When I was in highschool I loved comic books, I collected them as much as my meager income would allow. Then I stopped when I left college, leaving a couple boxes with friends or whatever. Then when I was back in Canuckland in January, my brother-in-law (who has been an avid collector for some years) and I got into some discussions, and he started to show me and tell me about some of the excellent developments that have happened in the last few years. When I quit, around 1992/1993, the comics world had gotten to commercial, with the companies releasing pre-bagged editions, tons of duplicate covers, etc, etc instead of concentrating on good art & stories.

So, when he tells me that Kevin Smith has written series of both Green Arrow *and* one of my all time favorite characters Daredevil then I get allllll excited. Then I get home and start looking. (Ebay rocks for used comics.) I also look to pick up some of the stuff that I would have liked to get when I was collecting originally but couldn’t afford. For example, one of my favorite all-time artists (pencillers for those sticklers ;) is Todd McFarlane (who originated Spawn and the Image Comics line) – and he did an amazing run of The Amazing Spider-man, which included a landmark issue, #300. Now, no offense to anyone with this, but McFarlane was born to draw Spider-man. He did a great run on The Incredible Hulk too, but his Spider-Man appearances pretty much still define the character for me.

Then during a conversation this weekend, he tells me that another of my fave artists, Jim Lee has just concluded a 12 issue run on Batman, and is about to start a 12-issue run of Superman. Damn you! My wife is already on my back about spending too much! DAMN YOU!

So this weekend I finally finish reading Kevin Smith’s first Green Arrow arc, ‘Quiver’ and… well, Damn. Hot Damn. It’s one of the finest pieces of comic writing I’ve seen or read ever. Ev-Ar.

This week, my goal is to try to get through his first Daredevil arc. Riiiight…

Listening to…Wall In Your Heart by Shelby Lynee

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