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We all know what comics are. Some of us have read comics, others are more familiar with comic book related media, but we know comics in some way. Comics have been around for over a century — crazy to think about.
At one time comics were a dominant form of entertainment, you couldn’t walk past a newsstand or open a newspaper without seeing a comic in some form. Comics have played an integral role in shaping me as a person in almost every aspect of my life, so, just like pop culture at large, comics are a core pillar of my existence.
Being born into an illiterate family no one around me really read. During the first five years of my life, I would see certain children’s books like Dr. Seuss and be amazed by the art within them. So, the very conception of what I thought as literature was influenced by the drawn image, which helped me imagine the stories that were contained within them. This no doubt helped in establishing a well-oiled machine of an imagination.
Naturally, I spent a fair amount of time in front of the TV and, being a child from the early 2000s, I watched endless anime that was fed to me via Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. By the time I was 8 years old, an anime titled Naruto was airing weekly and I was hooked, always front and center for the episodes but a revelation soon dawned on me on a bus ride home.
A fellow Naruto fan told me there was manga (Japanese comics) at Borders in Dolphin Mall and the Naruto manga was ahead of the anime. I had to know what came next. But there was a problem, I didn’t know how to read.
That same week I came down with a pretty rough fever and, in a stroke of luck, my grandmother took pity and took me to Borders where within minutes I was in line with the newest volume of Naruto gripped tightly in my hands. During the next two days I struggled through reading every page feverishly (pun intended). I came out on the other end with a less than basic understanding of what I just read but regardless I was hooked on the art and story.
By that summer I was reading manga regularly, branching out to different series besides Naruto and various comic mediums. Eventually this led me to reading novels such as Moby Dick and my absolute favorite novel, Gravity’s Rainbow, in my adult years.
If it wasn’t for comics I wouldn’t have discovered the joy of writing and creating stories or pursued a career in filmmaking. So when I talk about comics, I talk about my life. I’ll be doing regular articles on the culture of comics as well as videos highlighting upcoming/older releases that I feel warrant a looksee, if you will, all under the banner of Back Corner Comics. I look forward to hearing from readers and viewers on this ongoing pet project of mine at Community News.
As two wise men have said over and over again READ MORE COMICS!
