Before we get started...[part 1]

So before we get started. I think I need to perhaps explain a little bit about why I am doing this. What this is all about. What would possess me to "blog" about "the bat".

For those who know me, they know I have what most would view or call an obsession with Batman. I chose to call it falling in love with something at an early age, losing that love for a short amount of time to only come back to it and never wanting to let it go again.

--Where it all began?
   Obviously for most it starts with the 1966 Batman TV show. I remember being a little kid and watching this show (In syndication at this point). I remember coming home from school and only catching the midway point because that's just how things landed for me. Then of course it was the Brady Bunch after. Yet that short period of time was heaven seeing the Bat climbing up the side of a building with Robin.

   That's where it began, but not where it officially began. It officially began in February of 1987.

BATMAN: YEAR ONE

 

   I can remember walking into the drug store one Saturday morning after my mom had finished grocery shopping (Yes, there were not drug stores in the grocery stores back then). So I was with my mom and I saw this image, of a young Bruce Wayne, laying over top of his Parents, yet at the time I didn't know it was Bruce Wayne and didn't know it was his parents. I just saw this cover of a young boy kneeling over two adults a man and a woman and one could easily assume it was his parents. I took the book to my mom and asked her to buy me the book. It was a mere 75 cents and I knew she would let me. She nodded and agreed and I was off and running. 

   Growing up I knew my father was a fan of Batman. (And he was always drawing when I was growing up) So I was excited to get home and show him as well. Later when I got home I dove in and started reading this story. When it was done I was craving more. Luckily for me I didn't know it then but this was the launching point of the "new" Batman. 

   The next weekend I rushed to the drug store once more to get the next book, little did I know that issue was actually a couple months old and just happened to be sitting there. I was then left reading issue 407, the conclusion. That was OK with me. (And eventually years later I was able to track down those missing two issues.)

  I was off and running at this point, I couldn't get enough and was reading Detective very soon after I started on Batman. Pretty much anything Batman I was reading. If Batman was on the cover I bought it. (I also started to read Superman titles as well)

   At some point I saw in the back of an issue where you could order "subscriptions" to comic book titles and they would deliver them to your house. That was ALL me, I could never miss a title? YES!! So I would save up my allowance and when I got the 12 dollars together I would give it to my mom and she would write a check and order the books. Soon I had Batman, Detective, Superman and The Man of Steel coming to the house.

   I was in 7th grade at this point and was soaking up comic books. When I moved into 8th grade I would meet my best friend Dave who was a Marvel guy. We became friends while trading baseball cards and in that conversation started talking about comic books. It was Dave who introduced me to "comic book shops". Actual places that ALL they sold was comic books. We had a collectibles shop that sold a lot. There was a comic book shop called The Fantasy Factory that was just awesome. 

   I continued to read comics all through high school and even a year or so after then I stopped...

And this is where I will stop this for now. I will continue this next time. :)