My history with comics is long and continuous, if somewhat erratic.

The first comic book I can remember reading is The Incredible Hulk #259. For years the comic itself was long gone from my collection, but to this day I have vivid memories of the Hulk meeting a group of Soviet superheroes, and armed with this information I was able to reacquire a copy recently. Viewed under a modern lens it’s not the greatest comic book ever, but nostalgia goes a long way.

As a child looking at comics on the spinner rack at my local suburban grocery store, John Byrne was the first creator who I recognized as having a distinct, identifiable style. I must have had an epiphany when I noticed that the art in The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #1 was by that artist I liked who did Fantastic Four. But I think the artist who most single handedly turned me into a lifelong comic book reader was Mike Grell, with his work on The Warlord. To this day I don’t think there is a better series for heroic fantasy.

Love & Rockets: Short Stories cover art by Jaime Hernandez. © 1987 Jaime Hernandez & Fantagraphics Books Inc.

While Byrne got me started and Grell kept me going, the comic book that changed my life was Love and Rockets. I was introduced to it by my local comic shop owner (Top Notch Comics in Denver, sadly long gone), who was so enthusiastic about it that he loaned me one of the early L&R collections, on the condition that I buy it if I liked it, and return it if I didn’t. Let’s just say that I still have that collection on my bookshelf. Love and Rockets was the book that showed me that comics could be about anything, and even the most mundane details of existence could be delightful when told by a talented cartoonist.

In the 1990s I edited and published a series of minicomics showcasing local Denver area comics artists. This project soon morphed into semi-regular gallery-style showings of original comic book art by said locals, with an accompanying printed collection of the works on display. If it sounds sophisticated it really wasn’t – the comics were printed at a local photocopy store, and it was a huge milestone when I could finally afford to have the print shop do the stapling instead of doing it myself in front of the TV. But the work was great, and what we lacked in polish we made up for in enthusiasm.

In the early 2000s I opened a retail comic book store, which I ran for five years despite never really making any money at it. Closing the store didn’t diminish my love of comics in the slightest, and I still make the trip to my local comic shop every week. I think Matt Kindt and Greg Rucka are doing the most interesting things in the current comics scene.

In the past I’ve written about comics for Superhero Cinema and the Pacific Northwest College of Art’s now defunct Graphic Novel Showcase. I am currently located in Portland Oregon, which is a great town for a comic book fan. In addition to writing about my favorite year in comics history here, I write weekly tabletop game reviews at 120-Games.blogspot.com.