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As its our fourth anniversary here at CT, I thought Id
write a special little column/editorial exploring why I write
for Collector Times, month after month.
One of the most obvious reasons is that Sheryl can be
very persuasive when shes waving that bullwhip around!
Yikes! Plus I can never turn down a friend in need when
all that friend needs is someone to review some comics
(and looking at the indie books that I agree to review
each year, I must be a glutton for punishment!).
Part of it also stems from my love of writing. For almost
as far back as I can remember, Ive been writing this and
that, mostly fantasy, but occasionally the cheezy,
unfinished foray into sci-fi or even super hero stuff,
whether comic books or short stories. I and my notebook
(the old fashioned paper kind, not the laptop) were often
inseparable, and nowadays I spend some days
practically glued to the keyboard.
In my early teens, I discovered my opinionated side
when I spent one summer working as a teen movie critic
for the local newspaper. Actually, I consider convincing
them that they needed teen critics (at the time they had
adult critics and kid critics, but the cut off age for kids
was 12) to be one of the little triumphs of my life. I didnt
get paid any more than I do now, but I got to go to
movies for free (oftentimes advance screenings, where
we got to sit in special taped off sections reserved for
us, pretty cool, huh?), and I got to see my name in print.
Of course, all good things must come to an end, and
soon summer was over. I didnt get to show my
opinionated side again (except to family and friends,
hehehe) until Sheryl talked me into reviewing comics for
CT. By then, my opinionated side had a close
companion, that being my sarcastic side. The two
frolicked hand in hand across my reviews.
Some days, I really do have to ask myself . . . Why the
heck am I doing this? The comics industry is really going
downhill, IMHO. My husband and I have recently dropped
yet another monthly comic, putting us down to just
reading Blade of the Immortal every month. With the
exceptions of Girl Genius and Sleeping Dragons (whose
publishing schedules are erratic at best), everything else
we read is a limited series. And of course, whatever I
pick up to review. If Im lucky, I find a treasure worth
continual patronage. But Ive never been lucky and I end
up with lots of drek that gets read, reviewed, and
summarily forgotten about.
Other times I have pure writers block, and my reviews
come out feeling forced, echoing the boredom Im
feeling. These are perhaps the worst times, when I cant
even enjoy letting my sarcasm run amok as I destroy the
ego of a lousy artist or writer.
But then, then there are the times when its all worth
while . . . When I find a perfect (or at least really good)
indie or small press comic, a comic not many people
might know about . . . And I get to tell the world (at least,
the portion of it that reads CT, and I know you guys and
gals are EVERYWHERE!) how great the comic is and
why they have to be reading it. Or, perhaps at other
times I can try to save the world from a really bad
comic . . . I . . . Im a super hero! (er, sorry, ego trip!)
And, of course, theres the fact that when I have a pet
peeve or an opinion I want to share, I can write a little
opinion column and Sheryl and Paul find room for it in
the upcoming CT. Its not like normal newspapers, where
space is limited and everything has to be set up a
certain way, and the ads have to be here and here. Its
fun having the freedom to write however much I want and
not have it pared down.
All in all, I have to say . . . I write for CT because I love it,
and because I can! Thanks to everyone who
contributes, everyone who reads, and to Sheryl and Paul
for keeping it going! Hope to see you all for our big 5
year anniversary!
-AJ Reardon, reviewer and RP columnist and generally
opinionated!
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