A Love Letter to Comics

I met Comics for the first time before I knew anything about love and commitment, as a young and wide eyed girl wearing bright colours. I remember the first time I saw Comics: I was walking through the local toy store, wondering why my mother wouldn't buy me the toy horse I so desperately wanted, and then in front of me there was a rack that was kind of shoved in the corner. As a voracious reader, I saw something that looked similar to books so I hastened to it, reaching small grasping fingers towards the thin pages in front of me. It was an issue of X-Men that I first picked up, and the moment I saw the art on the cover and flipped over to the kickassery happening within, I knew comics and I were going to be good friends.

After a little bit of finagling my mother, I brought home a humble stack of issues: Spider-Man, X-Men, and Batman. I stayed up late that night under the covers, pretending to be asleep whenever I heard a noise in the house but otherwise reading by flashlight much past my bedtime. I was a little confused: comics had a past that was foreign to me, and some definite baggage. But we were smitten with one another, and I fell asleep with the delicious smell of inky pages near my nostrils.

 

As time progressed, comics and I became even closer. I went from reading under the covers to full out public displays, sprawled across the grass at the park. I was often found ignoring my family on excursions in favor of gripping storylines and fantastic art. Our relationship was especially intense every Wednesday when I somehow found a way to get to the toy store where we had first met. Our relationship deepened, and Comics was an essential part of my life, constantly in the back of my mind and affecting my future. I oftentimes dreamed of partaking in comics' life in a much bigger way, contributing more than my hard earned money (made from cleaning out horse stables). I wrote stacks and stacks of scripts that I showed Comics, but nothing ever really came of it. Regardless, we continued our relationship well into my teens. Comics was never far from my sight or my mind, and I thought we were going to be together forever.

But then came college, and as with most relationships, Comics and I drifted apart. I had shiny and new distractions, Fashion and Music, who both spoke to my confused young adult soul. Comics was shoved onto the back burner of my brain, just like the fruits of our love in the long boxes that were pushed into the recesses of my closet and forgotten. Here and there my love for Comics would come back with an intense fierceness, ignited by conversations with others, or seeing a movie that reminded me of Comics, or something else of the sort. I began to make new friends who were still in loving relationships with Comics, and I began to learn just how much Comics had affected other people's lives… not just my own. One fateful day I picked up a heavy graphic novel, and the sound of the pages turning was the best kind of music to me. Overnight, I remembered how in love Comics and I had been and I pulled out all of my issues, apologizing up and down for getting distracted. Now an adult woman, I promised Comics we would never part again as I lovingly bagged and boarded our old love letters.

 

 

Through this rediscovery of an old flame, I began to find myself. I realized that all of the writing I had done to Comics when I was younger was something I truly loved and enjoyed, and Comics encouraged me to pursue my wordsmanship every step of the way. I began to remember how good it was to smell the fresh ink, how incredibly rewarding it was to think of Wednesdays as "King of Days". Comics introduced me to a whole new group of friends, people who both contributed to the allure of the art on the pages and the fascinating storylines, but also the people who loved Comics as much or more than I did. I found our shared passion such an inviting thing, and from an awkward young woman I found my community with these people and grew into who I am now.
 

Comics has helped me so much. It has ignited creativity in me with every step, breeding the fantastical in a young mind and even today it has pushed me towards a career in writing that rewards me every time I sit down and let words flow from my fingertips. But most importantly, Comics has helped me find my people: a community so tight knit and incredible I have no idea what I would do anywhere else. Creative people and appreciators of the arts often come together with one common interest, but the sense of camaraderie around Comics is unlike anything I have ever experienced in any other sort of collective interest. The people who love Comics are some of the most friendly, inviting, and accepting human beings I have ever met, and I am reminded of this every time I walk into my local shop or venture out to a convention. Sure, there are people who think they love Comics more than anyone else and have to stick their nose in the air about it, but for the most part I have met some of the most beautiful and interesting people in the world because of my love of Comics.

So thank you, Comics. Thank you for being my one great love, thank you for making me a dreamer, thank you for keeping my imagination alive when other kids my age were being indoctrinated with grownup things. Thank you for introducing me to a community that I will continue to embrace for years to come. Thanks for being you, Comics. I love you.

 


Molly McIsaac could build a fort out of her longboxes and really likes comic book characters with green hair. You can stalk her to your heart's content on her twitter, where she frequently talks about unicorns.

Comments

  1. Lucky you feel all this mclovin. All this time I just feel like a boy 🙂

  2. I love the camaraderie and feeling of Brotherhoood (or sisterhood)  that comics provide.  I have moved cities numerous times finishing my degree and I always have a home base at the local comic store. My best friend in the world started as just my local shop owner,  now if I can just meet the right girl in the local shop…

  3. I would also love to thank you comics! i don’t know who i’d be without you!

  4. I take the Charlton Heston end of Planet Of The Apes attitude towards comics…damn you! 

  5. "Comics was shoved onto the back burner of my brain, just like the fruits of our love in the long boxes that were pushed into the recesses of my closet and forgotten"

     Deeeeeeep, maaaaan.

    But seriously, this was sweet :’)

  6. Comics…you’re seeing other people besides me? BEHIND MY BACK?? You…hussy!

  7. High fives molly!

  8. Is this an example of “The love that dare nor speak it’s name?”
    Honestly, my relationships with comics is equally loving, but having a family has meant more of an occasional illicit fling with
    tpb

  9. Excellent love letter Molly !