Blazing Inferno

I don’t have any children yet, but one of my sister’s lil’ Georgia Peaches is already reading at a very young age. For her birthday, I think I’m going to send a copy of the book that first lit my fire. The inferno that is the incessant pursuit of knowledge was sparked by that one book. I hated reading before that, sometime around the third or fourth grade, and I didn’t do much of anything aside from playing “war” in the woods with friends. I was always outside doing something or going on some sort of adventure. Discoveries of new places and the building of “forts” was a regular activity on the weekends from dawn until dusk.  Of course, this contributed greatly to Mom’s anxious moments and stress levels when I would come home with various wounds. No worries, though, because I think I turned out alright. 

            Soon after that first book, I became a huge comic book fan. I remember my first comic books like it was just yesterday that I treasured them, tension and drama increasing with each turn of the page. I am a firm believer in the power of reading, and I still read voraciously to this day. Last night, K and I sat down to watch a movie that we both meant to see in the theater. “The Dark Knight” was recently released on DVD, and one of my guys at work, Jon, let me borrow his copy. We saw “Iron Man” earlier this year at the theater with Scott and Jen, and we all loved it. It was the first great comic book movie. Most of them just don’t hold up well when depicted on the big screen. For whatever reason, something is usually lost. “The Hulk”, ”The Punisher”, and several other comic movies were far from good. “Spiderman” was good, but something just wasn’t the same. Casting has a lot to do with that, though. Even the “X-Men” movies didn’t really excite me, but maybe because I wasn’t a big reader of the comic. Don’t even get me started on “The Fantastic Four” movie. “Iron Man” changed that for the better. I loved it, and when a friend of mine (and fellow comic geek) said that “The Dark Knight” was better, I was skeptical to say the least. 

 “The Dark Knight” lived up to the hype and then some. Two and a half hours flew by like it was an hour. I must admit that in my heavy comic book reading days, I was a regular reader of these books: The Incredible Hulk, Batman, Detective Comics (Batman series), Iron Man, Spiderman, and Fantastic Four. These books made up the bulk of my interest, so I think I’m naturally drawn to these characters when it comes to cinematic adaptation. I’ve yet to see the latest version of the “The Incredible Hulk” with Edward Norton, but lackluster reviews have kept me from speeding over to the movie rental joint with reckless abandon. I haven’t bought any newly published comics since about 1995 or so, but I’ve bought some old comics (silver age mostly from the 60s) here and there to add to my collection. 

 It’s unfortunate that my little nieces live so far away because they are both big Spiderman fans. For now, the little house shoes with light-up Spiderman faces on them that I sent for Christmas will have to suffice. I’m sure I have a couple hundred comics I could let them read in a few years. Maybe someday, if I have kids, I’ll be able to share my comics and spark something good. I’d love to start the fire in someone new to the finer things in life.