I went to see The Avengers in 3-D on the U.S. opening night, and I was grinning like a fool the whole way through. Here are some reasons why.
1. My favorite t-shirt when I was a kid? The Incredible Hulk. I still have that t-shirt, much faded.
2. My brother read comics when I was a pre-schooler. He kept them in a stack in the bottom of his closet. To me, they were all that was desirable in the universe, lent an aura of coolness because he liked them.
3. I started reading comics, seriously, in high school; before that, I didn’t get an allowance, so had no money to buy any. Before that, two friends in my class used to tell me the stories going on in X-Men.
4. Mostly, X-Men was my superhero fandom, with Daredevil second. The first issue of The Avengers which I sought out and read was a back issue – the one in which Hank McCoy, aka Beast, joined The Avengers. I read many more, subsequently, from different eras, though I didn’t collect it regularly.
5. My mother would drive me to the comics shop every week on new comics day. I love that she did that for me, and would sometimes give me an extra dollar or so if there was something I absolutely had to have but couldn’t afford.
6. I stopped reading comics regularly at some point in college. I just didn’t have time any more, and reading them in big batches at winter break just wasn’t the same as getting a fix every week.
7. I really like print collections of various storylines. You can catch up a lot that way.
8. I remember the character Hawkeye from when I used to buy West Coast Avengers. Later on, I didn’t much like some of the things various writers did with his character, but I always had a thing for archers! (Him and Green Arrow, both.)
9. My favorite song when I was a little kid, thanks to my brother? “Iron Man,” by Black Sabbath.
10. I have never sold my comic collection. Not a single issue. Not even my first edition, mint set of Watchmen.
