk comics and that is a wonderful thing, to people who have introduced me to and turned me on to comics I wouldn't have read otherwise to the people who have shared the creativity of the comics they made with me. Just yesterday, I was hunting through long boxes of dollar comics at a shop and there was a guy doing the same a few boxes down, and as I was pulling out a handful of books to add to my pile he glanced over, saw what I was grabbing and said to me "hey man there's more Conan books over in the boxes there that I just saw"-he didn't know me, I didn't know him, but he took the time to point out something I was interested in, all because of the bond of comics in our lives. Little things like that are part and parcel of what makes comics such a positive part of my life.
There can be a lot of negativity too, frustration with lots of things, people and companies can be infuriating, I get that, hell, it gets me down sometimes, but the reason it gets me down so much is because on the whole comics and comics culture has been such a hugely positive influence on my life that when I encounter the negative stuff it feels so much more heavy. I'm lucky in a lot of ways, and I get that not everyone has had the same positives I have had with comics and comics culture, but I want to take a moment today to focus on the positives, to remind myself why I do this thing that I do so that tomorrow and moving forward I can pay that positive forward to the best of my ability. I was born in the 60s, lived through the 70s, the 80s the 90s and the 21st century, I've seen the highs and lows we as a culture are capable of and at times the bad has shaken me to the core of my soul while the good has moved me and inspired me. We live in uncertain, divided times, but that's been true my whole life, and for all of that time, comics have been a solace and an inspiration for me. So today I give thanks for them.
-M
Here are things in comic culture I am thankful for...
1. good comic shops-places that still deal in comics themselves, old and new, that have great selection, great prices and a welcoming atmosphere with good customer service. There are comic shops, then there are good comic shops, I am thankful for the good ones, and the people who run them, they keep this hobby going.
2. comic conventions-from the thrill of seeing books I can never afford to own to finding lots of stuff I can take home with me, to meeting creators and fellow fans who share the love and passion for the medium, comic cons are little islands of paradise for me.
3. comic art-from great stuff I see in the pages of comics new and old, to stuff I can commission to own myself, to being able to see behind the curtain on artist's process via websites, social media, art books and what have you, comic art is the scenery of a good part of my life. The walls of the places in the world I call home are full of it, and it is part of what makes that space home for me.
4. Movies and television-never in my life would I have believed I would have access to so much quality comic material on the big and small screen. There were nibbles in the 70s and it was fun, but it was rarely good enough to match the grandeur of what existed on the page and it was struggling to find a place in the world, today, it in many ways defines the entertainment medium of pop culture in the modern world, and yes some of it is better than others, but the fact it is there and it is accepted still blows my mind when I think about how far it has come since I was a kid.
5. the accessibility of comics new and old-in some ways this is ironic and a bit of a cognitive dissonance, as when I was a kid, you could find comics in every corner store and market you went to and today you have to go to specialty shops that can be few and far between, but as a kid, you could only find what was on the stands and if you missed it, you were never likely to find it again. And if it came out before you were born, or in another country, you were never likely to see it ever. Today, thanks to reprints, trades, conventions, comic book stores, the internet, etc. I can probably find and read almost any comic book I ever wanted to. It's a dream come true for the 8 year old me who always wanted to read the stuff I could never get my hands on. Now I can get my hands on more than I could ever read and I'm not limited to what was recently released and available in all those corner markets.
6. Star Wars-it's hard to fathom how something that came out when I was 8 years old and had never existed in the minds of anyone but George Lucas has changed the world as much as it has. From the technology used to create movies, to the vernacular we use to express ourselves, Star Wars changed my life and my world and my world is a better place because of it. And the fact I am giddily awaiting the next Star Wars movie coming out in a few weeks much the way I was giddily awaiting Empire Strikes Back when I was 11 just fills my heart with joy.
7. The friends and acquaintances I have made because of comics...I have met a lot of people (good and bad) because of comics, and most of those people have brought a lot of joy, passion, friendship and wonder into my life over the 40 some odd years I have been reading comics. From cousins and neighbors I read and traded comics with as a kid and played super-heroes with in the back yard, to people who have shared convention adventures and comic hunting trip adventures with me over the years, to people who have surprised me with gifts of comics to those who have been turned on to comics when I have given them books to read, to people in internet communities who allow me to indulge in conversations about comics with them on a daily basis whether I agree with them or not I get to talk comics and that is a wonderful thing, to people who have introduced me to and turned me on to comics I wouldn't have read otherwise to the people who have shared the creativity of the comics they made with me. Just yesterday, I was hunting through long boxes of dollar comics at a shop and there was a guy doing the same a few boxes down, and as I was pulling out a handful of books to add to my pile he glanced over, saw what I was grabbing and said to me "hey man there's more Conan books over in the boxes there that I just saw"-he didn't know me, I didn't know him, but he took the time to point out something I was interested in, all because of the bond of comics in our lives. Little things like that are part and parcel of what makes comics such a positive part of my life.
There can be a lot of negativity too, frustration with lots of things, people and companies can be infuriating, I get that, hell, it gets me down sometimes, but the reason it gets me down so much is because on the whole comics and comics culture has been such a hugely positive influence on my life that when I encounter the negative stuff it feels so much more heavy. I'm lucky in a lot of ways, and I get that not everyone has had the same positives I have had with comics and comics culture, but I want to take a moment today to focus on the positives, to remind myself why I do this thing that I do so that tomorrow and moving forward I can pay that positive forward to the best of my ability. I was born in the 60s, lived through the 70s, the 80s the 90s and the 21st century, I've seen the highs and lows we as a culture are capable of and at times the bad has shaken me to the core of my soul while the good has moved me and inspired me. We live in uncertain, divided times, but that's been true my whole life, and for all of that time, comics have been a solace and an inspiration for me. So today I give thanks for them.
-M
