Comic books. Lots of young boys read them as they're growing up. Maybe their parents let them buy a couple one day, or maybe their dad had all of his old comic books in boxes stowed away somewhere. Neither of these situations are true for me. (Okay I lied, I had like 4 comic books when I was little.) For me, it all started about 3 years ago...
I had just moved to Georgia and I was hanging out with one of my new friends. While I was at his house one day, I noticed he had a bunch of Green Lantern and Batman comic books (he's one of those DC OR DIE people). Up until this point in my life I had always thought of the Flash as my favorite superhero. I don't know why really...I never read any Flash comics or anything, but I just liked the idea of him. A few days later I went to the local book store and bought my first comic book. As you could probably guess, it was Flash comic. Months went buy and I continued to stop in to the store every so often to pick up my new issue and I eventually branched out and started buying the Justice League of America. Time went by, and then I'm not really sure what happened, but I just stopped buying comics altogether. After a couple of months though, I returned to this somewhat minimal hobby of mine. But once again, I just ended up not buying them again. At this point, my friend had kind of brainwashed me into agreeing with his DC OR DIE way of thinking, but I don't think I really ever agreed completely.
Then came Christmas 2008. This was an eye opening experience for me when it comes to comic books. My brother had bought me "Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America" for Christmas. What was he thinking?! A Marvel comic book?? I had never read anything but DC before! I hardly knew anything at all about Captain America...why would he buy this for me? Despite all this, I read the book and I loved it. I was hooked on this story now. I craved more and so I went back to the book store in search of more comic involving the death of Captain America. I slowly began to collect the story, one collection at a time. It was official now. I was a Marvel fanatic.
Ever since that Christmas, comic books have been my passion. They have also been my best buddy, Eli's passion too. You see, I would buy all these comics and then I just let him borrow them. It's a nice system we have going. Through all the comics that Eli and I have read over the past year and a half, I think we have drawn closer together as friends. Eli and I have bonded so much because of these comics, and for that I thank you Marvel.
Besides this bond, comic books have given me much more. Obviously they provide me with entertainment, but also they give me a break from the daily grind. No matter what is going on in my life, just relaxing somewhere quiet and comfortable with a comic book and an A&W root beer just lets me get away for a while. I don't know what it is about these comic books, but when I read them I feel like I'm in the story. Well maybe not literally IN the story, but I just feel so captivated by the intricate web of stories that Marvel weaves. There are so many different connections in the Marvel Universe that there is just no way I could read everything. I would love to, but its just not possible.
Well, I guess that's everything. That's how I came to love comic books, and how parts of my life have changed because of them. I'm happy with my nerdiness, and if anybody has a problem with it, well....They can suck it.
