Monkeying Around

Baboooo!
An overview of my life with comics

When creating this blog, I wondered what direction I should take. Should I rant on the trivals of my life or unleash relentless comments on pop culture phenomenons? I opted for the latter. Now you have movies, music and so forth.. But they all have distinguished fanbases and immense popularity that I reasoned that this blog deserves its undivided attention towards comicbooks. Hey, always a supporter for the underdog.

My comicbook virginity was taken the year of 1991. Not counting Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck comics etc. My first superhero experience in the comicbook format came with the issue when Spider-Man and Wolverine are in Berlin. The very same issue Ned Leeds is assassinated (takes place off-panel). Not the most tasteful way to be presented into the medium, but it sufficed. The realm of superheroes engulfed me and I steadily became an avid collector. To be noted, strictly to explore all the stories out there, not as a comicbook speculator of the 90's. Being a comicbook fan in Sweden was not an easy task at that time. I subscribed to all available titles at that time, which only consisted of Spider-Man and X-men comics and the occassional throw-in material from Fantastic Four, Hulk, Avengers etc. Meaning there were no DC titles. It wasn't until another decade had passed that I would be fully exposed to the power players of DC.

Sweden had a surge in comics during the 80's where both Marvel and DC titles were being published. Unfortunately, the only reminder of this boom in comics became prevalent at markets during festivals in my hometown. In the US, back-issue bins at comicbook stores can be taken for granted or even buying TPBs. Imagine this coming to your town once a year for only three days. This was my reality and you could exclude TPBs, no such thing in the Swedish market. You'd have to collect all individual issues, if they even were published. Imagine having parts 1-3,4-6,8-10 of Crisis of Infinite Earths and the remaining parts being unattainable.. Fairly significant amount of story value being lost to me as a reader eh? Nevertheless, receiving the whole experience of the stories became an ever present quest.

With technological advances, the scope of the comicbook world suddenly widened for me. I was now referred to classic stories, previously unheard of, like Batman: Year One, Animal Man, Giffen and DeMatteis Justice League and you name it! I imported every collection I could get ahold of and grew rather adept in my comicbook knowledge.

Currently, I am quite unrestricted concerning my comicbook exposure. Live in the States for the past year. As you might surmise, I most certainly have used this opportunity to plunder the treasures among comicbooks.

Having grown in proficiency and humility regarding comicbooks and knowledge of it, I intend to pass this on to our minor, but passionate and growing group of comicbook fans.

Babooooo out!