Why a comic blog? Why not?

Greetings comic lovers!

Welcome to the "Comics are like Jazz" inaugural blog posting! And definitely thanks for looking and hopefully you will enjoy your visit and return often.

A little about me: As I mention in my "About Me" area, I have been reading comics for 35 years now, my first book I recall reading was Marvel Feature #11 which I think was published back in the early 70's from Marvel Comics.  I remember my friend Ricky who was a classmate of mine in 4th grade and during school one day he sneaked a bag filled with from Richie Rich to the Fantastic Four with comics into class, and of course instead of the day's lesson, a few of us were reading about the Hulk, Spider-Man, Batman, and several others.  I got a book from the bag with no cover and it was a team-up between the Hulk and the Rock-Covered guy from the Fantastic Four, at the time I was unaware he was called The Thing.  The story was great! The villain, later identified as The Leader had a bet with an obscure Fantastic Four villain named Kurrgo about who was stronger, the Thing or the Hulk.  So they concocted a scheme where the two had the big brawl but because villains are a sneaky lot, Kurrgo cheated and secretly increased the Things strength level to match that of the Hulk.  In the end they were exposed and the good guys teamed up to save the day.  But I was hooked at that point!

Through Elementary school, Junior High School, High School, the period after High School before College, College, Law School, the period before passing the Bar, and as a licensed California attorney.  One of the constants has been reading comics.  Growing up in the Funky 70's, Jheri Curls and New Wave and Hair Metal in the 80's, pretentious Alternative Music and long commutes in the 90's, the onslaught of Bad Reality TV and Steroids in Baseball in the 2000's, up to the present, comics have been a consistent companion for the ride.

To me comics are like a good song.  They are both like a snapshots of a particular time. When I hear "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye, it reminds me of being at a party when I was 8 and a lot of the kids there kept running in and out of the garage there, and my mother forbade me from doing likewise.  So I stood there and watched curiously, all the while in the background "What's Going On" was playing on the record player.  Similarly I recall Iron Man #152 back in High School, it was Summer during Football practice and the heat of two-a-day practices.  During the break a bunch of us walked over to 7-11 for sodas and Gatorade, I saw the book on the stands and it stood out because it was the first time that Iron Man wore his Stealth Armor.  It was all black and invisible to all electronic radar and tracking. I had to have this book! Of course I caught grief from my teammates, but that's part of the deal sometimes.  Comics are my thing and have been since 1973, it's just that simple.

What I'm planning to do is talk about three books from each week's new releases and one form the collection that stands out and holds up over time.  As the blog progresses I'm learning how to add an audio component so I can interview certain artists and writers from time to time.  I'll also try and provide a link to my week's pull list so you can see what I had to choose from in a given week.  And definitely feel free to disagree with something that you read here, my opinion is just that: an opinion. In Law School we were taught that reasonable minds can disagree.  Sometimes two people can be on opposite sides of an issue and both can be right. So it's definitely not a case of "My way or the highway" here by any stretch.  I've learned over the years that good stories are not exclusively Superhero based.  Ron over at ifanboy.com suggested slice-of-life type books like Local and  New York Four.  My buddy and podcast partner Michael Dean over at Freeedomtrainonline.com turned me onto Scalped, a book that takes a hard look at the social structures and crime influences on a Native American reservation.  And while horror isn't my thing in books or film, I never miss The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman from Image Comics on his own Skybound imprint.  Three different things, none have anything to do with the cape and cowl crowd, but all three are immensely enjoyable.