I wasn’t raised in a comics household and I didn’t have a lot of people in my life that read books let alone knew the difference between Marvel and DC. Instead I grew up reading a lot of novels. Most of the time I had my nose in a book, mostly Science Fiction or Fantasy books. When I finally was introduced to comic books it only made sense to make the transition.
Even though I was fairly young, I still remember the day I got my first comic. It was a copy of Batman Shadow of the Bat #71 which in hindsight there were many better choices but the dark cover and the fact that it was Batman made it stick out to me. The fact that I was even in a comic shop was completely by coincidence in the first place. The shop was connected to the laser tag place I went to for many years for my birthday parties. They had a door on the inside of the laser tag building that led into the comic shop which then led me to beg my mother to let me have a peek inside. My memory is a little foggy on a lot of the finer details of the shop, so I don’t remember much but I do remember all the covers along the wall. It was completely overwhelming, there were just so many books that I didn’t know where to start. Eventually I was able to find a familiar character and made my decision. After taking the book home and getting a chance to read what I had picked out I was sadly disappointed, so disappointed in fact that I decided I was going to stick with just regular novels. Luckily for me, I met a good friend during middle school who would teach me the error of my ways and introduce me to so much more. Always lending me trades and graphic novels, things like Watchmen and the Star Wars expanded universe books.
It wasn’t until Green Lantern Blackest Night that I would be officially hooked onto comics. At this point I was in high school and able to drive, so I drove myself to the nearest comic shop which, funny enough, was Graham Crackers Comics in Plainfield. I immediately signed up for a pull list for all the new Green Lantern books (at that time The New 52 from DC had just started) and I’ve been hooked ever since. I still have that copy of Batman Shadow of the Bat #71. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to part with it, no matter how bad it actually is. I don’t think I’ll ever stop reading comics, something about the mixture of incredible art and wonderful story telling just keeps me coming back. I hope that anyone reading this feels the same way I do. There’s a comic book for everyone and I hope that if you’re reading this you can find it or already have, even if it’s not the first choice you make.
My First Comic by Connor K.
The store manager at the not so normal Normal, IL location. Loves long walks on the beach and singing in the rain. Wait nevermind, wrong bio… Loves to read most things and can talk shop all day long! Just come on in and ask away!
