See the Stars they're shining bright...

There are a couple old adages out there that seem to come to mind to me right now, "Everything old is new again" and "You can't go home again." I could wax philosophical about both of those for some time, but that's neither here nor there at this juncture. Instead, I wanted to capitalize on the general sentiment of both, as well as one key word in both; again. There's a couple more, "History never repeats itself, it just rhymes" or "you can't stand in the same river twice".

Take those things into consideration, roll them over in your brain, and follow me.

A few months ago, I walked into a comic shop on my lunch hour. [Golden Age Collectibles to be precise] I wasn't sure why I was there, other than the fact that I was probably going to get a crêpe for lunch, it was on the way, and the sidewalk -- or lack thereof -- on Granville Street happened to be getting dust all over my suit and I wanted to get out of the way for awhile while the construction workers butchered the landscape in preparation for the arrival of international hegemony and competition. You swallow?

Anyway, for the most part, I buy my comics in book form through a book store. Have for a few years, perish the thought of walking into a comics store and buying comics. Yet, while I was there, I grabbed the first two issues of Batman & Robin, the first issue of Greg Rucka and JH Williams III's Detective Comics and the first issue of Wednesday Comics. I don't know what possessed me to do it, but gosh darn it, it felt good. It felt even better unfolding that issue of Wednesday Comics and reading it, trying not to spill any spinach, feta or egg, when I got back to my office. It was a tactile experience that I could only describe as revelatory.

Unfortunately, I must say aside from pretty art in the Wonder Woman strip and the sense that Neil Gaiman was having more fun writing his piece than I was reading it, most of that issue escapes me at the moment. That might say something about its transitory nature, but again, not the point.

That experience of walking into the comic store and actually buying comics reawakened some dark, distant part of me and it set me on a path that I had forgotten. A sense of wonder, if you like. Another one came picking up the latest issue of DMZ today after committing to actually contributing to this new group blog idea of Alan's. Its first lines are "Hey dude... You tired of sitting alone in this fucking thing all the time? You ready to get back into the game?"

Apparently, the answer is "Yes". I can't promise any miracles. I can't promise anything that's going to encourage your hearts or enlighten your minds. I can't even promise that you're going to like half of anything that I write -- although you'll undoubtedly like the posts by the other members of this motley crew that Alan's put together. I can't promise any type of content that I'm going to be writing about, I don't know yet what it's going to be and I don't want anyone to be disappointed by grandiose statements and empty promises.

What I can promise is a unique perspective on the landscape. A landscape that is slightly the same, but slightly different, from when the Galaxy first pulled me into its orbit. The Spider has been eaten by the Mouse and the Frog is dancing on the Bullet's head. The "ultimate" reinvention of Marvel's superheroes has itself ultimately been reinvented, perhaps watered down to a certain extent with Ultimate Avengers. I haven't driven this landscape for a while, so I may need a map, but most of all, it's good to be back at it again and I hope to have some of you along for the ride.