why do i love comics?

i am asked this question a lot. i guess people assume that if you love comics you must be large, live in your parents attic, dress up like star wars characters when a new movie is released, lust after wonder woman, wear superhero underwear, or support a batman tattoo.

yet, i am really a comic book nerd. i have over 2,000 comics, several t-shirts, action figures, and a good collection of comic book dvds... where does this love come from? what caused me to embrace the super heroic life?

as a young child i supported aquaman under roos and watch super friends daily. i remember as a young child laying on my papaw's bed watching batman kick the joker's butt and the wonder twins turn into retard animals and bodies of water.

this was always a huge treat to lay on papaw's bed and watch his television.

normally wrestling was the only thing allowed to be viewed on this square box, but for some reason he allowed this and actually welcomed it.

for 30 minutes i would sit and stare. then once it was over i would go imagine that i was one of those heroes.

as time would go on, i would occasionally buy a comic. normally a batman comic. i was drawn to the dynamic duo. batman was cool, but not as cool as robin.

robin was the young sidekick who could kick the biggest of bad guy's butt. he was always cracking jokes and rarely did he actually say "holy" anything like the 70's show would like you to believe.

my mother purchased me a robin t-shirt (not the shorts thankfully... i was a fat kid and i would fill those things out a little too well and not in the good way)and i would run around acting like i was helping batman stop crime in gotham city.

as i grew older i still kept a love for robin, but i rarely had any comics.

it wasn't until my papaw died that i really started getting into robin. on the way to his funeral my dad picked up a batman comic for me. it was his way of comfort and my way of escape.

as i flipped through the comic i noticed robin had a new costume and was a different character. no long dick grayson, but tim drake.

he was a lot darker and smarter than the first robin. he would use his head to stop crime and not his brute strength (which he didn't have.).

i feel in love with this robin. he was always trying to do the right thing and he actually got his own comic series in the early 90's because be became so popular.

monthly i would travel to richmond to the comic book store to keep up with him. comics had become my way to escape reality (the fact i was a bad student, my sister's cancer, and many insecure traits that i still carry). i would lock myself in my room and read comics for hours. i would draw comics, i would write comics, and i would even put them in my Bible to read during church.

now as an adult i am still spending 30 dollars a month on these books (i try to hide it from ang, but she always finds out) and i never miss an issue.

so i write all of this to say...

i am a comic book nerd. i was born this way. judge me. throw stones...but i am who i am. that is why i love comics.