Comic Questionairre.

1 Did you read comics as a kid?

I always had those 'Peanuts' treasuries for as long as I can remember. Just before moving to Europe my father started bringing me comics from the gas station so I was primed to like them. When we lived in Germany my mother worked at a hotel where soldiers stayed when they were leaving or first arrived to Germany. Every Friday she would bring me home a box of comics and magazines that had been left behind and collected by the cleaning staff. After I picked out what I liked I would go door to door to trade with other kids so I pretty much read everything for all those years. I loved to big 80 cent treasuries.

2 Who bought you your first comic?

My cousin had given me an old 'Batman' comic that I carried around with me and read to death. When my dad saw how much I liked it and how ratty is was he started bringing home new 'Spiderman' and 'Batman' comics most every day.

3 Did you take any time away from comics? Why?

Not really. Through high school and college the local comic store was close so you always stopped in. In University when comics started costing too much we found a second hand book store that sold them by the cost on the cover so I can't remember a time without comics.

4 What brought you back into comics?

Even when I started working full time I had them shipped to me from my favorite comic shop. He was great and knew what I liked or may like. Got lots of premiums and rare books just because I gave him alot of business.

5 Do you prefer getting comics monthly or in trades?

Now that I download most of my comics (after amassing 12000+ floppy collection) I will save most series until a story is done, to read it all at one time. It's often a more satisfying experience. However some titles like, 'Thunderbolts', 'X-men', or 'Guardians of the Galaxy' I will read right off - monthly.

6 Do you know the name of your Local Comic Shop (LCS)?

Yes - his name is Ramone

7 Does your LCS know your name?

Only to say it in hushed whispers.

8 Do you own any old number 1 comics (must date before 1980)?

Several - maybe 2 dozen and many first appearances like Wolverine's and the Punisher's.

9 Do you own any original comic art?

Some but I have a lot of non comic art done by students that include me in some way.

10 Do you bag and board your comics?

I spent one whole summer doing that and happy that I did now. All are bagged, boarded and organized by character/title if not numerically

11 Where do you store your comics?

In the vault room of the Cave of Cool

12 How many comics do you read right now, in either floppy or trade format?

I can download most everything so I would say 100 or so titles a month. Most all of DC, Marvel, Darkhorse, Dynamite and the oddities from other publishers.

13 What would be your number one, all-time desert island, favourite comic series?

I would say the new 'X-men' that were created after 'Giant Sized X-Men 1' (that introduced Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Storm, and Colossus) and 'Kingdom Come' the mini-series has so much good in there that I can read it over and over again.



14 Do you follow comic creators on Twitter?

I do no twitter, bitch.

15 Do you have a favourite comic creator?

Mike Mignola - love his art and his Gothic take on fairy tales. Love Art Adams and Mark Waid - his 'Irredeemable' is terrific to follow. Alex Ross is my favorite painter due to the photo realistic work he does.

16 Do you harbour any aspirations to create your own comics?

Who hasn't. I have four complete scripts with illustration - 'Time Lord', 'Spellbound', 'Monsters Inc' (BEFORE THE CARTOON) and 'Monster Island'. Should they ever see the light of day? Who knows. But I am proud of them.

17 Do you access comic news online, if so where?

Yes, I download weekly from bit torrent friendly site. 'Comic Vine' is good.

Time to pick sides…

Marvel or DC – I prefer Marvel for the nostalgia but prefer the DC Characters when they are done right. Marvel's 'big events' usually change nothing and take forever. DC knows how to destroy universes.

Superman or Batman – Superman

Spider-Man or Wolverine – Spider-Man as he was done in the old days but it is neat to see the two of them together. They have a really nice dynamic.

Iron Fist or Luke Cage – I would say Luke Cage at one time but the latest series of Iron Fist was very well done and redefined the character in an interesting way.

Nick Fury normal or Nick Fury Sam Jackson – It really makes no difference to me. The old Stan Lee Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD comics were pretty awesome. I don't really understand some of the fan hatred directed at Samuel L. Jackson playing Fury, honestly. The Marvel Ultimate version of Fury was kind of lame, but so was the Ultimate version of everybody. (agreed)

Spandex or real life stories – I don't care, as long as it's well-told. (agreed - story is everything)

Golden Age or Silver Age or Modern Age - The Golden Age can be all goofy but they are harmless. The Silver Age can be overly gimmicky and talky so I like the beginning of the Marvel Age (especially all those monster comics where the creatures have names like GOOOOM) - before the late eighties when everything went dark and all the fun was leached out of the adventures.

Digital or paper – Either one. Makes no difference to me.

Gotham or New York – It doesn't matter to me, actually.

Hero or villain – Depends who we're talking about. 'Thunderbolts' did some great work using villains pretending to be heroes.

Cape or no cape – Depends on the character; Superman would look silly without a cape, but Green Arrow would look silly with one. I still remember when Nightwing kicked Batman's ass while reminding him why he always hated wearing a cape as Robin.

Cowl or domino mask – Cowl at least gives you a chance that you can save your secret identity because domino mask is the worst disguise ever. Worse than wearing glasses even - that's looking at your Clark Kent.