Monday, August 13, 2012

BORN THIS WAY

So it's 1985.
I'm a junior in high school.
I like Devo, Adam and the Ants,
Black Flag and 7 Seconds.
I read lots and lots of J.R.R Tolkien.
I play videogames at Spaceport 
or on my friend's Apple II plus.
I ride a Skull Skates Mutant.



And I love comic books.
Especially X-Men.
In fact, I was pretty much exclusively a Marvel nerd.
(DC didn't do anything for me)

But I'd check out the teeny tiny independent shelf, too.
Alien Legion rocked.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was amazing.
(before they became all "Cowabunga, pizza, dude!")
and occasionally I'd pick up something just for the heck of it.
Especially if I was bored and needed 
something,
ANYTHING 
to read.

I bought this when I was stuck at my grandparents.


I remember liking it so much that I wrote the creator a letter!
And later when I bought issue 5:


I found this on the last page:


Whadda nerd!
Jeez... I was even bugging people for 
drawings when I was a kid!
(I didn't get one)

I actually found issues #1-6 sitting on a shelf in a comic store last weekend.
I know I still have my original copies buried SOMEWHERE.
Maybe at my parent's house?
But for $4 it was worth grabbing them for a read.

I wonder if I'll still like them?

P.S. 
Fashion in Action?  Seriously?


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"I read lots and lots of J.R.R Tolkien."

I knew there must be *another* reason to like you so much, Mr. W. I supposed Tolkien is a common "rite of passage" for the creatively inclined. So many highly imaginative, genius-type folks read it in their early years.

I, myself, did not "find" Tolkien, until I had already become *gasp!* an adult. I love it now though! Do you ever open any of his books again, now? Do you feel that the work that you read then, left a lasting impression, or shaped your art at all? Actually, that question could apply to anything you found inspiring back then. Do you still feel the same?

Thanks for the always interesting blog. I love it!

mr. warburton said...

i've read the trilogy at least 5 times, but not in the last decade or so. i DID read the CHILDREN OF HURIN when it came out a couple years back and enjoyed it.

and YES, i'd definitely say tolkien's books have shaped my work over the years. i obviously love sooper big, epic tales and it don't get no bigger than LOTR, right?
but MANY things have shaped what i do-- books, movies, comic books, music, anime, video games, manga, toys, hot dogs, ninjas, giant robots, travel and life in general.

montana said...

Wow! you just described my life from 12 to 14 yrs of age. Uncanny how similar you're interests and activities were to mine. You must have been as awed by Arthur Adams, Jim Lee, Silvestri et al as I was. You mentioned TMNT, that was such an amazing comic when E&L first published it, the art was epic. [remember the martial arts training manual?] Mutants Down Under RPG? The reason why I first loved your style was because my best friend and I would stay up all night drawing and his style was super similar to yours. I rode a Schmitt Stix my friend let me use.