OCTOBER SURPRISE

On Halloween, I celebrated my forty years in the comics industry.
Which is to say I thought about how long forty years is, got a bit
dizzy at the thought and then moved on to whatever I had to do that
day.  Because, in many ways, every day, every bloggy thing I write,
every comics-related Facebook message I post, is a celebration of
my decades in the comics industry and my life-long love of comics.
I suspect somebody read comic books to me while I was still in the
womb. It may have been the restless spirit of former New York City
mayor Fiorello La Guardia.  But I digress.

Earlier in October, in another kind of celebration of my years in
comics, I announced I would read, review or otherwise write about
the first 40 comics or graphic novels sent to me.  Naturally, I
didn’t guarantee a favorable review.  The offer was open to comics
creators, freelancers, publishers and readers. I added:

If you are sending me these comics and graphic novels from within
the United States, I will send you ten random-selected comic books
from my garage sale stock and at least one of those ten comics will
be written and signed by me.  Ten comics for the one you send me.
Which strikes me as a pretty good deal.

I received 29 review items in October and that was counting over a
dozen items from publishers who routinely send me review copies of
their publications.  I was somewhat disappointed by the low turnout
for my offer, but determined to press on. 

My original plan was to review these comics in November.  That got
derailed by some family/household matters, some paying gigs and the
usual “Knock, knock, it’s life calling” stuff.  My current plan is
to start these reviews today and continue writing about them until
I get through them.  As space and time permit, other items will be
reviewed as well.  But the October items will be my headliners for
the immediate future.

I’ll be back tomorrow with the first of these reviews.   

© 2012 Tony Isabella