Return Of The Geek?

Boarding with Gino for 2 weeks while Delle was on vacation had a lingering side effect.  When we boarded one morning, we did “The Top Ten Signs That You Are A Geek”, and all that geek talk opened a floodgate, one that I thought was permanently shut down decades ago.  Suddenly, I was forced to revisit a past that I gladly turned my back on.  What started out as a geek shtick, touched a nerve.  It reminded me that back in the 80’s, way before comicbooking was hip, I was neck-deep in geek chic.  As Gino and I explained that morning, there are sub-geeks under the umbrella term, “geek”, with his own sub-specialization.  Gino is a gaming geek, I was a comicbook geek.  What started out as a small collection of X-Men comics in the early 80’s, branched out to spin-offs like, New Mutants, X-Factor, Excalibur, Alpha Flight, and the list grew and grew, until I was wasting a small fortune on, if I remember right, more than 30 titles a month!  I really got into it like you wouldn’t believe.  I grew up on the Chris Claremont years, basked in the glory of the art of my favorites John Byrne, Paul Smith, Marc Silvestri, and the occasional Barry Windsor-Smith and Bill Sienkiewicz. My favorite storylines included the Sentinels, the Brood, when Rogue joined, the Dark Phoenix Saga, Illyana’s abduction by Belasco, Storm going punk (I swear, so 80’s!), etc.  I read classics like The Dark Knight, The Watchmen, Crisis on Multiple Earths, Secret Wars, and The Killing Joke when they first came out, and not as reprints.  I breathed characters like the Vision, Scarlet Witch, Dr. Strange, Moondragon, Galactus, the Watcher, Namor, etc.!

And as I shamefacedly admitted on air, I actually daydreamed that I was one of the X-Men, a mutant called Scrambler, who can mess up other people’s powers, including any type of machine or electronic device.  I know, pathetic.  So I imagined hanging out with Katya and Peter, mothered by Ororo, disciplined by Scott and Jean when I misbehaved, and was the secret favorite of Professor X, which Jean confided in me since she could also read minds. This was, of course, post Marvel Girl years.

Aaaaaanyway…all that came to an end when Marvel started splitting up the X-Men, and for the first time, I felt like I was reading comicbooks, instead of entering a secret world. For the first time, I felt like I was being denggoy-ed out of my money by Marvel and DC.  Another major reason was the end of Chris Claremont’s tenure as writer in 1991 (I stopped just before the whole Jim Lee era).  It just wasn’t the same.  Plus, this happened during the early 90’s, when I was in college, about to enter radio, and the world of fantasy just couldn’t compete with the reality of finishing college, being a new DJ, and falling in love for the first time.  Fantasy died when reality bit.  Plus, this came at a time when I started earning my own money, which at the time was 800 pesos a month, which meant the ceasing of my allowance.  I barely had money left for food and gas, what more comicbooks?

So it’s been almost 20 years since I kicked the habit, and now, suddenly, I’m curious again.  I don’t know what happened, but I actually have such an urge to buy comics again, just to check up on old pals.  Will it be just like the good ol’ days? Or will I get a reminder of why it was that I stopped when I did?  So to finally find out, I went to the nearest comicbook store, asked the saleslady to give me the newest issues of my 2 most favorite titles, and like my old 12-year-old self, I rushed home to devour the spoils. I stuck with my 2 faves, Uncanny X-Men and Legion Of Super-Heroes (one Marvel, one DC).

The experience was bittersweet.  I must say, chills ran down my spine reading names like Princess Projectra and Emma Frost, names I haven’t heard in almost 20 years.  But I must say, it still doesn’t have that old enchantment that it used to have, mainly because I have no idea what’s going on, and there are so many new characters and plotlines, that it feels like I entered a movie in the middle, and I’m spending more time trying to catch up than enjoying the ride.  It’s like getting back together with an ex, still finding them hot, yes, but not quite feeling the love.  But I’ve decided to buy some back issues, and maybe continue reading these 2 titles for maybe 6 months, just to give it a chance.  With all I’m spending on my photography hobby and my 4 dogs, 3 cats and 9 kois, I really am in no position to be re-starting an expensive hobby.  But I don’t know, I just want to be sure.  It’s like breaking up with someone, you just want to be doubly sure before you say goodbye for good.  Haha, geek drama!